Surah Al Furqan Tafseer

قَالُوا سُبْحَانَكَ مَا كَانَ يَنبَغِي لَنَا أَن نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاء

They will say:"Glorified be You! It was not for us to take (Nattakhidh) any Awliya' besides You..."

Most of the scholars recite a Fathah on the Nun of the word Nattakhidh in His saying:

نَّتَّخِذَ مِن دُونِكَ مِنْ أَوْلِيَاء

"...for us to take (Nattakhidh) any Awliya' besides You,"

meaning, `it is not right for any created being, neither us nor them, to worship anyone except You; we did not call them to do that, but they did it of their own accord, without us telling them to do it or accepting what they did. We are innocent of them and their worship.'

This is like the Ayah,

وَيَوْمَ يَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعاً ثُمَّ يَقُولُ لِلْمَلَـيِكَةِ أَهَـوُلَاءِ إِيَّاكُمْ كَانُواْ يَعْبُدُونَ قَالُواْ سُبْحَـنَكَ

And (remember) the Day when He will gather them all together, then He will say to the angels:"Was it you that these people used to worship" They (the angels) will say:"Glorified be You!" (34:40-41)

Other scholars understand this phrase to mean:

`it is not proper for us to take anyone except You as protectors or helpers (Awliya'),'

meaning, `it is not proper for anyone to worship us, for we are Your servants and in need of You.'

This meaning is close to the first.

وَلَكِن مَّتَّعْتَهُمْ وَابَاءهُمْ

but You gave them and their fathers comfort,

means, `You made such a long period of time pass that they forgot the Reminder,

i.e., they forgot what had been sent down to them through the Messengers, calling them to worship You alone with no partner or associate.'

حَتَّى نَسُوا الذِّكْرَ

till they forgot the warning,

وَكَانُوا قَوْمًا بُورًا

and became a lost people.

Ibn Abbas said,

"This means, they were destroyed."

Al-Hasan Al-Basri and Malik narrated from Az-Zuhri:

"There was no good in them."

And Allah says