53. Sūrat al-Najm

٥٣۔ سُورَةُ النَّجْم

53.2 Lāt, ᶜUzza and Manāt (goddesses of Arabs) are nothing but names invented by the pagan Arabs.

٥٣۔٢ مقطع في سُورَةُ النَّجْم

quran:53:19

So have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza?  

Have you considered al-Lāt and al-‘Uzzā,
القرآن:٥٣:١٩

أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ اللَّاتَ وَالْعُزَّىٰ  

{أفرأيتم اللات والعزى}.
quran:53:20

And Manat, the third - the other one?  

and Manāt, the third, of the preceding two, the other? (al-ukhrā, a derogatory qualification of the third one). These were stone idols which the idolaters worshipped and which they claimed interceded for them with God (the first direct object of a-fa-ra’aytum, ‘have you seen’, is al-Lāt and what has been supplemented thereto; the second ˹direct object˺ has been omitted). The meaning then is, ‘Inform Me: do these idols have the power over anything, such that you worship them besides God Who has the power over all that has been mentioned?’ And because of their assertion also that the angels were God’s daughters, despite their aversion to daughters, the following was revealed:
القرآن:٥٣:٢٠

وَمَنَاةَ الثَّالِثَةَ الْأُخْرَىٰ  

{ومناة الثالثة} للتين قبلها {الأخرى} صفة ذم للثالثة وهي أصنام من حجارة كان المشركون يعبدونها ويزعمون أنها تشفع لهم عند الله، ومفعول أفرأيتم الأول اللات وما عطف عليه والثاني محذوف والمعنى أخبروني ألهذه الأصنام قدرة على شيء ما فتعبدونها دون الله القادر على ما تقدم ذكره، ولما زعموا أيضا أن الملائكة بنات الله مع كراهتهم البنات نزلت.
quran:53:21

Is the male for you and for Him the female?  

Are you to have males, and He females?
القرآن:٥٣:٢١

أَلَكُمُ الذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ الْأُنْثَىٰ  

{ألكم الذكر وله الأنثى}.
quran:53:22

That, then, is an unjust division.  

That, then, would indeed be an unfair division! (dīzān, ‘unfair’, derives from dāzahu, yadīzuhu, to mean: ‘he wronged him’, ‘he was unjust to him’).
القرآن:٥٣:٢٢

تِلْكَ إِذًا قِسْمَةٌ ضِيزَىٰ  

{تلك إذا قسمة ضيزى} جائزة من ضازه يضيزه إذا ظلمه وجار عليه.
quran:53:23

They are not but ˹mere˺ names you have named them - you and your forefathers - for which Allah has sent down no authority. They follow not except assumption and what ˹their˺ souls desire, and there has already come to them from their Lord guidance.  

These, that is, the mentioned ˹deities˺, are nothing but names which you have named, by which you have named, you and your fathers, idols that you worship. God has not revealed any warrant, ˹any˺ proof or evidence, for them, that is to say, ˹for˺ the worship of them. They follow nothing but conjecture, in their worship of them, and that which ˹ignoble˺ souls desire, of that which Satan adorned for them, that they may intercede for them before God, exalted be He, even though guidance has already come to them from their Lord, by the tongue of the Prophet (s), with definitive proof; yet they do not desist from their ways.
القرآن:٥٣:٢٣

إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا أَسْمَاءٌ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَا أَنْتُمْ وَآبَاؤُكُمْ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ بِهَا مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ ۚ إِنْ يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى الْأَنْفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَدْ جَاءَهُمْ مِنْ رَبِّهِمُ الْهُدَىٰ  

{إن هي} أي ما المذكورات {إلا أسماء سميتموها} أي سميتم بها {أنتم وآباؤكم} أصناما تعبدونها {ما أنزل الله بها} أي بعبادتها {من سلطان} حجة وبرهان {إن} ما {يتبعون} في عبادتها {إلا الظن وما تهوى الأنفس} مما زين لهم الشيطان من أنها تشفع لهم عند الله تعالى {ولقد جاءهم من ربهم الهدى} على لسان النبي ﷺ بالبرهان القاطع فلم يرجعوا عما هم عليه.
quran:53:24

Or is there for man whatever he wishes?  

Or shall man, that is, shall every human being among them, have whatever he wishes for?, such as ˹their wish˺ that the idols intercede for them. ˹No!˺ It is not so.
القرآن:٥٣:٢٤

أَمْ لِلْإِنْسَانِ مَا تَمَنَّىٰ  

{أم للإنسان} أي لكل إنسان منهم {ما تمنى} من أن الأصنام تشفع لهم؟ ليس الأمر كذلك.
quran:53:25

Rather, to Allah belongs the Hereafter and the first ˹life˺.  

Yet to God belong the Hereafter and the former ˹life˺, that is to say, ˹the life of˺ the world, and so nothing comes to pass in them except what He, exalted, wills.
القرآن:٥٣:٢٥

فَلِلَّهِ الْآخِرَةُ وَالْأُولَىٰ  

{فلله الآخرة والأولى} أي الدنيا فلا يقع فيهما إلا ما يريده تعالى.