Surah Al Isra ayat 57 Tafsir Quran 17:57

﴿أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ أَيُّهُمْ أَقْرَبُ وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ ۚ إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا﴾
[ الإسراء: 57]

17:57 Those whom they invoke seek means of access to their Lord, [striving as to] which of them would be nearest, and they hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, the punishment of your Lord is ever feared.

Those whom they call gods they themselves seek a means to their Lord they seek nearness by way of obedience which of them ayyuhum substitutes for the third person indicator wāw of the verb yabtaghūna ‘they seek’ in other words even he seeks it this nearness the one who is nearer to Him so how much more is it sought in the case of others?; and they hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement just like others so how can you call them gods? Truly your Lord’s chastisement is a thing to beware of.

Those to whom they make a devout supplication -Saints, jinn or angels- are themselves devout servants of Allah seeking the union of their nature with the Divine, and striving which of them shall be the nearest to Allah and the more efficient in serving His purpose! They entertain expectation of His mercy and they dread His retributive punishment. Indeed, the punishment Allah, your Creator, inflicts on the offender makes one heedful, for the thought of it arouses an emotional feeling tinged with latent and deep mysterious fear

The gods of the Idolators can neither benefit nor harm; rather they themselves seek to draw close to Allah Allah says: قُلْ ( Say ) O Muhammad to these idolators who worship things other than Allah, ادْعُواْ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِهِ ( Call upon those - besides Him whom you pretend. ) such as idols and rivals of Allah.
Even if you turn to them, فَلاَ يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ ( They have neither the power to remove the adversity from you ) they have no such power at all, وَلاَ تَحْوِيلاً ( nor even to shift (it from you to another person. )) to lift the distress from you and give it to someone else.
The meaning is that the only one Who is able to do that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, Who is the One Who creates and issues commands. قُلِ ادْعُواْ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم ( Say: "Call upon those whom you pretend ) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas, "The people of Shirk used to say, `we worship the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr,' while these ( the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr ) themselves call upon Allah." أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ ( Those whom they call upon, desire ) Al-Bukhari recorded from Sulayman bin Mahran Al-A`mash, from Ibrahim, from Abu Ma`mar, from `Abdullah: أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ ( Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord, ) "Some of the Jinn used to be worshipped, then they became Muslims." According to another report: "Some humans used to worship some of the Jinn, then those Jinn became Muslim, but those humans adhered to their religion ( of worshipping the Jinn )." وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَـفُونَ عَذَابَهُ ( they hope for His mercy and fear His torment. ) Worship cannot be complete or perfect unless it is accompanied by both fear and hope.
Fear stops one from doing things that are forbidden, and hope makes one do more good deeds. إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا ( Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something ) to be afraid of!) meaning, one should beware of it and be afraid lest it happen.
We seek refuge with Allah from that.

(17:57) In fact those whom these people invoke for help themselves seek means of approach to their Lord and vie with one another to be nearer to Him and hope for His mercy and fear His chastisement. *65 The fact is that the chastisement of your Lord is a thing to be dreaded.

Those whom they invoke seek means of meaning

*65) The words of the text are a clear proof that the deities and the helpers referred to in this verse were not idols of stone but were either angels or dead saints.
It is clearly implied in this that no prophet, no saint and no angel, whom the people invoke for help, has the power to hear prayers and help anyone.
They themselves hope for mercy from Allah and dread His punishment and vie with one another in seeking means for nearness to Him.

 

The gods of the Idolators can neither benefit nor harm; rather they themselves seek to draw close to Allah Allah says: قُلْ ( Say ) O Muhammad to these idolators who worship things other than Allah, ادْعُواْ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِهِ ( Call upon those - besides Him whom you pretend. ) such as idols and rivals of Allah.
Even if you turn to them, فَلاَ يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنْكُمْ ( They have neither the power to remove the adversity from you ) they have no such power at all, وَلاَ تَحْوِيلاً ( nor even to shift (it from you to another person. )) to lift the distress from you and give it to someone else.
The meaning is that the only one Who is able to do that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, Who is the One Who creates and issues commands. قُلِ ادْعُواْ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم ( Say: "Call upon those whom you pretend ) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas, "The people of Shirk used to say, `we worship the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr,' while these ( the angels and the Messiah and `Uzayr ) themselves call upon Allah." أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ ( Those whom they call upon, desire ) Al-Bukhari recorded from Sulayman bin Mahran Al-A`mash, from Ibrahim, from Abu Ma`mar, from `Abdullah: أُولَـئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَى رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ ( Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord, ) "Some of the Jinn used to be worshipped, then they became Muslims." According to another report: "Some humans used to worship some of the Jinn, then those Jinn became Muslim, but those humans adhered to their religion ( of worshipping the Jinn )." وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَـفُونَ عَذَابَهُ ( they hope for His mercy and fear His torment. ) Worship cannot be complete or perfect unless it is accompanied by both fear and hope.
Fear stops one from doing things that are forbidden, and hope makes one do more good deeds. إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا ( Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something ) to be afraid of!) meaning, one should beware of it and be afraid lest it happen.
We seek refuge with Allah from that.

( Those unto whom they cry ) worship ( seek the way of approach to their Lord ) seek nearness and merit with their Lord, ( which of them shall be the nearest ) to Allah; ( they hope for His mercy ) His Paradise ( and they fear His doom. Lo! the doom of thy Lord is to be shunned ) safety has not been granted to them.

Those whom they call upon [like 'Iesa (Jesus) - son of Maryam (Mary), 'Uzair (Ezra), angel, etc.] desire (for themselves) means of access to their Lord (Allah), as to which of them should be the nearest and they ['Iesa (Jesus), 'Uzair (Ezra), angels, etc.] hope for His Mercy and fear His Torment. Verily, the Torment of your Lord is something to be afraid of!

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