harm you? Fie upon you and upon what you worship besides Allah!’”
And His statement, exalted is He:
“Relate to them the story of Abraham, when he said to his father and his people, ‘What do you worship?’ They said, ‘We worship idols and remain devoted to them.’ He said, ‘Do they hear you when you call upon them? Or do they benefit or harm you?’” [26:69–73]
And His statement, exalted is He:
“Yet they have taken besides Him gods that create nothing but are themselves created, and have no power to harm or benefit themselves, nor any power over death, life, or resurrection.” [25:3]
And He, exalted is He, says:
“They worship besides Allah that which neither benefits nor harms them. Yet the disbeliever is ever a helper against his Lord.” [25:55]
Thus, He, glorified is He, denies that those worshipped besides Him have any power to benefit or harm, whether themselves or others. They possess no such power for themselves or for their worshippers. This is frequently and clearly stated in the Quran: the one worshipped must possess the power to benefit and harm. He is therefore called upon to bring benefit and avert harm—petitionary supplication—and He is called upon in fear and hope—supplication as worship. It is thus clear that the two kinds are inseparably linked: every supplication as worship necessarily entails petitionary supplication, and every petitionary supplication includes supplication as worship.
Accordingly, His statement, exalted is He:
“When My servants ask you about Me, I am indeed near. I answer the supplication of the supplicant when he calls upon Me.” [2:186]
embraces both kinds of supplication. The verse has been interpreted in both senses. One interpretation is: “I grant him what he asks when he asks Me.” Another is: “I reward him when he worships Me.” The two interpretations are inseparably linked.
This is not a case of using a word with two distinct meanings in both senses at once, nor of using a word in both its literal and figurative senses. Rather, it is used in its single literal sense, which encompasses both. Reflect on this, for it is a point of immense benefit that few perceive.
Most Quranic expressions that convey two or more meanings are of this kind. An example is His statement [17:78]:
“Establish prayer at the sun’s decline until the darkness of