“Indeed, my Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book, and He protects the righteous. As for those whom you invoke besides Him, they can neither help you nor help themselves. If you call them to guidance, they do not hear; you see them looking towards you, yet they do not see. Be forgiving, enjoin what is right, and turn away from the ignorant” (196–199).

“Do they have feet to walk with, or hands to strike with?” Abu Ja‘far recited the letter ṭā’ with a ḍammah here, as well as in Surat al-Qasas and Surat al-Dukhan, while the other reciters pronounced the ṭā’ with a kasrah. “Or do they have eyes to see with, or ears to hear with?” That is, the power of created beings lies in these limbs and faculties, whereas the idols possess none of these faculties. You are therefore superior to them, having feet with which to walk, hands with which to strike, eyes with which to see, and ears with which to hear. So how can you worship those who are inferior to you and less capable than you?

“Say: Call upon your partners,” O assembly of polytheists; “then plot against me,” you and they together, “and grant me no respite”—that is, do not delay me, but hasten to plot against me.

His saying, “Indeed, my Protector is Allah, who sent down the Book,” means the Quran: that is, He protects and supports me, just as He strengthened me by sending down the Book. “And He protects the righteous.” Ibn Abbas said: He means those who do not ascribe equals