(26) “How many angels there are in the heavens whose intercession avails nothing, except after Allah grants permission to whomever He wills and is pleased with.”

Allah, Exalted is He, denounces those who worship beings other than Him—whether angels or others—and claim that they will benefit them and intercede for them before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. “How many angels there are in the heavens”—including the angels brought near to Allah and the noblest of the angels—“whose intercession avails nothing.” That is, they cannot benefit those who invoke them, attach themselves to them, and place their hopes in them, “except after Allah grants permission to whomever He wills and is pleased with.” In other words, both conditions must be met: Allah, Exalted is He, must permit the intercession, and He must be pleased with the one for whom intercession is made.

It is well known and firmly established that no deed is accepted unless it is sincerely devoted to Allah and performed in accordance with His revealed law. The polytheists, therefore, will have no share in the intercession of those granted the right to intercede, for they have barred themselves from the mercy of the Most Merciful of those who show mercy.