direct their hopes to Allah alone, as He, Most High, says:

“So when you have finished, strive diligently, and turn to your Lord in hope.”

This is because no created being has the power to benefit or harm another. This applies to all the inhabitants of the heavens and the earth. Allah Most High says:

“Say, ‘Call upon those whom you claim to be gods besides Him. They have no power to remove harm from you or divert it.’

“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of nearness to their Lord, each seeking to be nearest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, your Lord’s punishment is something to beware of.”

A group of the early generations, including Ibn ‘Abbās and others, said: This verse concerns those who worshipped the angels and the prophets, such as the Messiah and Ezra.

‘Abd Allah ibn Mas‘ūd said: Some humans used to worship some jinn. The jinn embraced Islam, but those humans continued worshipping them.

Thus, the verse encompasses everyone who invokes, besides Allah, any angel, human, or jinn who is righteous in Allah’s sight. Allah Most High says that these whom you have invoked

“have no power to remove harm from you or divert it.”

“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of nearness to their Lord, each seeking to be nearest. They hope for His mercy and fear His punishment. Indeed, your Lord’s punishment is something to beware of.”

Abū Muhammad ‘Abd al-Haqq ibn ‘Atiyyah said in his Quran commentary: Allah Most High states that these beings who are worshipped seek to draw near to Him and gain His favour, and that this is their true condition. The pronoun in “their Lord” refers either to those seeking nearness or to all of them.

Wasīlah means nearness and a means of attaining one’s objective. The expression tawassala al-rajul means that a man sought to draw near and attain a particular end. An example of this is the saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: