Thus, the harm that a worshipper suffers through worshipping it occurs both in this world and in the Hereafter. Although the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe, those who worshipped others besides Allah suffered, because of their association of these objects of worship with Him, punishment from Allah in this world that He made a lesson for those with insight. Allah Most High says:
“That is from the accounts of the towns which We relate to you; some are still standing, while others have been mown down.”
“We did not wrong them, but they wronged themselves. Their gods, whom they invoked besides Allah, availed them nothing when the command of your Lord came, and they increased them in nothing but ruin.”
He thus made clear that those gods did not benefit them; rather, they only made their plight worse. The explanations offered here resemble those given concerning harm. One explanation is that worshipping them only made their plight worse. Another is that, on the Day of Resurrection, those gods will assist against them, making their plight worse. This resembles His words:
“They have taken gods besides Allah to be a source of strength for them.”
“No indeed! They will disavow their worship and turn against them.”
Most commentators have explained tatbīb (ruin) as causing loss, as in His words, Most High:
“May the hands of Abū Lahab be ruined, and ruined is he.”
Others have explained it as destruction and annihilation, while others have said that it means: they only made their plight worse.
His words:
“Their gods, whom they invoked besides Allah, availed them nothing when the command of your Lord came, and they increased them in nothing but ruin”
use the past tense, indicating that this occurred in this world.
It may be asked: “All the evil came from the worshippers themselves, so why is it said, ‘So they added nothing to them’?”
The answer is that they would have been punished for their disbelief in Allah even if they had not worshipped those gods. When, in addition, they worshipped them, they thereby increased in disbelief and punishment. Thus, those gods added only to their loss and suffering; they brought them no gain or good.