Chapter: One who seeks blessing from a tree, a stone, or anything similar

Allah the Exalted says: “Have you considered al-Lāt and al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, the third, the other? Is the male for you and for Him the female? That, then, would be an unfair division. They are nothing but names you and your forefathers have coined; Allah has sent down for them no authority. They follow nothing but conjecture and their own desires, even though true guidance has already come to them from their Lord.” [53:19-23]

Relevance of this chapter to Kitāb al-Tawḥīd: it is a further enumeration of acts of idolatry that nullify—or at least diminish—pure monotheism.

Tabarruk: to seek, hope for, and believe in the acquisition of blessing (barakah).

“Or the like of them”: anything comparable—such as a particular site, cave, grave, shrine, or relic.

“Have you considered”: Tell me about these idols—have they ever benefited or harmed?

al-Lāt: recited with a light “t” and also with a doubled “t.” On the first reading it was the name of a white rock in al-Ṭāʾif on which a small house had been built; on the second, it is the active participle of latta, referring to a man who used to mix barley porridge for the pilgrims (1). When he died, people began to frequent his grave.

al-ʿUzzā: an acacia tree around which a structure had been erected and upon which curtains were hung, situated between Mecca