The Holy Quran 53:23 — Surah An-Najm

Arabic text

إِنْ هِىَ إِلَّآ أَسْمَآءٌ سَمَّيْتُمُوهَآ أَنتُمْ وَءَابَآؤُكُم مَّآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهَا مِن سُلْطَـٰنٍ ۚ إِن يَتَّبِعُونَ إِلَّا ٱلظَّنَّ وَمَا تَهْوَى ٱلْأَنفُسُ ۖ وَلَقَدْ جَآءَهُم مِّن رَّبِّهِمُ ٱلْهُدَىٰٓ

Translation

These (idols) are merely names which you and your forefathers have kept, for which Allaah has not revealed any permission (authority). They (the Mushrikeen) follow only assumptions (their guesses in choosing gods) and what their (fleeting) desires fancy whereas guidance has already come to them from their Rabb.

Tafsir (excerpt) — Tafsir Usmani

These idols have no authority: that is, you have given certain names to stones and trees, but there is no authority for their divinity; on the contrary, proofs stand against it. In your imagination you may call them daughters, or sons, or anything else; it is merely talk, beneath which there is no reality at all.

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