Tafsir of Al-Isra 17:67

(Lost are those whom you call upon) Meaning: Those whom you call upon and hope for their benefit vanish from your minds, so you do not remember them.

(Except Him) (Glorified and Exalted is He). You remember Him alone, Glorified be He, and you do not remember anyone else, nor does anyone other than the Exalted God cross your mind to remove the harm that has befallen you, whether independently or in partnership. Thus, the meaning of their "lostness" (ḍalāl) is their absence from [your memory of] disbelief, not their absence from perception and sense; for it is a known matter from their saying: "Such and such was lost to him" (ḍalla 'anhu) when he forgets it. In Al-Kashf, it states: "It is from [the usage of] 'Such and such was lost to him' (ḍalla 'anhu) when it is missing." There is no need for [assuming] an inclusion or that it is from "such a person lost it" (ḍallahu fulān) meaning it went away from him and he could not find it. Al-Azhari mentioned it and recited: "And the seeker who desires its precious things knows that my maladies are lost to me (taḍillunī)," meaning they depart from me and go away, so I do not complain of a malady. This is more evident. Yes, the lostness refers to the remembrance, not in the sense of concealing it, for that is weak. It is said: "Such and such was lost from my mind" if you do not remember it, for that is a lostness of the thing, not a lostness of its remembrance. You do not say: "Its remembrance was lost from my mind." Likewise: "The matter was lost to me" (ḍallanī al-amr). The supplication in this verse is upon its apparent meaning.

The exception is "connected" based on the premise that "those whom" (mā) is a term for the invoked ones in general, and that they used to call upon Allah (Exalted is He) and others during calamities. If "those whom" (mā) refers only to their false idols, and they were in a state of ease calling upon them alone—as the apparent meaning of what follows indicates—then the exception is "disconnected." In this case, "supplication" is interpreted as the supplication of worship and refuge. Abu Hayyan said: "The apparent meaning is disconnection, because the Exalted God is not included in 'those whom you call upon,' since the meaning is 'their idols—that is, their objects of worship—are lost,' while they do not worship Allah (Exalted is He)." It is objected that the implication of them being polytheists is that they also worship Him (Glorified be He), but by way of association. Rather, their statement, "We do not worship them except to bring us closer to Allah in position," as the Exalted one related about them, implies that He (Glorified be His Majesty) is the true object of worship for them. It may be said that the Lawgiver has removed such worship from the degree of consideration; thus, they are not, in terms of religious law, worshipers of Allah (Glorified be He). It is even said that they are not worshipers in terms of language either, because worship linguistically means the ultimate degree of submission and humility, and that does not occur alongside association, even in the manner they claimed. Reflect on this.

Many have permitted that the meaning is: "Those whom you call upon are lost regarding your rescue, except Him (the Exalted)." "Lostness" here is either in the sense of being absent or in the sense of not being guided to the path of truth, as if it were said: "He strayed from the path of correctness and was unable to do that." The status of the exception as connected or disconnected is built upon its state. Al-Zamakhshari permitted that the meaning is: "The idols you call upon are lost regarding your rescue, but Allah (Exalted is He) is the One whom you hope for," and he deemed the exception here to be disconnected. It is said that this is to specify the invoked ones as idols.

In Al-Kashf: "Perhaps the point in this is that they did not call upon the Exalted God—that is, in the supplication of worship and refuge—except in that situation, whereas in the state of ease, they reserved their idols for supplication." The verification is that "lostness" in this sense does not include the Truth (Glorified be He), because its meaning is that the invoked ones were lost and absent from their rescue. It is not meant that they were absent and He (Glorified be He) was present, but rather that "they hoped He would rescue them and not abandon them, unlike the invoked ones, according to their assumption." This is the explanation, if Allah (Exalted is He) wills. The basis of this verification will not be hidden from one trained in the science of grammar. Among the anecdotes is that some people said to one of the Imams: "Prove to me the existence of Allah (Exalted is He) without mentioning substance or accident." He said: "Have you boarded a ship?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Did the wind blow fiercely?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Did the ship threaten to drown?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Did you despair of the benefit of those on the ship and their like among the created beings in rescuing you from where you are?" He said: "Yes." He said: "Did your heart remain attached to anything other than Him?" He said: "Yes." He said: "That is Allah (the Almighty and Majestic)." He deemed that excellent.

(Then when He saves you) From the harm and delivers you to the land, (You turn away) From His remembrance (Exalted is He) after you were not remembering anyone except Him (Glorified be He). Or you turned away from His Oneness, or from thanking Him (Glorified be He) through His Oneness and obeying Him. Or you immersed yourselves in excess in denying the favor, based on it being from "the width" (al-'arḍ) which is the opposite of "the length" (al-ṭūl), and it is made a metaphor for that, as in the saying of Dhu al-Rummah: "A youth's gift who attained high status, so he expanded (a'raḍa) in generosity and grew long (istṭāla)." It is as if it meant "you turned away and grew long in denial," except that the mention of "width" suffices for the mention of "length" due to its implication.

(And man is ever ungrateful) This is like a justification for the turning away, and it is a statement of the nature of the species; from it, the judgment of those addressed is known. There is subtlety in it, as the Exalted One turned away from addressing them specifically and mentioned that the human species is naturally inclined toward ingratitude. So, when they turned away, Allah (Glorified be He) turned away from them.