Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:3

"And they have taken besides Him deities who create nothing, while they are created."

The pronoun in "they have taken" refers to the polytheists, understood from His saying, “and He has had no partner in dominion,” and from the context, as well as His saying, “a warner.” Al-Kirmani stated that it refers to the disbelievers, who are included in His saying, “to the worlds.” The intent is to recount their falsehoods regarding matters of monotheism and prophethood, and to demonstrate their invalidity after He, the Exalted, had clarified the truth at the beginning of the noble Surah.

That is, they have taken for themselves—surpassing Allah, the Exalted, whose great attributes were mentioned—deities who are incapable of creating anything whatsoever, while they are created by Allah the Exalted; or, they are forged by their worshippers through carving and sculpting. The first meaning is considered more sound, as it is more comprehensive and not restricted to idols, unlike the second. The use of the imperfect tense (present-future) in "they are created" (passive) is to maintain parallelism with "they create" (active), while also evoking the state of the past.

The second meaning is supported by the fact that it is more fitting for the context, as those whom our Prophet (peace be upon him) warned directly were idol worshippers, and the subsequent rulings are more appropriate for them. Indeed, it contains an interpretation of khalq (creation) as fabrication, as in His saying: “and you create a falsehood,” for that is what can be correctly attributed to others besides the Almighty. Similarly, khalq can mean "to measure/shape," as in the verse of Zuhayr: "And you cut what you have measured, while some people measure but do not cut." The immediate understanding of this is the creation of a thing with a specific measure, which is the intent of the former [interpretation]. To interpret it in the same way, as Al-Zamakhshari did, is far-fetched, or so it is said. This is countered by the argument that it is permissible to intend this immediate meaning, and the idols themselves—in their essences, images, and forms—are created by Allah according to the people of truth, because the actions of servants and the effects that result from them are, in their view, created by the Almighty. Indeed, if one were to claim that this intention is necessary in that way, it would not be far-fetched.

"And they possess for themselves neither harm nor benefit."

This is to clarify their state after their creation and existence. The meaning is that they have no power to dispose of harm so as to repel it from themselves, nor any power over benefit so as to bring it to themselves. Since repelling harm is more critical, their inability to do so is mentioned first. It is said that "for themselves" is used to indicate the extremity of their incapacity, for whoever has no power over such things for their own self, they are even more incapable regarding others, as a matter of priority. Those who limit the rulings to idols say: This is to clarify levels of their incapacity and weakness not indicated by what preceded it, for some created beings who are incapable of creation may, in some general sense, possess the power to repel harm or bring benefit, like animals. It may be said that the disposal of harm and benefit by repelling and bringing is not, in reality, except for Allah the Exalted, as indicated by His saying to His Prophet (peace be upon him): “Say, I do not possess for myself benefit or harm except what Allah wills.”

"And they do not possess [power over] death, nor life, nor resurrection."

That is, they have no power to dispose of anything regarding these matters, such as causing the living to die, bringing the dead to life in this world, or resurrecting them in the hereafter. This explicitly states their inability regarding each of the mentioned things in detail, and serves as a warning that a deity must be capable of all of that. Death is placed first to correspond with the mention of "harm," which was mentioned earlier.