Tafsir of Az-Zumar 39:43

"Or have they taken..." That is, rather, the Quraish have taken. The am (or) is munqati'ah (disjunctive), implying an elliptical interrogative particle for the purpose of denying their act of taking. "Other than Allah as intercessors" who would intercede for them with Allah, the Exalted, to avert the punishment. It is also said: [intercessors] in their worldly and otherworldly affairs. It is permissible that it is muttasilah (connective), assuming an equivalent clause, as mentioned by Ibn al-Shaikh in the annotations to al-Baidawi, but this is an affectation for which there is no need. The meaning of "other than Allah" is: other than by His pleasure or His permission, for He, glory be to Him, none intercedes with Him except the one to whom He has given permission from among those He is pleased with. Such base, inanimate objects are neither pleasing to Him nor permitted by Him. If this observation were not made, it would necessitate that Allah, the Exalted, is an intercessor, and that is not a term applied to Him, glory be to Him. Or, the implied meaning is: "Or have they taken deities other than Him, the Exalted, to intercede for them?" This reduces to what was previously mentioned.

"Say, 'Even if they possess nothing and do not reason?'" That is, will they intercede, given the assumption that they possess none of the things and do not reason them? The essence of the meaning is: Will they intercede while they are inanimate objects that can neither empower nor perceive? The hamzah enters upon an elliptical clause, and the waw is for the state (hal), the sentence being a state derived from the agent of the elliptical verb.

Some scholars held that it is for the purpose of conjunction with a conditional particle that has been omitted, indicated by "Even if they possessed nothing..." and so on. That is: Will they intercede if they possessed something and reasoned, even if they possess nothing and do not reason? The meaning remains the same regarding the state, as if it were said: "Will they intercede in any case?"

Some verifiers among the grammarians stated: It is i'tiradiyyah (parenthetical). By "parenthetical sentence," they mean that which is inserted between the parts of a speech, related to it in meaning but new in expression, by way of iltifat (shift in discourse), such as the saying: "Then you are divorced—and divorce is an oath." And the saying: "You see everyone in it—and far be it from you—perishing." It may also come after the completion of the speech, such as the saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: "I am the master of the children of Adam—and no boast."

Regarding the need for this construction—involving the conditional particle—to have a response (jawab), there is disagreement. According to the view that it is required, it is omitted due to the indication of what was said upon it. The verification of these statements is in the books of Arabic grammar. It is also permissible that the clause entered by the hamzah here is the act of "taking." That is, say: "Do you take them as intercessors, even if they possess nothing—let alone possessing the capacity to intercede with Allah, the Exalted—and do not reason?"