Tafsir of Saba' 34:22

{ Say } to the polytheists of your people: { Call upon those } whom you have worshipped besides Allah—from among the idols and the angels—and whom you have named as you call upon Allah. Seek refuge in them regarding what befalls you, just as you seek refuge in Him. Wait for their response to your supplication and their mercy, just as you wait for Him to respond to you and have mercy upon you.

Then, He answered on their behalf by saying: { They do not possess even an atom’s weight } of good or evil, benefit or harm, { in the heavens or on the earth. And they have no } share in either of these two realms, neither in creation nor in dominion, as the Almighty says: { I did not make them witness the creation of the heavens and the earth } (Al-Kahf: 51). Nor does He have any assistant among them to help Him in the management of His creation.

The meaning is: They are in this state of incapacity and distance from the attributes of Lordship; so how can it be valid to call upon them as He is called upon, or to hope in them as He is hoped in?

If you ask: Where are the two objects of the verb za‘am (they claimed)? I say: The first is the omitted pronoun referring back to the relative pronoun (al-ladhina). As for the second, it must either be { besides Allah }, { they do not possess }, or it is omitted.

• The first is not valid, because saying "They are besides Allah" does not form a coherent statement.
• The second is not valid, because they did not claim that; how could they speak what is an argument against them, or what—if they had said it—would be the truth and monotheism?
• Therefore, it remains that it is omitted. Its estimation is: "You claimed them [to be] gods besides Allah."

The pronoun referring back to the relative pronoun was omitted—as it was omitted in His saying: { Is this the one whom Allah has sent as a messenger? } (Al-Furqan: 41)—out of brevity, due to the length of the relative pronoun and its clause. And "gods" was omitted because it is described by the attribute { besides Allah }, and it is permissible to omit the described noun and let the attribute take its place if it is understood. Thus, both objects of za‘am are omitted for two different reasons.

{ And intercession does not benefit with Him except for those whom He permits. Until, when terror is removed from their hearts, they will say, "What has your Lord said?" They will say, "The Truth, and He is the Most High, the Grand." }