[992] The most well-known idols the Arabs worshipped in the age of ignorance were goddesses with female names, like: al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, Manāt (53: 19-20), which is curious given that female inferiority was engrained in the then Arab psyche (16: 58-59). This contradiction is pointed out here, using their own logic against them.
[993] They only worship false idols because Satan has tricked them into this (cf. 71: 23; al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).