(71) Say ˹Muhammad˺: “Are we to pray to that – apart from Allah – which neither benefits us nor harms us[1400]; and be turned on our heels when Allah guided us[1401]?” ˹And be˺ Like the one who was lured by the devils ˹to stray˺ in the land, bewildered, while he has ˹true˺ friends calling him to guidance: “Come to us!” Say: “Indeed ˹true˺ guidance is the guidance of Allah! We were commanded to ˹devoutly˺ submit to the Lord of all beings”.
[1400] This implies the surrounding idolaters, who worshipped nothing more than inanimate objects, statues and carvings (cf. al-Rāzī). [1401] Back to the old days of misguidedness. (al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī)