فَلَوْلَا نَصَرَهُمُ الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ قُرْبَانًا آلِهَةً بَلْ ضَلُّوا عَنْهُمْ وَذَٰلِكَ إِفْكُهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ
Falawla nasarahumu allatheena ittakhathoo min dooni Allahi qurbanan alihatan bal dalloo AAanhum wathalika ifkuhum wama kanoo yaftaroona
Then why (did) not help them those whom they had taken besides Allah gods as a way of approach? Nay, they were lost from them. And that (was) their falsehood and what they were inventing.
But, then, did those [beings] whom they had chosen to worship as deities beside God, hoping that they would bring them nearer [to Him], help them [in the end]?* Nay, they forsook them: for that [alleged divinity] was but an outcome of their self-delusion and all their false imagery.*
Why then was no help forthcoming to them from those whom they worshipped as gods, besides God, as a means of access (to God)? Nay, they left them in the lurch: but that was their falsehood and their invention.
Then why did those whom they had chosen for gods as a way of approach (unto Allah) not help them? Nay, but they did fail them utterly. And (all) that was their lie, and what they used to invent.
Then why did those whom they took for gods besides Allah to draw (them) nigh (to Him) not help them? Nay, they failed them. And this was their lie and what they forged.
Then why did those they took besides Allah as deities by which to approach [Him] not aid them? But they had strayed from them. And that was their falsehood and what they were inventing.