Quran Universe
17:56

قُلِ ٱدۡعُواْ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمۡتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَلَا يَمۡلِكُونَ كَشۡفَ ٱلضُّرِّ عَنكُمۡ وَلَا تَحۡوِيلًا

Quli odAAu allatheena zaAAamtum min doonihi fala yamlikoona kashfa alddurri AAankum wala tahweelan

Say, "Invoke those you have claimed [as gods] besides Him, for they do not possess the [ability for] removal of adversity from you or [for its] transfer [to someone else]."

Word by word
  1. قُلِSay
  2. ٱدۡعُواْCall
  3. ٱلَّذِينَthose whom
  4. زَعَمۡتُمyou claimed
  5. مِّنbesides Him
  6. دُونِهِۦbesides Him
  7. فَلَا[then] not
  8. يَمۡلِكُونَthey have power
  9. كَشۡفَ(to) remove
  10. ٱلضُّرِّthe misfortunes
  11. عَنكُمۡfrom you
  12. وَلَاand not
  13. تَحۡوِيلًا(to) transfer (it)
Al-Isra · 17:56Makkah

Call on them. They cannot lift your hardship, or even shift it.

Testing what you rely on

The challenge
you in hardship
call on
what you worshipbesides Allah
can neither
remove nor move it
Who can lift it
anyone with power
Allah alonecreates and commands

The Prophet ﷺ was told to challenge the idolaters directly: go ahead and call on them. Ibn Kathir says they have no power at all to remove a hardship, or even to pass it onto someone else. Only Allah can do that, the One who creates and commands.

The test results come back bad. You refresh the forum, call the specialist, read every article at 2am. All of that is fine. But none of it can lift this. Make sure your first and last call is to Him.

The right expert or connection can fix my problem.

People are means, but only Allah can remove or even shift a hardship.

Try this

Before your next appointment or call about a problem, make dua for it first.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Say: "Call upon those - besides Him whom you pretend. They have neither the power to remove the adversity from you nor even to shift (it from you to another person). (56)Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord, as to which of them should be the nearest; and they hope for His mercy and fear His torment. Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something) to be afraid of (57)

The gods of the Idolators can neither benefit nor harm; rather they themselves seek to draw close to Allah

Allah says:

قُل

(Say) O Muhammad to these idolators who worship things other than Allah,

ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم مِّن دُونِهِ

(Call upon those - besides Him whom you pretend.) such as idols and rivals of Allah. Even if you turn to them,

فَلَا يَمْلِكُونَ كَشْفَ الضُّرِّ عَنكُمْ

(They have neither the power to remove the adversity from you) they have no such power at all,

وَلَا تَحْوِيلًا

(nor even to shift (it from you to another person.)) to lift the distress from you and give it to someone else. The meaning is that the only one Who is able to do that is Allah Alone, with no partner or associate, Who is the One Who creates and issues commands.

قُلِ ادْعُوا الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُم

(Say: "Call upon those whom you pretend) Al-'Awfi reported from Ibn 'Abbas, "The people of Shirk used to say, 'we worship the angels and the Messiah and 'Uzayr,' while these (the angels and the Messiah and 'Uzayr) themselves call upon Allah."

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ

(Those whom they call upon, desire) Al-Bukhari recorded from Sulayman bin Mahran Al-A'mash, from Ibrahim, from Abu Ma'mar, from 'Abdullah:

أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ يَبْتَغُونَ إِلَىٰ رَبِّهِمُ الْوَسِيلَةَ

(Those whom they call upon, desire a means of access to their Lord,) "Some of the Jinn used to be worshipped, then they became Muslims." According to another report: "Some humans used to worship some of the Jinn, then those Jinn became Muslim, but those humans adhered to their religion (of worshipping the Jinn)."

وَيَرْجُونَ رَحْمَتَهُ وَيَخَافُونَ عَذَابَهُ

(they hope for His mercy and fear His torment.) Worship cannot be complete or perfect unless it is accompanied by both fear and hope. Fear stops one from doing things that are forbidden, and hope makes one do more good deeds.

إِنَّ عَذَابَ رَبِّكَ كَانَ مَحْذُورًا

(Verily, the torment of your Lord is (something) to be afraid of!) meaning, one should beware of it and be afraid lest it happen. We seek refuge with Allah from that.