Quran Universe
36:74

وَٱتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ ءَالِهَةٗ لَّعَلَّهُمۡ يُنصَرُونَ

Waittakhathoo min dooni Allahi alihatan laAAallahum yunsaroona

But they have taken besides Allah [false] deities that perhaps they would be helped.

Word by word
  1. وَٱتَّخَذُواْBut they have taken
  2. مِنbesides
  3. دُونِbesides
  4. ٱللَّهِAllah
  5. ءَالِهَةٗgods
  6. لَّعَلَّهُمۡthat they may
  7. يُنصَرُونَbe helped
Ya-Sin · 36:74Makkah

They took other gods, hoping to be helped.

Looking for help in the wrong place

Their hope
the idolatorswanting help
turned to
other godsidols beside Allah
hoping forhelp, provision, nearness
Who can help
the substitutecannot even help itself
Allah alonethe real source

Ibn Kathir says the idolators hoped their gods would help them, provide for them, and bring them closer to Allah. The Quraysh kept idols around the Kabah for exactly this reason.

Things get hard and you reach for something: a person you think can fix it, a lucky charm, a contact, money in the bank. You turn to it before you turn to Allah. The verse asks where your hope goes first.

If I have the right connections, I will be fine.

Help comes from Allah first, and everything else is only a means.

Try this

Next time you need help today, make a short dua before you call or message anyone.

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

And they have taken besides Allah, gods, hoping that they might be helped (74)They cannot help them, but they will be brought forward as a troop (against those who worshipped them)(75)So, let not their speech then grieve you. Verily, We know what they conceal and what they reveal (76)

The gods of the Idolators are not able to help Them

Allah denounces the idolators for taking the idols as gods alongside Allah, hoping that those gods will help them and provide for them and bring them closer to Allah. Allah says:

لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَهُمْ 

(They cannot help them,) meaning, those gods cannot help their worshippers; they are too weak, too insignificant and too powerless. Rather they cannot even help themselves or take revenge on those who want to harm them, because they are inanimate and can neither hear nor comprehend. Allah's saying:

وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُنْدٌ مُحْضَرُونَ

(but they will be brought forward as a troop.) means, at the time of Reckoning according to the view of Mujahid. This means that those idols will be gathered together and will be present when their worshippers are brought to account, as this will add to their grief and will be more effective in establishing proof against them. Qatadah said:

لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَهُمْ

(They cannot help them,) means the gods.

وَهُمْ لَهُمْ جُنْدٌ مُحْضَرُونَ

(but they will be brought forward as a troop.) "The idolators used to get angry for the sake of their gods in this world, but they could not do them any benefit or protect them from any harm, for they were merely idols." This was also the view of Al-Hasan Al-Basri. This is a good opinion, and was the view favored by Ibn Jarir, may Allah have mercy on him.

Consolation for the Mercy to the Worlds

فَلَا يَحْزُنْكَ قَوْلُهُمْ ۘ 

(So, let not their speech then grieve you.) means, 'their denying you and their disbelief in Allah.'

إِنَّا نَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا يُعْلِنُونَ

(Verily, We know what they conceal and what they reveal.) means, 'We know everything about them, and We will punish them for their false claims and deal with them accordingly on the Day when none of their deeds, great or small, major or minor, will be overlooked, and every deed they did throughout their worldly lives will be laid open for examination.'