Quran Universe
36:75

لَا يَسۡتَطِيعُونَ نَصۡرَهُمۡ وَهُمۡ لَهُمۡ جُندٞ مُّحۡضَرُونَ

La yastateeAAoona nasrahum wahum lahum jundun muhdaroona

They are not able to help them, and they [themselves] are for them soldiers in attendance.

Word by word
  1. لَاNot
  2. يَسۡتَطِيعُونَthey are able
  3. نَصۡرَهُمۡto help them
  4. وَهُمۡbut they
  5. لَهُمۡfor them
  6. جُندٞ(are) hosts
  7. مُّحۡضَرُونَ(who will) be brought
Ya-Sin · 36:75Makkah

They cannot help you, yet you defend them like soldiers.

Fighting for things that cannot fight for you

A one-way loyalty
the worshippersangry for their idols
defend
the idolscannot help or protect
on that Daybrought as evidence
Who serves whom
it protects meso I guard it
I protect itand it gives nothing back

Qatadah said the idolators used to get angry for the sake of their gods, but the gods could not benefit or protect them. Mujahid said the idols will be present at the Reckoning, as proof against those who worshipped them.

You argue online for a celebrity who does not know you exist. You defend a brand, a team, a habit, like it is family. All that loyalty, and it cannot help you on the day you need it.

Standing up for the things I love shows I am loyal.

My loyalty belongs to what can truly help me, and that is Allah.

Try this

Notice one thing you get heated defending. Ask if it would ever stand up for you.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 36:74)

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.'