أَمْ لَهُمْ ءَالِهَةٌ تَمْنَعُهُم مِّن دُونِنَا ۚ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ نَصْرَ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَلَا هُم مِّنَّا يُصْحَبُونَ
Important Words:
یصحبون (be befriended) is derived from صحب. They say صحبه i.e. he lived with him; he was or became his companion, friend etc. أصحب الرجل means, he protected or guarded the man. صحبک اللّٰه means, may God protect you (Taj & Aqrab).
Commentary:
Besides its general sense the allusion of the verse may be to the Fall of Mecca when the Ka‘bah was cleared of the 360 idols which were kept in it. The verse purports to say that when those idols could not protect themselves from the terrible fate that was meted out to them, how could they help their votaries? Abu Sufyan, the Quraishite chief, when asked by the Holy Prophet on the day of the Fall of Mecca whether he had not yet realized that there was no god but the One Almighty God, replied, "Had there been any other gods beside God, verily they had been of some avail to us" (Muir’s The Life of Mahomet, 1923 edition, p. 404).