and Manāt the third of the preceding two the other? al-ukhrā a derogatory qualification of the third one. These were stone idols which the idolaters worshipped and which they claimed interceded for them with God the first direct object of a-fa-ra’aytum ‘have you seen’ is al-Lāt and what has been supplemented thereto; the second direct object has been omitted. The meaning then is ‘Inform Me do these idols have the power over anything such that you worship them besides God Who has the power over all that has been mentioned?’ And because of their assertion also that the angels were God’s daughters despite their aversion to daughters the following was revealed