Then he clarified this loss which returned him to what he was in before the literal faith by saying: ﴿He calls﴾ meaning he truly worships or metaphorically with renewal and continuity by relying on others than Allah and opposing ﴿You alone we ask for help﴾ [Al-Fatiha: 5]. And since everything besides Allah is beneath Him, he pointed out that by saying: ﴿besides Allah﴾ meaning from the lowest rank of those who possess the attributes of perfection.

And since the requirement for worship is indeed the action by choice, while the action that is necessitated by nature and compulsion does not count in that, for there is no ability to detach from it, so there is no praise for its doer, he pointed out that by saying: ﴿what does not harm him﴾ meaning in any way (p-19) from the aspects until not even by cutting off benefit if it can be imagined from him.

And since he presented harm because it is among the accepted excuses for committing mistakes, he followed it with benefit, cutting off every statement, saying: ﴿and what does not benefit him﴾ in any way from the aspects nor by leaving harm if it exists from him. And if the word 'what' had been omitted from the second, it would have been presumed that the blame would require the negation of both harm and benefit together, so that whoever claims what one of them has been negated from him would not be blamed. ﴿That﴾ meaning the action indicating the greatest folly, which is the invocation of something that has been negated from it the ability to benefit, or something that has been negated from it the ability to harm. ﴿It is﴾ meaning alone ﴿the far astray﴾ from the truth and guidance that has led to the wildernesses of ignorance from which return cannot be achieved. This is because the first, if he left his worship, would not be able to prevent his good, and the second, if he were to follow it, would not reach his benefit nor by leaving his harm. Thus, their worship is futile, for the action of both is equal to its abandonment.