And when the supplication of the messengers, blessings and peace be upon them, is worthy of acceptance due to their majesty, sweetness, eloquence, brilliance, and manifestation in success, they affirmed their saying: ﴿Do not leave your gods﴾. That is, do not leave them in any condition, whether bad or good. They added it to them in caution regarding it. Then they specifically named them, adding emphasis in urging and clarifying the intended meaning, saying, repeating the prohibition and the action for emphasis: ﴿And do not leave﴾. And perhaps they were agreeing with the Arabs that love is abundant affection, so it was appropriate for the occasion with their own saying: ﴿Wudd﴾. They reiterated the negation for emphasis, saying: ﴿And do not leave Suwa﴾. They confirmed this emphasis and conveyed it strongly, saying: ﴿And do not leave Yaghuth﴾. When the emphasis reached its peak and it was known that the intended meaning was the prohibition of every individual, not of the group by the condition of the collective, they stripped it bare, saying: ﴿And Ya'uq and Nasr﴾, stripped of emphasis for the knowledge of its intention. These were righteous people, and when they died, the people mourned them. Then, Iblis adorned for them the image of them to entice them to act by their good ways, so they depicted them. When time passed, he adorned for them their worship to obtain worldly benefits by their blessings. Then the righteous people were forgotten, and they were made idols, gods besides Allah. The worship of these was the first worship of idols. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, sent Noah, blessings and peace be upon him, to prohibit that until what is known of his command and the command of his people. Then Iblis brought forth these idols after the flood, and his evil reached the Arabs. Wudd was for Kalb in Dumat al-Jandal, and Suwa was for Hudhail, and Yaghuth was for Mudar, and Ya'uq was for Murad, and Nasr was for Hamir, for the family of Dhul-Kala'. It was said otherwise - and Allah knows best. Al-Baghawi said: Suwa was for Hudhail, and Yaghuth was for Mudar, then for Banu Ghatif in al-Jurf from Saba, and Ya'uq was for Hamadhan. Abu Hayyan said: Abu Uthman al-Nahdi said: I saw Yaghuth, and he was made of lead, riding on a bare camel. They would walk with him without provoking him until he would be the one to kneel. When he knelt, they would dismount and say: 'Your dwelling has pleased you.' So they would dismount around him and build a structure over him. It was narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, regarding the reason for the arrival of the evil of those idols to the Arabs that they were buried by the flood, then the devil brought them forth for the polytheists of the Arabs. The Arabs had other idols: Al-Lat for Thaqif, Al-Uzza for Sulaym and Ghatfan and Jashim, and Manat for Badi' for Hudhail, and Isaf and Na'ilah and Hubal for the people of Mecca. Isaf was facing the Black Stone, and Na'ilah was facing the Yemeni corner, and Hubal was inside the Kaaba - it has ended. Al-Waqidi said: Wudd in the form of a man, and Suwa in the form of a woman, and Yaghuth in the form of a lion, and Ya'uq in the form of a horse, and Nasr in the form of an eagle - it has ended.

And this does not contradict that they are images of righteous people. For their depiction can be drawn from their meanings. It is as if there was a love that was the most complete among them in masculinity. And Suwa' was a complete woman in worship. And Yaghuth was brave, and Ya'uq was a strong pioneer. And Nasr was a great eagle with a long life - and Allah, the Most High, knows best.