And those who call upon the idols that the disbelievers call upon besides Allah. It has been read with the feminine form. It has also been read: they are called, in the passive form. He negated for them the characteristics of divinity by denying that they are creators, and that they are alive and do not die, and that they have knowledge of the time of resurrection. He affirmed for them the attributes of creation, as they are created beings, and they are dead, and they are ignorant of the unseen. The meaning of "dead not alive" is that if they were truly gods, they would be alive and not dead, meaning it is not permissible for them to die, like the living who do not die, while their condition is the opposite. The pronoun in "they will be resurrected" refers to those who call upon them, meaning they do not know when their worshippers will be resurrected. This mocks the polytheists, and that their gods do not know the time of their resurrection, so how can there be a time for reward from them for their worship? It indicates that resurrection is necessary and is one of the requirements of obligation. Another point is that the meaning could be that people create them by carving and shaping, while they are unable to do anything like that. They are more incapable than their worshippers, being dead, lifeless objects with no life in them, unlike the living, meaning that among the dead, there are those whose death is followed by life, like the sperm that Allah creates into a living being, and the bodies of animals that are resurrected after their death. As for stones, they are dead with no life following their death, and that is more profound in their death. And they do not know when they will be resurrected, meaning these gods have no knowledge of when the living will be resurrected, mocking their condition, because the perception of inanimate objects is impossible. How could they have perception of what no living being knows except the Ever-Living, glorified and exalted is He, which is the time of resurrection? And a third point is that those who are called could refer to the angels, and some people worshipped them, and they are dead, meaning they must die, not alive, meaning their life does not remain. And they do not know: nor do they have knowledge of the time of their resurrection. It has also been read: "when" with the hamzah being pronounced.