And they followed their leaders, the possessors of wealth and children. They adhered to what was prescribed for them regarding the worship of idols. Their wealth and children, which did not increase them except in prestige and benefit in this world, became a loss for them in the Hereafter. They made this a necessary attribute for themselves, a mark by which they are known, confirming and establishing it, and nullifying anything else. It is read: 'and his son' with a dammah on the waw and with a kasrah. 'And they plotted' is connected to 'did not increase him,' and the pronoun is plural, referring to the leaders, as it is in the meaning of plurality, and the plotters are the leaders.

Their plotting refers to their cunning in religion and their scheming against Noah, inciting people against him, and preventing them from leaning towards him and listening to him. Their saying to them: 'Do not abandon your gods to worship the Lord of Noah' is a great plotting. It is read with both light and heavy pronunciation. The term 'great' is greater than 'big.' The term 'great' is greater than 'great.' Similarly, 'tall' and 'tallest.' 'And do not abandon Wadd' indicates that these names were the greatest idols and the most significant to them. They specified them after saying 'do not abandon your gods.' These idols were transferred from the people of Noah to the Arabs. Wadd was for Kalb, Suwa' for Hamdan, Yaghuth for Madhhij, Ya'uq for Murad, and Nasr for Hamir. Therefore, the Arabs named themselves after Wadd and Yaghuth. It was said that they were the names of righteous men. It was said: from the children of Adam who died, Satan said to those after them: 'If you make images of them, you will look at them.' So they did. When those died, he said to those after them: 'They used to worship them, so they worshiped them.' It was said: Wadd was in the form of a man, Suwa' in the form of a woman, Yaghuth in the form of a lion, Ya'uq in the form of a horse, and Nasr in the form of a falcon. It is read: Wadd with a dammah on the waw. Al-A'mash read: 'and do not abandon Yaghuth and Ya'uq' with inflection. This reading is problematic because if they were Arabic or non-Arabic, there are reasons preventing inflection: either the definiteness and the form of the verb, or the definiteness and foreignness. Perhaps he intended the dual form and inflected them, encountering their sisters that are inflected: Wadd, Suwa', and Nasr, just as it is read: 'by the morning light' with inclination, due to its occurrence with the inclinations for the dual form.

'And they have misled' refers to the leaders. Its meaning is: 'And they have misled many before these who were commanded to adhere to the worship of idols; they are not the first to mislead them.' Or 'they have misled many by their misleading,' meaning that there are many among these misleaders. It is permissible that it refers to the idols, as Allah, the Exalted, said: 'Indeed, they have misled many of the people.' If you say: 'On what basis is the saying 'and do not increase the wrongdoers' connected?' I say: It is connected to the saying 'My Lord, indeed they have disobeyed me' as a narration of Noah's words after he said: 'And' is a substitute for it. Its meaning is: 'He said, My Lord, indeed they have disobeyed me,' and he said: 'Do not increase the wrongdoers except in misguidance,' meaning: he said these two sayings, and they are in the accusative case because they are the objects of 'he said,' just as you say: 'Zayd said, 'Call to prayer' and 'pray in the mosque,' narrating his two sayings, one connected to the other. If you say: 'How could he want for them misguidance and pray to Allah for its increase?' I say: The intended meaning of misguidance is that they be forsaken and prevented from divine graces due to their determination on disbelief and the despair of their faith, and that is good and beautiful, permissible to pray for. Rather, it is not good to pray against it. It is also permissible that by misguidance he means loss and destruction, due to His saying: 'And do not increase the wrongdoers except in destruction.'