مَا زَاغَ الْبَصَرُ وَمَا طَغَى ﴿۱۷﴾ لَقَدْ رَأَى مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِ الْكُبْرَى ﴿۱۸﴾ أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ اللَّاتَ وَالْعُزَّى ﴿۱۹﴾ وَمَنَاةَ الثَّالِثَةَ الْأُخْرَى ﴿۲۰﴾ أَلَكُمُ الذَّكَرُ وَلَهُ الْأُنْثَى ﴿۲۱﴾ تِلْكَ إِذًا قِسْمَةٌ ضِيزَى ﴿۲۲﴾

﴾17﴿ Maa zaaghal basaru wa maa taghaa
﴾18﴿ Laqad ra aa min aayaati Rabbihil kubraaa
﴾19﴿ Afara'aytumul laata wal 'uzzaa
﴾20﴿ Wa manaatas saalisatal ukhraa
﴾21﴿ A-lakumuz zakaru wa lahul unsaa
﴾22﴿ Tilka izan qismatun deezaa

﴾17﴿ His gaze did not waver, nor did it transgress
﴾18﴿ Indeed, he saw some of the greatest signs of the power of his Lord
﴾19﴿ Have you considered [the idols] Lāt and ‘Uzzā
﴾20﴿ And Manāt, the third one, the last
﴾21﴿ Do you have sons while He has daughters
﴾22﴿ This is an unjust division

[17] In this is a description of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace), that he observed the utmost etiquette in this station and did not turn his gaze away from his objective.
There are two ways of turning one's gaze from the intended objective: one is to look to the right or left of it, and the other is to let the gaze pass beyond the intended point.
Both of these have been negated in regard to the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace):
With “مَا زَاغَ”, the first type is negated (turning to the sides).
With “مَا طَغَى”, the second type is negated (going beyond the intended point).
[18] (آيَاتِ رَبِّهِ الْكُبْرَى) — The phrase is general and includes all the events and scenes the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) witnessed during the night of Mi‘raj: meeting the Prophets (peace be upon them), seeing Paradise and Hell, seeing the people of both, seeing Jibril (peace be upon him) in the form of a green carpet (rafraf), and seeing other angels.
Ibn Kathir stated that the wording “مِنْ آيَاتِ رَبِّهِ” indicates that Allah Almighty Himself was not seen.
However, those who affirm the vision of Allah base their view on the previous verse “مَا كَذَبَ الْفُؤَادُ مَا رَأَى”, arguing that it supports the possibility — as there is no explicit denial in this verse.
[19,20] Since the truthfulness of the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) was mentioned — that all his speech is revelation from Allah Almighty through the mediation of Jibril — now the purpose of the revelation is mentioned: it is a refutation of the polytheism of the idolaters.
That is, the basis of the polytheists’ association (shirk) is mere conjecture and following desires, whereas the basis of the Prophet’s message is divine revelation.
(اللَّاتَ) — These three deities are specifically mentioned because they were very well-known and greatly revered by the polytheists.
Imam Bukhari narrates from Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that Lat was a man who used to prepare a dish made of roasted flour mixed with oil or water and serve it to pilgrims — he was generous and respected.
Qurtubi says that after he died, the idolaters began worshiping his grave, and the tribe of Thaqif started worshiping the stone on which he used to sit and prepare the food. They built a structure around it, covered it with cloths, and performed circumambulation (tawaf) around it.
(وَالْعُزَّى) — Imam Nasa’i narrates that when Makkah was conquered, the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) sent Khalid ibn al-Walid to the place of Nakhla (between Makkah and Ta’if), where the idol ‘Uzza was worshiped.
There were three acacia trees and a shrine. Khalid cut down the trees and destroyed the shrine. He returned and informed the Prophet, who told him: "Go back, you haven't finished the job — ‘Uzza still remains."
When Khalid returned, the attendants of ‘Uzza gathered and shouted her name to scare him. Suddenly, a naked, disheveled woman appeared, throwing dust on her head. Khalid struck her with his sword and killed her. When he returned, the Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) said: “That was ‘Uzza — she will never be worshiped again.”
This proves she was a jinn, and Quraysh and Banu Kinana considered her their second greatest deity. They performed tawaf around her shrine and made vows in her name.
This verse thus refutes the polytheists' worship of jinn.
(وَمَنَاةَ) — This was also the name of a man who was highly honored by them. The tribes of Aws and Khazraj had built a shrine in his name at Qudayd, covered it with cloths, and used to perform tawaf around it. Many animals were sacrificed there in the name of Manāt.
The Prophet (May Allah bless him and give him peace) sent Abu Sufyan or Ali ibn Abi Talib to completely destroy it.
[21,22] This is a refutation of the polytheists concerning the angels, because they attributed to Allah Almighty that the angels are His daughters, and they also worshiped them, while considering daughters to be a disgrace for themselves.
(قِسْمَةٌ ضِيزَى) — meaning, if such a division were made among people, they would call it an unjust and deficient division — so how can you make such a division with the Lord of Might and Glory?