Surah 46. Al-Ahqaf, Ayah 28

This clause gives the meaning of the expression qurbanan, which contains an allusion not merely to false deities but also to the deification of saints,living or dead, who allegedly act as mediators between man and the transcendental Supreme Being.

Lit., "that was their lie and all that they were wont to invent .

The false things that they worshipped were figments of their imagination. If they had had any existence in fact, it was not of the kind they imagined.