Overall meaning : You, believers, have a good example in Abraham and the believers with him, when they said to their idolatrous people, ‘We disown you and what you worship besides Allah. We renounce you, and the enmity and hate that has arisen between us and you will last until you believe in Allah alone.’
The only exception was Abraham’s saying to his idolatrous father, ‘I will pray for forgiveness for you.’ Do not emulate the words of Abraham to his father, for no one must pray for forgiveness for the idolaters who associate partners with Allah even if they are their very relatives. [Abraham prayed for forgiveness for him only because he had promised him to do so. When, however, it became clear to Abraham, that his father was an enemy of Allah, he renounced him and refrained from praying for his forgiveness] Abraham then said to his father, ‘I can in no way protect you against Allah’s punishment if you persist in associating partners with Allah.’
Having renounced and left their idolatrous people, Abraham and the believers with him beseeched Allah, saying, ‘Lord, in You alone do we place our trust, to You alone do we tum in repentance, and to You is our return in the hereafter. Lord, do not make the unbelievers prevail over us lest they should subject us to persecution and turn us away from the truth we have embraced, and lest they think that they are following the truth and we are following falsehood, which will make them even more stubborn in their unbelief and arrogance. Forgive us our sins, Lord. You are the All-Mighty; who holds absolute sway over all that exists; the All-Wise, who places everything in its perfect place.’
Surely in Abraham and the believers who were with him, you, believers, have a good example for whoever hopes to attain Allah’s good pleasure and to be saved from His punishment. Whoever turns away from obeying Allah and following in the example of His messengers will harm none but himself and will not harm Allah in the least; for Allah is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy in His Being, names, and attributes.