22:72
وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتُنَا بَيِّنَٰتٍۢ تَعْرِفُ فِى وُجُوهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْمُنكَرَ ۖ يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِٱلَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَٰتِنَا ۗ قُلْ أَفَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّۢ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمُ ۗ ٱلنَّارُ وَعَدَهَا ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, you recognize in the faces of those who disbelieve disapproval. They are almost on the verge of assaulting those who recite to them Our verses. Say, "Then shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that? [It is] the Fire which Allah has promised those who disbelieve, and wretched is the destination."
Translation · Saheeh International
Tafsir
Ibn Kathīr (abridged)
The Idolators' worship of others besides Allah and Their vehement rejection of the Ayat of Allah
Allah tells us that the idolators, in their ignorance and disbelief, worship besides Allah others which He has sent down no authority for, i.e., no proof or evidence for such behavior. This is like the Ayah:
وَمَن يَدْعُ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَـهَا ءَاخَرَ لاَ بُرْهَانَ لَهُ بِهِ فَإِنَّمَا حِسَابُهُ عِندَ رَبِّهِ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُفْلِحُ الْكَـفِرُونَ
(And whoever calls upon, besides Allah, any other god, of whom he has no proof; then his reckoning is only with his Lord. Surely, the disbelievers will not be successful.) 23:117 So Allah says here:
مَا لَمْ يُنَزِّلْ بِهِ سُلْطَـناً وَمَا لَيْسَ لَهُمْ بِهِ عِلْمٌ
(for which He has sent down no authority, and of which they have no knowledge;) meaning, they have no knowledge in the subject that they fabricate lies about; it is only something which was handed down to them from their fathers and ancestors, with no evidence or proof, and its origins lie in that which the Shaytan beautified for them and made attractive to them. Allah warned them: