"They said," the angels said, "Exalted are You," declaring God free from what the polytheists said.
"You are our Guardian, not them," meaning: We did not befriend them in their worship of us. "Rather, they used to worship the jinn," meaning the devils; they are the ones who invited them to worship us, so by obeying the devils, they were worshiping them. "But most of them," meaning the group of polytheists, "in them," meaning the devils, "were believers," affirming what they whispered to them regarding the worship of those they worshiped; thus, they worshiped them.
﴿قَالُوا﴾ ﴿قَالَت الْمَلَائِكَة﴾ (سُبْحَانَكَ﴾ ينزِّهون اللَّه عَمَّا قَالَ الْمُشْركُونَ.
﴿أَنتَ وَلِيُّنَا مِن دُونِهِم﴾ أَي: أَنَا لمْ نَكُنْ نواليهم عَلَى عِبَادَتهم إيانًا ﴿بَلْ كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ الْجِنَّ﴾ الشَّيَاطِينَ هِيَ الَّتِي دَعَتْهُمْ إِلَى عبادتنا؛ فهم بطاعتهم الشَّيَاطِين عَابِدُونَ لَهُم ﴿بل أَكْثَرُهُم﴾ يَعْنِي: جمَاعَة الْمُشْركين ﴿بِهِم﴾ أَي: بالشياطين ﴿مُّؤْمِنُونَ﴾ مصدقون بِمَا وسوسوا إِلَيْهِم بِعبَادة من عبدُوا؛ فعبدوهم
