Talking to the dead was against the law of Moses. God or the Holy Spirit left Saul because of his sin and would not help him. (See: [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/other/death]], [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/lawofmoses]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/holyspirit]] and [[rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/sin]])
Samuel uses a rhetorical question to say it was useless to ask his advice since there was no way Saul could be successful with God against him: "What then do you ask me, since Yahweh has left you, and he has become your enemy?" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])