Another group said: Those described by this are the polytheists.

Al-Hasan and Ibn Zayd said: When fear is removed from the hearts of the polytheists at the approach of death, so that the proof may be established against them, the angels will ask them, “What did your Lord say in the worldly life?” They will reply, “The truth.” Thus, they will acknowledge it at a time when such acknowledgment will no longer benefit them. (1)

“Say, ‘Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?’ Say, ‘Allah.’ And indeed, we or you are either upon guidance or in clear error.’ Say, ‘You will not be asked about what we have committed, nor will we be asked about what you do.’ Say, ‘Our Lord will bring us together; then He will judge between us in truth. And He is the All-Decisive Judge, the All-Knowing.’ Say, ‘Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners.’ No indeed! Rather, He is Allah, the Almighty, the All-Wise. And We have not sent you except to all mankind, as a bearer of good tidings and a warner; but most people do not know.” (24–28)

His saying, exalted is He, “Say, ‘Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?’” Provision from the heavens is rain, and from the earth is vegetation. “Say, ‘Allah,’” meaning: if they do not say, “Allah is our Provider,” then say yourself, “Indeed, Allah is your Provider.”

“And indeed, we or you are either upon guidance or in clear error.” This is not stated as an expression of doubt, but as a matter of fairness in argumentation—just as one person might say to another, “One of us is lying,” while knowing that he himself is truthful and the other is lying.

The meaning is that we and you are not upon the same course; rather, one of the two parties is rightly guided and the other is astray. Thus, the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and those who follow him are upon guidance, while whoever opposes him is in error. In this way, he declared them liars without explicitly saying so.

Some said that “or” here carries the meaning of “and,” and that its initial alif is merely supplementary, as though He had said: “Indeed, we and you are upon guidance or in clear error”—meaning: we are upon guidance, while you are in error.

“Say, ‘You will not be asked about what we have committed, nor will we be asked about what you do.’” “Say, ‘Our Lord will bring us together,’” meaning, on the Day of Resurrection; “then He will judge,” that is, He will decide, “between us in truth. And He is the All-Decisive Judge, the All-Knowing.”

“Say, ‘Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners,’” meaning: inform Me of those whom you have associated with Him—that is, with Allah—as partners in worship alongside Him. Do they create? Do they provide? “No indeed!” They neither create nor provide. “Rather, He is Allah, the Almighty,” the One who prevails in His command, “the All-Wise,” in His governance of His creation. How, then, could He have a partner in His dominion?

His saying, glorified and exalted is He, “And We have not sent you except to all mankind,” means: to all people, red and black alike; “as a bearer of good tidings and a warner,” that is, one who brings glad tidings and gives warning; “but most people do not know.” It has been narrated to us from Jabir that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him,