“Intercession with Him is of no benefit except to one for whom He has granted permission. Then, when terror is removed from their hearts, they will say, ‘What did your Lord say?’ They will say, ‘The truth. And He is the Most High, the Most Great.’”
Nothing remained, then, but intercession, which He negated by saying: “Intercession with Him is of no benefit except to one for whom He has granted permission.” These are the various grounds upon which the polytheists rely in attaching themselves to their rivals and idols—whether human beings, trees, or anything else. Allah has severed them and demonstrated their invalidity in a manner that decisively eliminates the sources of polytheism and cuts it off at its roots. A polytheist invokes and worships someone other than Allah only because he hopes to obtain some benefit from him, and it is this hope that leads him into polytheism. If the one he invokes [besides Allah] possesses neither benefit nor harm, has no share in the Sovereign’s dominion, is neither the Sovereign’s assistant nor helper, and cannot intercede without the Sovereign’s permission, then such invocation and worship are irrational misguidance and invalid according to revealed law.
Indeed, the polytheist’s desired aim turns against him. He seeks benefit from these objects of worship, but Allah has made plain that such benefit is baseless and nonexistent. In other verses, He has explained the harm it causes its worshippers (1), and that on the Day of Resurrection they will disavow and curse one another, while their abode will be the Fire: “When humanity is gathered, they will become enemies to them and will disavow their worship.”
⦗679⦘ Astonishingly, the polytheist is too proud to follow the messengers on the pretext (2) that they are human beings, yet he is content to worship and invoke trees and stones. He is too proud to devote worship sincerely to the Sovereign, the Most Merciful, the Judge, yet is content to worship one who is more likely to harm him than benefit him, in obedience to his bitterest enemy—Satan.
Regarding His words, “Then, when terror is removed from their hearts, they will say, ‘What did your Lord say?’ They will say, ‘The truth. And He is the Most High, the Most Great,’” it is possible that the pronoun here refers to the polytheists, since they were the most recently mentioned, and the rule regarding pronouns is that they refer to the nearest antecedent. The meaning would then be that, when the Day of Resurrection comes and terror is removed from the polytheists’ hearts—that is, when their fear subsides—and they are questioned, once their faculties return to them, about their condition in this world and their rejection of the truth brought by the messengers, they will acknowledge that the disbelief and polytheism they followed were false, and that what Allah said and what His messengers reported from Him was the truth. What they had previously concealed will then become apparent to them; they will know that the truth belongs to Allah and will confess their sins.
“He is the Most High” in His Essence, above all His creatures; in His subjugation of them; and in His lofty rank, by virtue of His magnificent and sublime attributes. He is “the Most Great” in His Essence and attributes.
Part of His exaltedness is that His judgment prevails and souls submit to it—even the souls of the arrogant and the polytheists.
This meaning is more apparent and is the one indicated by the context. It is also possible, however, that the pronoun refers to the angels. When Allah Most High speaks the revelation, the angels hear it, are struck senseless, and fall down in prostration before Allah. Gabriel is the first to raise his head, and Allah then speaks to him, conveying whatever revelation He wills. When the angels recover from their stupor and the terror leaves their hearts, they ask one another about the words that had struck them senseless: “What did your Lord say?” They reply to one another, “The truth.” They may say this in general terms, knowing that He speaks nothing but the truth, or they may say, “He said such and such,” referring to the words they heard from Him—and those words are the truth.
According to this interpretation, the meaning is: How could the polytheists who worshipped alongside Allah those gods whose helplessness, deficiency, and complete inability to benefit we have described to you have turned away and been diverted from devoting worship sincerely to the magnificent Lord, the Most High, the Most Great? Such is His greatness and majesty that, when the noble angels—the creatures brought nearest to Him—hear His speech, their submission and stupor reach such a degree, and they all affirm that Allah speaks nothing but the truth.
What, then, is the matter with these polytheists that they are too proud to worship One whose affair is such and whose dominion and authority are so mighty? Exalted is the Most High, the Most Great, far above the polytheists’ ascription of partners to Him, their fabrications, and their lies.