(38) “If you ask them, ‘Who created the heavens and the earth?’ they will surely say, ‘Allah.’ Say, ‘Then consider those whom you invoke besides Allah: if Allah intends harm for me, can they remove His harm? Or if He intends mercy for me, can they withhold His mercy?’ Say, ‘Allah is sufficient for me. In Him let those who trust place their trust.’”

That is: If you ask these misguided people who seek to frighten you with those besides Him, presenting them with evidence drawn from their own admission, “Who created the heavens and the earth?” they will not attribute any part of their creation to their gods. “They will surely say, ‘Allah,’” who alone created them.

“Say” to them, establishing the impotence of their gods after Allah’s power has become clear: “Then consider”—that is, tell me about—“those whom you invoke besides Allah: if Allah intends harm for me,” whatever kind of harm it may be, “can they remove His harm” by eliminating it entirely or alleviating it in some measure? “Or if He intends mercy for me,” thereby bringing me some benefit in my religion or worldly life, “can they withhold His mercy” and prevent it from reaching me? They will say: No. They can neither remove harm nor withhold mercy.

Once the decisive proof has established that He alone is worthy of worship, that He is the Creator of all creatures, and that He alone brings benefit and harm, while all besides Him are utterly incapable of creating or of bringing benefit or harm, say to them—seeking His sufficiency and protection from their schemes and plots—“Allah is sufficient for me. In Him let those who trust place their trust.” That is, those who trust rely upon Him to secure what benefits them and ward off what harms them. He alone possesses the power to suffice, and He is sufficient for me. He will suffice me in everything that concerns me and even in that which does not concern me.