(27–30) “Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter surely designate the angels as female. * Yet they have no knowledge of this; they follow nothing but conjecture, and conjecture avails nothing against the truth. * So turn away from whoever turns away from Our Reminder and desires nothing but the life of this world. * That is the extent of their knowledge. Surely your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who is rightly guided.”
This means that the polytheists who disbelieve in Allah and deny His messengers do not believe in the Hereafter. Because of their unbelief in it, they dared to make statements and commit deeds in defiance of Allah and His Messenger, including their claim that “the angels are Allah’s daughters.” Thus, they did not declare their Lord above having offspring, nor did they honor the angels and deem them too exalted to be designated as female. Yet they possess no knowledge of this from either Allah or His Messenger, nor is it supported by sound innate disposition or reason. Rather, all sound knowledge proves the opposite of their claim: Allah is far above having children or a consort, for He is the One, the Unique, the Self-Sufficient Master, who neither begets nor was begotten, and none is comparable to Him. The angels, moreover, are honored and brought near to Allah, ever engaged in His service: “They do not disobey Allah in what He commands them, but do whatever they are commanded.” In this vile assertion, the polytheists (1) are merely following what is (2) conjecture, which avails nothing against the truth. The truth must instead rest upon certainty derived from conclusive evidence and manifest proofs.
Since it is the habitual way of those mentioned that they (3) have no interest in following the truth, but seek and pursue only what their souls desire, Allah commanded His Messenger to turn away from anyone who turns away from His Reminder—the Wise Reminder, the glorious Quran, and the noble message—thus turning away from beneficial knowledge and desiring nothing but the life of this world. That is the utmost extent of his desire, and it is well known that a servant acts only for what he desires.
Their endeavors are therefore confined to this world, its pleasures, and its desires. However these become available, they seize them, and whatever path to them presents itself, they hasten down it. “That is the extent of their knowledge”; that is, it is the utmost limit and end of their knowledge. As for those who believe in the Hereafter and affirm its truth—people of sound understanding and reason—their aspirations and desires are directed toward the abode of the Hereafter. Their knowledge is of the finest and noblest kind: knowledge derived from the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him.
Allah, Exalted is He, knows best who deserves guidance and guides him, and who does not deserve it, leaving him ⦗821⦘ to himself and forsaking him so that he strays from Allah’s path. Hence Allah, Exalted is He, says: “Surely your Lord knows best who has strayed from His path, and He knows best who is rightly guided.” He thus places His bounty where He knows it properly belongs.