(68) “Say, O People of the Book, you have no ground to stand on until you uphold the Torah, the Gospel, and what has been sent down to you from your Lord. Yet what has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.”

That is: Address the People of the Book, openly proclaiming their misguidance and exposing their falsehood: “You have no ground to stand on” in matters of religion. You have neither believed in the Quran and Muhammad, nor affirmed your own prophet and scripture. You have neither held fast to the truth nor relied upon any sound foundation, “until you uphold the Torah and the Gospel”—that is, until you establish them by believing in them, following them, and holding fast to everything to which they call.

And until you uphold “what has been sent down to you from your Lord,” who nurtured you, bestowed His blessings upon you, and made the sending down of the scriptures to you His greatest blessing. You are therefore obliged to give thanks to Allah, adhere to His rulings, and faithfully discharge the trust and covenant of Allah that you were charged to uphold.

“Yet what has been sent down to you from your Lord will surely increase many of them in transgression and disbelief. So do not grieve over the disbelieving people.”