“Say, ‘What is greatest in testimony?’ Say, ‘Allah. He is Witness between me and you. This Quran has been revealed to me so that by it I may warn you and whomever it reaches. Do you truly testify that there are other gods alongside Allah?’ Say, ‘I do not testify to that.’ Say, ‘He is only One God, and I disavow whatever you associate with Him.’ * Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognize it as readily as they recognize their own sons. Those who have lost themselves will not believe.”
“Say” to them—now that We have made guidance clear to them and plainly shown them the paths—“What is greatest in testimony?” regarding this mighty fundamental truth. “Say, ‘Allah’”: Allah’s testimony is the greatest, for “He is Witness between me and you.” No testimony is more momentous or greater than His. He testifies in my favor by His approval and His acts, confirming me in what I have told you. Allah says:
“Had he falsely attributed some statements to Us, We would certainly have seized him by the right hand, then severed his aorta.”
Allah is All-Wise and All-Powerful. It would therefore be inconsistent with His wisdom and power to allow someone who lies about Him to persist—someone who claims that Allah sent him when He did not, that Allah commanded him to call creation when He did not, and that Allah made lawful to him the lives, wealth, and women of those who opposed him. Yet Allah would, despite all this, be attesting to his truth through His approval and His acts, supporting him in what ⦗253⦘ he has said with dazzling miracles and manifest signs, granting him victory, and forsaking those who oppose and show him enmity. What testimony could be greater than this?
His words, “This Quran has been revealed to me so that by it I may warn you and whomever it reaches,” mean that Allah revealed this noble Quran to me for your benefit and welfare, so that through it I might warn you of painful punishment. Such warning is conveyed by setting forth promises and threats and by explaining the outward and inward deeds and words through which one heeds the warning. This Quran therefore contains a warning for you who are being addressed and for everyone whom the Quran reaches until the Day of Resurrection, for it explains all that anyone needs concerning divine matters.
After Allah had set forth His testimony—the greatest of all testimonies—to His oneness, He said: Tell those who oppose Allah’s declaration and deny His messengers, “Do you truly testify that there are other gods alongside Allah? Say, ‘I do not testify to that.’” That is, if they so testify, do not testify with them.
Compare, then, the testimony of the most truthful of all who speak, the Lord of the worlds, together with the testimony of the purest of creation—supported by conclusive proofs and radiant evidence—that Allah alone is One and has no partner, with the testimony of the polytheists, whose minds and religions have fallen into confusion, whose views and morals have become corrupt, and who have made themselves a laughingstock to people of reason.
Indeed, their testimony contradicts their own natural disposition, and their statements contradict one another in asserting that there are other gods alongside Allah, even though not the slightest specious argument supports what they say, let alone any proof. Choose for yourself which of these two testimonies to accept, if you possess reason. As for us, we choose for ourselves what Allah chose for His Prophet, whom He commanded us to follow. He said, “Say, ‘He is only One God.’” That is, He alone deserves worship and divinity, just as He alone creates and governs.
“And I disavow whatever you associate with Him”—whether idols, rivals, or anything else associated with Allah. This is the reality of monotheism: affirming divinity for Allah and denying it of everything besides Him.
After setting forth His own testimony and that of His Messenger to monotheism, as well as the contrary testimony of the polytheists, who possess no knowledge, Allah states that the People of the Scripture—the Jews and Christians—“recognize it”; that is, they recognize the truth of monotheism “as readily as they recognize their own sons.” They have no doubt whatsoever about it, just as they do not confuse their children with others—especially their sons, who generally remain close to their fathers.
It is also possible that the pronoun refers to the Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and that the People of the Scripture have no doubt about the truth of his mission. They do not question it because their scriptures contain glad tidings of him and descriptions that apply to him and no one else. The two meanings are inseparably connected.
His words, “Those who have lost themselves,” mean that they have caused themselves to miss the purpose for which they were created—faith and monotheism—and have deprived themselves of the bounty of the Glorious Sovereign. “They will not believe.” If they lack faith, then do not ask how great the loss and evil that will befall them will be.