⦗56 - 58⦘ “Say, ‘I have been forbidden to worship those whom you invoke besides Allah.’ Say, ‘I do not follow your desires, for then I would have gone astray and would not be among the rightly guided.’ * Say, ‘I stand upon clear proof from my Lord, yet you have denied it. I do not possess that which you seek to hasten. Judgment belongs to Allah alone. He relates the truth, and He is the best of judges.’ * Say, ‘If I possessed that which you seek to hasten, the matter between you and me would already have been decided. Allah knows the wrongdoers best.’”
Allah Most High says to His Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): “Say” to these polytheists who invoke other gods alongside Allah: “I have been forbidden to worship those whom you invoke besides Allah”—the rivals and idols that have no power to confer benefit or inflict harm, nor over death, life, or resurrection. This is falsehood, for which you have neither proof nor even a plausible argument. Nor is following caprice a valid basis, for following it is the gravest misguidance. Hence He said: “Say, ‘I do not follow your desires, for then I would have gone astray’”—that is, if I were to follow your desires—“and would not be among the rightly guided” in any respect whatsoever. As for the path I follow—affirming Allah’s oneness and devoting all deeds sincerely to Him—it is the truth, supported by decisive proofs and evidence.
“I stand upon clear proof from my Lord”; that is, I possess manifest certainty of its truth and of the falsehood of everything contrary to it. This is decisive testimony from the Messenger, admitting no hesitation, and he is the most just of all witnesses. The believers therefore accepted it as true, and its soundness and truth became clear to them in accordance with what Allah bestowed upon them.
“Yet” you, O polytheists, “have denied it,” although it deserves no such response from you; the only fitting response is to affirm it as true. If you persist (1) in your denial, then know that the punishment will inevitably befall you. It rests with Allah: He is the One who will send it down upon you whenever and however He wills. Even though you seek to hasten it, I have no control over the matter. “Judgment belongs to Allah alone.” Just as He alone issues legislative judgments, commanding and prohibiting, He will also pass judgment in recompense, rewarding and punishing as His wisdom requires. Every objection to His judgment, without exception, is therefore untenable. He has made the way clear and fully related to His servants ⦗259⦘ the truth, thereby invalidating their excuses and leaving them without an argument, so that whoever perishes does so upon clear proof and whoever lives does so upon clear proof. “He is the best of judges” between His servants in this world and the Hereafter. He will judge between them with a judgment for which even the one against whom He rules, and against whom the truth is brought to bear, will praise Him.
“Say” to those who, out of ignorance, obstinacy, and wrongdoing, seek to hasten the punishment: “If I possessed that which you seek to hasten, the matter between you and me would already have been decided.” I would have inflicted it upon you, and that would hold no good for you. Rather, the matter rests with the Most Forbearing, the Ever-Patient. Sinners disobey Him and the brazen transgress against Him, yet He spares them, provides for them, and continually bestows His outward and inward blessings upon them. “Allah knows the wrongdoers best.” Nothing of their condition is hidden from Him: He grants them respite but does not neglect them.