(37) “Who is more unjust than one who fabricates lies against Allah or denies His revelations? Such people will receive their allotted share of what has been decreed, until, when Our messengers come to take their souls, they ask, ‘Where are those you used to invoke besides Allah?’ They will reply, ‘They have deserted us,’ and will testify against themselves that they were disbelievers.”

That is, no one is more unjust than one who “fabricates lies against Allah” by attributing a partner or deficiency to Him, or falsely ascribing to Him words He did not say; “or denies His revelations,” which are clear, make the manifest truth plain, and guide to the straight path. Although such people may enjoy this world and receive their share of whatever was written for them in the Preserved Tablet, none of that will avail them in the least. They will enjoy themselves briefly and then suffer punishment for a long time, “until, when Our messengers come to take their souls”—that is, the angels entrusted with taking their souls when their appointed terms have run their full course.

“They ask” them at that moment, by way of rebuke and reproach, “Where are those you used to invoke besides Allah?”—namely, the idols and false gods. The time when you need them has now come, if they can benefit you or ward off any harm. “They will reply, ‘They have deserted us’”; that is, they have vanished and proved worthless, and they cannot avail us in the least against Allah’s punishment.

They “will testify against themselves that they were disbelievers,” deserving of everlasting, humiliating punishment.