(16) “Say, ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and earth?’ Say, ‘Allah.’ Say, ‘Have you then taken protectors besides Him who have no power to benefit or harm even themselves?’ Say, ‘Are the blind and the seeing equal? Or are darkness and light equal? Or have they ascribed partners to Allah who created as He creates, so that the two creations seem alike to them?’ Say, ‘Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the All-Subduing.’”

That is: Say to these polytheists who associate idols and rivals with Him, loving them as they love Allah and offering them all manner of devotional acts and worship: Have you lost your senses, such that you take protectors besides Him, devoting worship to them even though they are unworthy of it?

They “have no power to benefit or harm even themselves,” yet you forsake devotion to the One who is perfect in His names and attributes, the Sovereign of the living and the dead, in whose hand lie creation and governance, benefit and harm.

Worshipping Allah alone and worshipping the partners associated with Him are no more equal than the blind and the seeing, or darkness and light.

If they harbor doubt and confusion, and ascribe partners to Him whom they claim create as He creates and act as He acts, then dispel this confusion and ambiguity with the proof demonstrating God’s exclusive oneness. Say to them: “Allah is the Creator of all things,” for it is impossible that anything should create itself.