“They are nothing but names you and your forefathers have given, for which Allah has sent down no authority.”

Up to His words: “And guidance has indeed come to them from their Lord.”

“Authority” is the Book revealed by Allah; it is the guidance that has come to them from Allah. As Allah Most High says:

“Or have We sent down to them an authority that speaks in support of what they associate with Him?”

He also says:

“Indeed, those who dispute concerning Allah’s signs without any authority having come to them.”

Up to His words: “attain it.”

And He says to the children of Adam:

“If guidance should come to you from Me.”

Up to His words: “And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and more lasting.”

The explanation is this: either it is made clear to a person that what Allah sent His Messenger with is the truth, yet he turns away from it to follow his own desires; or he thinks that his abandonment of it is the truth. The latter follows conjecture, while the former follows his own desires . . . (1) the combination of the two: Allah Most High says, describing the former:

“It is not you they deny, but it is Allah’s signs that the wrongdoers reject.”

Allah Most High also says:

“They rejected them, though inwardly convinced of their truth, out of wrongdoing and arrogance. So see what became of those who spread corruption.”

Allah Most High also says:

“Those to whom We have given the Scripture recognize it as they recognize their own sons.”

Up to His words: “conceal the truth knowingly.”

And Allah Most High says, describing those who suffer the greatest loss:

“Say, ‘Shall we inform you of those who lose most through their deeds?’”