their gods are created and owned by Him, equate Him with them in love, supplication, worship, and the like.

And “the point here” is that the Lord, glorified be He, is on a straight path. This is equivalent to His saying:

“Upholding justice.”

For uprightness and equity are inseparable: whoever is just in word and deed is upright, and whoever is upright in word and deed upholds justice. Hence Allah, glorified be He, has commanded us to ask Him to guide us to the straight path—the path of those He has blessed: the prophets, the steadfastly truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous. Their path is that of justice and the balance, so that people may uphold justice. The straight path consists in obeying Him and refraining from disobeying Him. All sins are wrongdoing, contrary to justice and incompatible with upholding fairness and equity. Allah, glorified be He, knows best.

Section

Then He, Most High, said:

“There is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

It is reported that Jaʿfar ibn Muhammad said: “The first describes Him and affirms His oneness; the second gives direction and instruction”—meaning His words:

“There is no deity worthy of worship except Him, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”

This means that, in the first occurrence, He