worship except Him alone, as He says:

“Say, ‘If there were other gods alongside Him, as they claim, they would have sought a way to the Lord of the Throne.’”

That is, even if, as they claim, these gods intercede with Him without His permission and bring you near to Him without His permission, He alone—not they—is the Lord and the true God. They would themselves seek a way to Him by worshipping Him and drawing near to Him. This is the sounder of the two interpretations.

As He says:

“Indeed, this is a reminder, so whoever wills may take a way to his Lord.”

“But you do not will unless Allah wills.”

And He says:

“Indeed, it is a reminder.”

“So whoever wills may heed it.”

And He says:

“Those whom they invoke themselves seek a means of drawing near to their Lord, each seeking to be closest.”

Then He says:

“Glory be to Him! He is far exalted above what they say!”

He is thus exalted above there being any other god alongside Him, anyone interceding with Him except by His permission, or anyone drawing near to Him except by His permission. This, then, was what they claimed. They did not claim that their gods could resist Him or overpower Him.

Rather, this would follow from supposing another god who creates as He creates, even though they themselves did not make such a claim. As He says:

“Allah has never taken a son, nor has there ever been any god alongside Him. Otherwise, each god would have taken away what he created, and some would have prevailed over others.”

It is thus clear that His name “the Most High” entails that He possesses every attribute of perfection, that He is free of all contrary attributes of deficiency and of having any equal, and that there is no deity worthy of worship except Him and no Lord besides Him.