Tafsir for verse: 34:40
وَيَوۡمَ يَحۡشُرُهُمۡ جَمِيعٗا ثُمَّ يَقُولُ لِلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ أَهَٰٓؤُلَآءِ إِيَّاكُمۡ كَانُواْ يَعۡبُدُونَ ٤٠ ﴿40
40(Remember) the Day when He will gather all of them together, then will say to the angels, “Is it you that these people used to worship?”
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Commentary

And when he invalidated their doubts, it became known by that that the entire matter belongs to Him, and that they are in a place of danger. And there remained from their doubts that they say: We worship the angels, so they intercede for us. And the prophets, peace be upon them, do not deny that the angels are near. He invalidated what they relate to them, and clarified that they have no authority and that they are free from them. So he said, adding to ﴿Indeed, the wrongdoers﴾ [Saba: 31] ﴿And the Day He gathers them﴾ meaning: We will gather them together against their will after the resurrection, and concerning the follower and the followed by His saying: ﴿All together﴾.

And when the positions of the gathering are long and its earthquakes are terrifying, he said: ﴿Then He will say to the angels﴾ meaning: a rebuke to the polytheists and despair from what they hope for from them of intercession. And when worship does not benefit except if the one worshipped is pleased with it and it is sincere, he said, reproaching the polytheists and rebuking them so that there will be a question and an answer (p-520). Thus, the reprimand will be more severe, and the shame will be greater, and the fear and humiliation will be more complete and necessary. And the retribution of that will be a lesson for the listeners, a warning for the ignorant, and a reminder for the heedless, on the path of ﴿Did you say to the people, 'Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah'?﴾ [Al-Ma'idah: 116] The verses: ﴿Are these﴾ meaning: the misguided; and he indicated that nothing from worship is beneficial except what is sincere. So he said: ﴿You﴾ meaning: specifically ﴿They used to worship﴾ with their voluntary and forced actions to know that they are servants for whom you deserve their worship. And in the expression that indicates specificity, there is a reminder to Quraysh that nothing from worship is accepted except with sincerity.

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