And when He clarified that He - glorified and exalted is He - is the One who has made them successors, He affirmed the statement of that to them by His command ﷺ that would compel them to acknowledge it. He said: "Say, have you seen?"; meaning: inform me; "your partners"; He attributed them to them because they - even though they made them His partners - did not attain anything from His partnership. They did not diminish anything from His dominion; rather, they only shared with the worshippers in their wealth, with the calamities and others, and in their deeds. They are truly their partners, not His partners. Then He clarified the intended meaning of counting them as partners by saying: "those whom you call"; meaning: you call them partners; "besides Allah"; meaning: the One who possesses all attributes of perfection.

And when the implication was: "By what thing have you made them partners in worship? Do they have partnership in the earth?"; He built upon this His saying - repeating to make them witness the incapacity of their partners and the deficiency of those whom they worshipped besides Him -: "Show me what"; meaning: that which; or any thing; "they created from the earth"; meaning: so that your claim of partnership in them may be valid; otherwise, your claim of that in them is pure falsehood, and you claim that you are the farthest of people from Him in trivial matters; so how about something like this?! And perhaps their questioning about seeing their partners is an indication that they are in a state of humiliation and degradation, such that they are seen by everyone who intends to see them, and knows that they have no creation; and Allah - exalted is He - is unlike that in both matters; He is adorned with the garment of pride; veiled with the veil of majesty and might; and everyone knows that He is the Creator of every creature; so how can one who does not create be like one who creates?!

And when He alerted them to this matter which the knowledgeable one brought forth, that it is not appropriate for a rational person to claim partnership for something until he knows the partnership; even if he is ignorant of the essence of the thing he is sharing in, He said - affirming that; expanding for them in the possibilities; increasing in reproaching them for what they are in of misguidance -: "Or do they have a partnership"; meaning: even if it is small; "in the heavens"; meaning: show me what they created in the heavens; for the verse is from the overlapping: He first omitted the question about partnership in the earth; due to the indication of such in the heavens secondly; and He omitted the command to show secondly due to the indication of such first.

And when he completed the reproach by questioning about the seen, he followed it with admonition by questioning about the heard. This indicated a turning to speech, with a manifestation of greatness, with intense anger. He said: "Or have We given them"; meaning: the partners; or the polytheists with them; "a Book"; meaning: indicating that it is from Us; with its inimitability; or other than that from the decisive proofs. They established a partnership; "so they"; meaning: the polytheists; "are upon a clear proof"; meaning: an evident argument; and "clear proofs" according to the other reading; meaning: clear signs; with what is in that Book of various types of statements; "from it"; meaning: that Book; regarding our associating them in the matter; so that they may bear witness for them this testimony which they cannot justify for establishing partnership for any of their servants; in the most insignificant of matters; so how can they justify it in diminishing the King; from whom there is no good for them except from Him; without fearing Him; nor feeling ashamed before Him.

And when the estimation was: "There was nothing of that; so they are not upon a proof"; rather they are upon delusion; he said - warning them of the blameworthy state of their conditions; and the foolishness of their opinions; and the baseness of their ambitions; and the deficiency of their minds; informing that they cannot bring forth anything by which they demand; and that they have no answer to what they are asked about; and he confirmed it due to their assumption that their matters are in the utmost of precision -: "Rather, if"; meaning: what; "the wrongdoers"; meaning: those who place things in other than their places; "some of them are allies to one another"; meaning: the followers to the followed; by claiming that their partners bring them closer to Allah; and that they intercede; and harm; and do not benefit; "except delusion."