'And the Day He will call to them and say, Where are My partners that you used to claim?' 'And We will extract from every nation a witness, and We will say, Produce your proof. Then they will know that the truth belongs to Allah, and what they used to invent will abandon them.'

The meaning is: And remember the Day He will call to them. This meaning is repeated for the purpose of conveying and warning. This call occurs at the appearance of everything that the Most Merciful promised on the tongues of the messengers regarding the obligation of mercy for some people and punishment for others. It is from the submission of every tyrant and humiliation before the might of the Lord of the worlds. At that time, the reproach of the disbelievers will be directed, and Allah, exalted and glorified is He, will say to them: 'Where are My partners?' in the sense of reprimanding them.

Then He, blessed and exalted is He, informed that He will bring forth on that Day from every nation a witness who distinguishes between them and the people. This is the extraction, meaning: distinguishing between two things and pulling one from the other. Mujahid said: He meant by 'the witness' one who witnesses for his nation. Al-Rummani said: It is said that He meant just individuals from the nations and the best among them.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: They are the bearers of the proof, of whom no time is devoid. And 'the witness' - on this interpretation - is a generic term. In this context, there is an omission indicated by the apparent meaning, its estimation being: The witness will testify for the nation with its good and evil, so the punishment is justified upon those who disbelieved. And it will be said to them - in the context of establishing the proof and excusing in the attempt -: 'Produce your proof,' meaning your evidence for what you were upon in this world if you have it. Then it will fall into their hands, and they will know that the truth is directed towards Him, glorified is He, in their punishment. And it will be unveiled to them what they were upon in this world of fabricated lies and falsehood in their saying to the idols: These are deities, and in their denial of the messengers, and other than that. From this verse, the saying of the judge was derived when intending to rule: Do you still have a proof?