And those to whom We gave the Book, he means those who converted from the Jews, like Abdullah ibn Salam and Ka'b and their companions, and those who converted from the Christians, and they are eighty men: forty from Najran, and thirty-two in the land of Abyssinia, and eight from the people of Yemen. These rejoice in what has been revealed to you. And from the factions, he means from their factions, and they are the disbelievers who conspired against the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, with enmity, like Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf and his companions, and the lord and the 'Aqib, the bishops of Najran and their followers, who deny some of it. For they did not deny the narratives and some of the rulings and meanings that are established in their books without alteration. They denied what is the description of Islam and the description of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and other than that which they have distorted and changed from the laws. If you say: How is the saying 'Say, I have been commanded to worship Allah' connected to what precedes it? I say: It is a response to the deniers, meaning: Say, I have been commanded in what has been revealed to me to worship Allah and not to associate anything with Him. Your denial of it is a denial of the worship of Allah and His oneness. So look at what you deny while claiming the obligation of worshiping Allah and not associating anything with Him. Say, O people of the Book, come to a word that is equitable between us and you, that we do not worship except Allah and do not associate anything with Him. Nafi' read in the narration of Abu Khalid: 'and I do not associate' in the nominative as a new statement, as if he said: 'And I associate with Him.' It is also permissible that it is in the position of a state, meaning: I have been commanded to worship Allah without associating anything with Him. To Him I call, especially not calling to anyone else, and to Him is my return, not to anyone else, and you say the same. So there is no meaning to your denial.