Is not Allah sufficient for His servant? The hamzah of denial has been placed on the word of negation, thus it conveys the meaning of affirming sufficiency and establishing it. It has been recited: 'sufficient for His servant,' which refers to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and 'sufficient for His servants,' which refers to the prophets. This is because the Quraysh said to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him: 'We fear that your gods will harm you, and we are afraid for you of their evil due to your disparagement of them.' It is reported that he sent Khalid to al-Uzza to break it, and its guardian warned him: 'I caution you, O Khalid, for it has a strength that nothing can withstand.' Khalid then approached it and smashed its nose. Allah, the Exalted, said: 'Is not Allah sufficient for His Prophet to protect him from all evil and to avert from him all calamity in times of fear?' In this, there is mockery of them, for they frightened him with what cannot benefit or harm. Or is not Allah sufficient for His prophets? Indeed, their nations said similar things, and Allah sufficed them. This is the saying of the people of Hud: 'We say nothing but that some of our gods have afflicted you with evil.' It is also possible that He means the servant and the servants in general, for He is sufficient for them in times of distress and is the guardian of their interests. It has been recited: 'sufficient for His servants,' in the genitive case. And 'He suffices His servants,' and 'He suffices' may be understood as not having a hamzah, being a form of mutual action from sufficiency, like saying: 'He is rewarded' in 'He rewards.' This is more emphatic than 'sufficient,' as it is built on the word of emphasis. And 'the contest' may be understood as having a hamzah, from recompense, which is the reward, due to the previous statement: 'And He will reward them their due.' By 'those besides Him,' He meant the idols they took as gods besides Him, 'the Mighty, the Powerful, the Avenger,' who takes vengeance on His enemies. In this, there is a threat to the Quraysh and a promise to the believers that He will take vengeance for them against them and grant them victory over them.