Did the address not come to you for the disbelievers of Makkah? This is a reference to what they experienced of the punishment in this world and what has been prepared for them of the torment in the Hereafter. The matter and the discussion were that their messengers would come to them... Do we have a human to guide us? They denied that the messengers were human, but they did not deny that Allah is a stone. And Allah is free of need; He has made it so that it encompasses everything, including their faith and obedience. If you say: His saying 'and they turned away and Allah is free of need' implies the existence of turning away and being free of need together. [Mahrud said: 'He made it so that it encompasses everything, then he said, if you say there was turning away among them... etc.' Ahmad said: 'The truth is that He did not create for them faith nor the ability to have it, and He was capable of creating for them faith and the ability to have it, but Al-Zamakhshari distorted it to fit his principle.'] And Allah, the Exalted, has always been free of need. I say: Its meaning is that Allah's self-sufficiency was evident since He did not compel them to believe nor force them to do so, despite His ability to do that.