The surah now describes how strongly they dislike any statement about God’s oneness, while they delight in the attribution of partners with Him, when everything around them in the universe rejects such polytheism: “Whenever God alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who will not believe in the life to come shrink with aversion; but when others are mentioned side by side with Him, they rejoice.”
The verse describes a real situation during the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), when the unbelievers delighted at the mention of their false deities, but showed clear dislike when God’s oneness was asserted. Yet the verse also describes a state of affairs that takes place in all environments. Some people do express dislike when they are asked to believe in God alone and to implement His law and code of living. When other systems and laws are mentioned, they demonstrate happiness and delight. Only then are they ready to discuss and argue. It is these very people that God is describing in this verse: They are the ones, in all communities and generations, who trample over sound human nature, choose deviation, go and lead others astray.
The reply to all such deviation is taught by God to His Messenger whereby the latter says: “Say: God! Originator of the heavens and the earth! You have knowledge of all that is imperceptible and all that is present. It is You who will judge between Your servants concerning all that over which they differ.”
It is a simple prayer that comes from sound human nature looking at the heavens and the earth, that cannot find anyone other than God who could have created them, that acknowledges His creation, and addresses Him by the quality that fits the Originator of the universe, i.e. His knowledge of the imperceptible and all that anyone witnesses. It is He who is fully aware of what is present and what is absent, what is hidden and what is manifest. “It is You who will judge between Your servants concerning all that over which they differ.” He is the only judge and arbiter when they all return to Him, as return they must.
The surah then shows their miserable state when they return for judgment: “If the wrongdoers possessed all that is on earth, and twice as much, they would surely offer it all as ransom from the awful suffering on the Day of Resurrection. For God will have made obvious to them something they have never reckoned with. Obvious to them will have become the evil of what they had done; and they will be overwhelmed by that which they used to deride.”
The verse makes an implicit threat within a statement that strikes fear into the hearts of those described as “wrongdoers,” which refers to everyone who associates partners, of any type, with God. If those people had in their possession “all that is on earth,” including everything to which they attach high value and fear to lose should they accept Islam, indeed, if they had “twice as much,” they would willingly offer it all just to be spared the awful suffering they will see with their own eyes on the Day of Resurrection. Added to this is another implicit threat that is equally fearful: “For God will have made obvious to them something they have never reckoned with.” The surah does not specify what will become obvious to them, but it is clearly understood that it is terrible, to be feared. It comes from God, and He shows them what they could never have expected.
“Obvious to them will have become the evil of what they had done; and they will be overwhelmed by that which they used to deride.” Again this aggravates their position, because they will see for themselves how evil their deeds were, and they will find themselves engulfed with the warnings that they used to deride and ridicule.