Allah commands His Messenger to say to the idolators:

﴿مَا سَأَلْتُكُم مِّن أَجْرٍ فَهُوَ لَكُمْ﴾

(Whatever wage I might have asked of you is yours.) meaning, `I do not want anything for conveying the Message of Allah to you, advising you and telling you to worship Allah.'

﴿إِنْ أَجْرِىَ إِلاَّ عَلَى اللَّهِ﴾

My wage is from Alla0h only, means, rather I will seek the reward for that with Alla0h.

﴿وَهُوَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ شَهِيدٍ﴾

and He is a Witness over all things. means, He knows all things, and He knows everything about me and the manner in which I am conveying the Message to you, and He knows all about you.

﴿قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّى يَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَّـمُ الْغُيُوبِ ﴾

(Say: "Verily, my Lord sends down the truth, the All-Knower of the Unseen.'') This is like the Ayah:

﴿يُلْقِى الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَى مَن يَشَآءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ﴾

(He sends the Revelation by His command to any of His servants He wills) (40:15). meaning, He sends the angel to whomsoever He wills of His servants among the people on earth, and He is the All-Knower of the Unseen; nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him in the heavens or on earth.

﴿قُلْ جَآءَ الْحَقُّ وَمَا يُبْدِىءُ الْبَـطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ ﴾

(Say: "The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.'') means, truth and the great Law have come from Allah, and falsehood has gone and has perished and vanished. This is like the Ayah:

﴿بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَـطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ﴾

(Nay, We fling the truth against the falsehood, so it destroys it, and behold, it is vanished) (21:18). When the Messenger of Allah entered Al-Masjid Al-Haram on the day of the conquest of Makkah, and found those idols standing around the Ka`bah, he started to hit the idols with his bow, reciting,

﴿وَقُلْ جَآءَ الْحَقُّ وَزَهَقَ الْبَـطِلُ إِنَّ الْبَـطِلَ كَانَ زَهُوقًا ﴾

(And say: "The truth has come and the falsehood has vanished. Surely, the falsehood is ever bound to vanish.'') (17:81), and:

﴿قُلْ جَآءَ الْحَقُّ وَمَا يُبْدِىءُ الْبَـطِلُ وَمَا يُعِيدُ ﴾

(Say: "The truth has come, and the falsehood can neither create anything nor resurrect.'') This was recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i.

﴿قُلْ إِن ضَلَلْتُ فَإِنَّمَآ أَضِلُّ عَلَى نَفْسِى وَإِنِ اهْتَدَيْتُ فَبِمَا يُوحِى إِلَىَّ رَبِّى﴾

(Say: "If (even) I go astray, I shall stray only to my own loss. But if I remain guided, it is because of the Revelation of my Lord to me...'') means, all good comes from Allah, and in what Allah sends down of revelation and clear truth there is guidance and wisdom. So whoever goes astray, does so by himself, as `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said when he was asked about some issue. He said, "I will say what I think, and if it is correct, then it is from Allah, and if it is wrong, then it is from me and from the Shaytan, and Allah and His Messenger have nothing to do with it.''

﴿إِنَّهُ سَمِيعٌ قَرِيبٌ﴾

Truly, He is All-Hearer, Ever Near. means, He hears all the words of His servants, and He is always near to respond to them when they call on Him. An-Nasa0 0 recorded the Hلad0th of Abu Mu0sa0 which also appears in the Two Sلahل0hلs:

«إِنَّكُمْ لَاتَدْعُونَ أَصَمَّ وَلَا غَائِبًا، إِنَّمَا تَدْعُونَ سَمِيعًا قَرِيبًا مُجِيبًا»

(You are not calling upon one who is deaf or absent; you are calling upon One Who is All-Hearer, Ever Near and Responsive.)

﴿وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ فَزِعُواْ فَلاَ فَوْتَ وَأُخِذُواْ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ - وَقَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِن مَّكَانِ بَعِيدٍ - وَقَدْ كَـفَرُواْ بِهِ مِن قَـبْلُ وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ - وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشْيَـعِهِم مِّن قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ فِى شَكٍّ مُّرِيبِ ﴾

(51. And if you could but see, when they will be terrified with no escape, and they will be seized from a near place.) (52. And they will say: "We do believe (now);'' but how could they receive (Tanawush) from a place so far off.) (53. Indeed they did disbelieve before (in this world), and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen, from a far place.) (54. And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire, as was done in the past with the people of their kind. Verily, they have been in grave doubt.) Here Allah says: `if only you could see, O Muhammad, when these deniers are terrified on the Day of Resurrection, and they have no way of escape and nowhere to run to and no refuge.'

﴿وَأُخِذُواْ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ﴾

(and they will be seized from a near place.) means, they will not even be given the slightest chance of escape, but they will be seized from the first instant. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "When they come forth from their graves.''

﴿وَقَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ﴾

(And they will say: "We do believe (now);'') means, on the Day of Resurrection, they will say, `we believe in Allah and His angels, Books and Messengers.' This is like the Ayah:

﴿وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُواْ رُءُوسِهِمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَآ أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَارْجِعْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَـلِحاً إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ ﴾

(And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord (saying): "Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty.'') (32:12) Allah says:

﴿وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِن مَّكَانِ بَعِيدٍ﴾

(but how could they receive from a place so far off) meaning, how could they attain faith now that they are so far removed from the place where it could be accepted from them, and they have entered the realm of the Hereafter which is the realm of reward and punishment, not the realm of trial and testing If they had believed in this world, that would have been good for them, but now they have entered the Hereafter, there is no way that their faith can be accepted, just as there is no way a person can get a thing if he is far away from it. Mujahid said:

﴿وَأَنَّى لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ﴾

but how could they At-Tana0wush؟ means, How could they attain that؟ Az-Zuhri said, They will wish to attain faith when they have reached the Hereafter and are cut off from this world. Al-Hلasan Al-Basلri said, They will seek something when they have no way of attaining it, they will seek faith from a distant place.

﴿وَقَدْ كَـفَرُواْ بِهِ مِن قَـبْلُ﴾

Indeed they did disbelieve before, means, how can they attain faith in the Hereafter when in this world they disbelieved in the truth and denied the Messengers؟

﴿وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ﴾

(and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen from a far place. ) Malik narrated from Zayd bin Aslam that he said:

﴿وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ﴾

(and they (used to) conjecture about the Unseen,) means, "By guessing.'' as Allah says,

﴿رَجْماً بِالْغَيْبِ﴾

guessing at the Unseen )18:22(. Sometimes they said he was a poet, sometimes they said he was a soothsayer, or a sorcerer, or a mad man, or other baseless comments. They denied the idea of resurrection and said:

﴿إِن نَّظُنُّ إِلاَّ ظَنّاً وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُسْتَيْقِنِينَ﴾

(we do not think it but as a conjecture, and we have no firm convincing belief.) (45:32). Qatadah and Mujahid said, "Their belief that there would be no resurrection, no Paradise and no Hell was based on mere conjecture.''

﴿وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ﴾

(And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire,) Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Ad-Dahhak and others, `This means faith.'' As-Suddi said:

﴿وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ﴾

(And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire, ) means "Repentance.'' This was also the view of Ibn Jarir, may Allah have mercy on him. Mujahid said:

﴿وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ﴾

(And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire,) means, "This world and its wealth, luxuries and people.'' Something similar was narrated from Ibn `Umar, Ibn `Abbas and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas, may Allah be pleased with him. It is also the opinion of Al-Bukhari and the Group. The correct view is that there is no contradiction between the two views, for a barrier will be set between them and what they desire in this world, and what they seek in the Hereafter will be denied from them.

﴿كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشْيَـعِهِم مِّن قَبْلُ﴾

(as was done in the past with the people of their kind.) means, as happened to the nations of the past who disbelieved in the Messengers; when the punishment of Allah came upon them, they wished that they had believed, but this was not accepted from them.

﴿فَلَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا قَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَكَـفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ - فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْ إِيمَـنُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا سُنَّةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِى قَدْ خَلَتْ فِى عِبَادِهِ وَخَسِرَ هُنَالِكَ الْكَـفِرُونَ ﴾

(So, when they saw Our punishment, they said: "We believe in Allah Alone and reject (all) that we used to associate with Him as (His) partners. "Then their faith could not avail them when they saw Our punishment. (Like) this has been the way of Allah in dealing with His servants. And there the disbelievers lost utterly.) (40:84-85).

﴿إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ فِى شَكٍّ مُّرِيبِ﴾

Verily, they have been in grave doubt. means, in this world they had doubts, so their faith will not be accepted from them when they behold the punishment with their own eyes. Qata0dah said, Beware of doubt. For whoever dies doubting, will be raised doubting؛ and whoever dies believing, with certainty will be raised believing with certainty. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Saba'. Allah, may He be glorified and exalted, is the Guide to the right way.