Overall meaning : At the outset of these verses, Allah Almighty enumerates some of His great blessings and abundant favours, stating that they provide clear proofs and evident signs of His oneness and His perfect attributes, Exalted and Glorified be He. These proofs and signs, however, can only be recognised by those who put their reason and the contemplative faculty Allah has given them to reflect on them and thus comprehend and unravel His message behind them.
The blessings and favours that Allah Almighty mentions here are the creation of the heavens and the earth and the breath-taking wonders He has placed in them; the permanent and regular alteration of day and night and their differences in terms of light and darkness, heat and cold, and length and shortness; the ships that sail in the sea from one place to another, carrying whatever is beneficial to people; the rain that Allah Almighty sends down from the clouds, giving life thereby to the earth after it has been arid; His scattering about in it all manner of animals; the different types of winds that He causes to blow in different directions in terms of strength and gentleness and whatever good they may bring or harm they may cause; and the clouds that are subject to His will between the sky and the earth for the benefit of His creation.
Despite all these signs testifying to Allah’s oneness, the Almighty states, there are some people who take to themselves objects of worship as rivals to Him, loving them as they should love Allah, and He affirms that those who truly believe in Him love Him far more than these love Him and the so-called equals and rivals.
Then, addressing His Prophet, Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, He states that if he could see the condition of those who set up such objects as Allah’s rivals and love them with such love as is due to Him alone—and if they could themselves see their condition—when they perceive the punishment He has prepared for them on the Day of Resurrection, they will then realise that all might belongs to Allah alone, and that the punishment He will mete out on those deserving of it because of their unbelief or because of worshipping false gods besides Him is very severe indeed.
When they perceive the punishment of Allah Almighty, those who are followed in matters of unbelief, error and ascribing partners to Allah will disown those who follow them; and when the followers also see the punishment awaiting them, they will become absolutely certain that they will be subjected to it, and all the means they used to save themselves—including setting up rivals to Allah and loving them as they should love Him—will break asunder, and they will all be doomed to the Fire—both leaders and followers.
The followers will then wish if they could only have the opportunity to go back to the worldly life so that they would disown those they have followed as they have now forsaken and disowned them despite the fact that they have set them up as equals to Allah. Allah points out that He will show them their evils deeds as He has shown them the punishment so they will bitterly reproach themselves and deeply regret having done them when they could have done better. Such deep remorse and severe distress, however, will not avail them in the least, for they will remain in the Fire and will never come out of it.