Tafseer Ibn Kathir of FAATHIR [40]

40. Say: ”Have you considered your partners whom you call upon besides Allah Show Me, what they have created of the earth. Or have they any share in the heavens Or have We given them a Book, so that they act on clear proof therefrom Nay, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusions.'' 41. Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places, and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could grasp them after Him. Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving. Allah tells His Messenger to say to the idolators:

(Have you considered your partners whom you call upon besides Allah) the idols and rivals.

(Show Me what they have created of the earth. Or have they any share in the heavens) meaning, they have nothing at all of that, they do not possess even the membrane covering the stone of a date.

(Or have We given them a Book, so that they act on clear proof therefrom) meaning, `have We revealed to them a Book on which they base their Shirk and disbelief' This is not the case at all.

(Nay, the wrongdoers promise one another nothing but delusions.) means, they are merely following their own whims, opinions and wishes which are their personal desires, and they are no more than misguidance and falsehood. Then Allah tells us of His mighty power, by which the heavens and the earth stand by His command, and the forces that He has placed between them to hold them. He says:

(Verily, Allah grasps the heavens and the earth lest they should move away from their places,) means, lest they should shift from where they are. This is like the Ayat:

(He withholds the heaven from falling on the earth except by His leave) (22:65), and

(And among His signs is that the heaven and the earth stand by His command) (30:25).

(and if they were to move away from their places, there is not one that could grasp them after Him.) means, no one can make them stay and preserve them except Him. He is Ever Most Forbearing and Oft-Forgiving because He sees His servants disbelieving in Him and disobeying Him, yet He is patient and gives them time, He waits and does not hasten the punishment, and He conceals the faults of others and forgives them. He says:

(Truly, He is Ever Most Forbearing, Oft-Forgiving.)