Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:12
[They will be told], "That is because, when Allah was called upon alone, you disbelieved; but if others were associated with Him, you believed. So the judgement is with Allah, the Most High, the Grand."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the statement of the Exalted: ذَلِكُمْ بِأَنَّهُ إِذَا دُعِيَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ كَفَرْتُمْ وَإِنْ يُشْرَكْ بِهِ تُؤْمِنُوا فَالْحُكْمُ لِلَّهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْكَبِيرِ (40:12) (That befalls you because, when Allāh alone was called upon, you disbelieved, and when partners were ascribed to Him, you believed. The judgment then belongs to Allāh, the Exalted, the Great.)
In this statement something has been omitted, because the clarity of the manifest meaning sufficiently indicates what has been omitted. It reads: it will be answered that there is no way to that. This is what comes to you as punishment, O disbelievers, بِأَنَّهُ إِذَا دُعِيَ اللَّهُ وَحْدَهُ كَفَرْتُمْ (because, when Allāh alone was called upon, you disbelieved), so that you denied that divinity belongs purely to Him, and said: أَجَعَلَ الآلِهَةَ إِلَهًا وَاحِدًا (Has he made the gods into one god?).
وَإِنْ يُشْرَكْ بِهِ تُؤْمِنُوا (and when partners were ascribed to Him, you believed) — He says: and when a partner is ascribed to Allāh, then you believed the one who ascribed that to Him. فَالْحُكْمُ لِلَّهِ الْعَلِيِّ الْكَبِيرِ (The judgment then belongs to Allāh, the Exalted, the Great) — He says: the judgment belongs to Allāh, the Exalted above all things, the Great, before whom every thing is humble and lowly on this Day.
