Al-Ankabut: (61) And if you ask them, "Who..."

"And if you ask them"—meaning the people of Makkah—"who created the heavens and the earth and subjected the sun and the moon,"

"they will surely say, 'Allah.'"—as they have no way to deny it or hesitate regarding it. The Majestic Name (Allah) is in the nominative case (marfu') as an initial (mubtada'), and the predicate (khabar) is omitted, due to the question implying it, or it is in the nominative as the agent (fa'iliyyah) for a similarly omitted verb.

"Then how are they deluded?"—This is a denial and expression of astonishment from His side, the Exalted, regarding their abandonment of acting according to the implications of that admission. The fa (then) denotes sequence, or it follows an implied conditional clause—meaning: "If such is the case, then how are they diverted away from acknowledging His oneness, the Exalted, in divinity, despite their own acknowledgment of His oneness, the Glorified, in the aforementioned creation and subjection?"

Some have estimated the conditional clause as: "If desire and Satan divert them," due to the verb yu'fakun (are deluded) being in the passive voice. Perhaps what we have mentioned is more appropriate.