Tafsir of Saba' 34:24

The Prophet (peace be upon him) is commanded to say this as a rebuke to the polytheists, compelling them to admit that their deities do not possess even the weight of an atom in the heavens or on earth, and that the Provider is Allah (Mighty and Majestic is He)—a fact they do not deny. Since they would sometimes stutter in their response for fear of being cornered, he (peace be upon him) was told to say, "Say: Allah," for there is no other answer even among them.

“And indeed, we or you are upon guidance or in clear error.”

This means that one of the two parties—either we, the monotheists who single out the Almighty alone for provision, intrinsic power, and worship, or you, the group of those who associate partners with Him, who are themselves incapable of warding off the slightest harm or bringing about the most trivial benefit—is situated at the lowest levels of possibility, characterized by one of two states: being firmly established upon guidance or submerged in error.

This is a form of fair-minded discourse. Anyone who hears it, whether a supporter or an opponent, would say to the one addressed: "Your companion has been fair to you." The context, following the eloquent arguments presented, provides clear evidence as to which of the two parties is upon guidance and which is in error. However, allusion is more effective than explicit statement; it reaches the debater's goal more swiftly, overwhelms him with greater success, and diminishes the opponent's agitation and malice with gentleness.

Similar to this is the saying of a man to his companion: "Allah Almighty knows which of us is truthful and which of us is a liar." Included in this is the verse of Hassan addressing Abu Sufyan ibn Harb (who had lampooned the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, before he embraced Islam):

And the saying of Abu al-Aswad:

Abu Ubaydah held the view that "or" (aw) carries the meaning of "and" (wa), as in the saying: "It is the same whether he breaks his loaf of bread or breaks one of his bones." The speech follows the structure of laff wa nashr murattab (an orderly distribution of predicates to subjects), meaning "upon guidance" refers to "we," and "in error" refers to "you." Reason dictates this, as in the verse of Imru’ al-Qays:

However, its remoteness is not hidden. Regardless, this is in no way a matter of taqiyyah (dissimulation), as some ignorant people claim.

The apparent meaning is that "upon guidance, etc." is the predicate of "we or you" without the need to assume any ellipsis, for the meaning is that one of us is characterized by one of the two states, like saying "Zayd or ‘Amr is in the market or in the house."

It has been said: It is the predicate of "we," and the predicate of "you" is implied, intended as "are upon guidance or in clear error." Another view is that it is the predicate of "you," and the predicate of "we" is implied due to the indication of what was mentioned. As for "you" (iyyakum), it is in the place of "that you" (annakum), but when "that" (anna) was omitted, the pronoun became detached.

In al-Bahr, it is stated that there is no need to assume an ellipsis in such a case, whereas it is only required in structures like "Zayd or ‘Amr is standing." So reflect upon this.

The immediate understanding is that "clear" (mubin) is an adjective for "error" (dalal). It is permissible for it to describe both error and guidance. The adjective—and likewise the pronoun—must be in the singular after the disjunction "or" (aw).

The particle "upon" (‘ala) is used with "guidance" to indicate the supremacy of its possessor, his mastery, and his oversight of what he desires, like one standing on a high place or riding a mount he steers wherever he pleases. The particle "in" (fi) is used with "error" to indicate that its possessor is submerged in darkness, as if he were in a dark abyss, not knowing which way to turn. Thus, the speech contains a metaphor (isti'arah makniyyah or taba'iyyah). In the recitation of Ubayy, it is: "Indeed, we or you are either upon guidance or in clear error."