Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:64

(Say, "Allah saves you from it and from every distress"), meaning every grief that constricts the soul. The intent behind this is either to encompass what has preceded—as generalization after specification is frequent—or [to refer to] those psychological afflictions that befall a person, which are endless, such as illnesses and ailments.

The Prophet (peace be upon him) was commanded to provide the answer, despite it being [one of] their own duties, to signal its obviousness and certainty, or to humiliate them.

("Then you associate others") is built upon the preceding clause, meaning: Allah the Exalted alone saves you from that which you call upon Him to remove, as well as from other [distresses]. Yet then, after witnessing these magnificent blessings, you return to associating others in His worship and fail to fulfill the covenant.

The term ("associate others") was placed in the position of "you are not grateful," which is what is apparent and appropriate given their previous promise referred to by the Exalted’s saying: "We will surely be among the grateful." This is to alert [the reader] that whoever associates others in the worship of Allah the Exalted is as though he did not worship Him at all, for monotheism is the essence of the matter and the foundation of worship. It is also said that the intent may be to rebuke them, in that despite their knowledge that none saves them but Allah the Exalted—as indicated by placing the predicate [Allah] before the subject—they still associated others and did not devote worship exclusively to Allah. Thus, the mention of "association" is in its proper place.

The word "then" (thumma) is not for temporal delay, but to emphasize the extreme distance between Allah’s benevolence toward them and their disobedience. The object of the association was not mentioned, treating it as if it were intransitive, to draw attention to the absurdity of the act of association itself.

The people of Kufa, Abu Ja'far, and Hisham (from Ibn Amir) read "yunjikum" (saves you) with a tashdid (emphasis), while the rest read it with takhfif (lightness).