| Fāṭir: (41) Indeed, Allah sustains...

And it might be said that, concerning what is between their polytheism, the consequence of their polytheism is the vanishing of the heavens and the earth, just as the Almighty said:

"The heavens are almost to crack apart from it, and the earth splits asunder, and the mountains fall down in ruin, that they have attributed to the Most Merciful a son."

This is supported by the Almighty's saying at the end of the verse:

"Indeed, He is ever Forbearing, Forgiving."

He is Forbearing because He did not hasten their punishment except out of His forbearance; otherwise, they deserved the falling of the sky and the collapsing of the earth upon them. He only postponed the removal of the heavens until the Hour out of forbearance.

The verse bears a third interpretation: that it is a form of concession and establishing the required proof even upon concession. It is as if the Almighty said: Your partners have not created anything of what is on earth, nor any part in the heavens, nor do they have the power of intercession, so there is no worship due to them.

Suppose they did something—are they capable of sustaining the heavens and the earth? They cannot claim they are capable, because they never claimed that, just as the Almighty said about them:

"And if you asked them, 'Who created the heavens and the earth?' they would surely say, 'Allah.'"

This is supported by His saying:

"And if they [the heavens and earth] were to cease, no one could retain them after Him."

Thus, it becomes clear that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah, because others have not created anything, and even if the disbeliever claims that others created something, they did not create like what He created, so He has no partner.

Forbearing, in that He did not hasten their destruction despite their persistence in polytheism, and Forgiving, in that He forgives whoever repents and shows mercy to him, even if he deserved punishment.

! 7 < { And they swore by Allah with their most solemn oaths that if a warner came to them, they would surely be more guided than any of the [previous] nations. But when a warner came to them, it increased them only in aversion, * Arrogance in the land and plotting evil. And the evil plot encompasses none but its schemers. Then do they expect anything other than the precedent of the former peoples? But you will never find in the way of Allah any change, and you will never find in the way of Allah any deviation. } > 7 !

Then the Almighty said:

"And they swore by Allah with their most solemn oaths that if a warner came to them, they would surely be more guided than any of the [previous] nations. But when a warner came to them, it increased them only in aversion."