Tafsir of Hud 11:14

"Then if they do not respond to you..."

Question: What is the reason for shifting the address to the plural (fa-i‘lamū - "then know") after it was singular (qul - "say")?

Answer: The meaning is: "If they do not respond to you and to the believers," because the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and the believers were challenging them together. He has said in another place: "But if they do not respond to you, then know..." (Al-Qasas: 50). It is also possible that the plural is used to exalt the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), as in the saying: "If you wish, you may forbid women other than you."

Another interpretation: The address is directed to the polytheists, and the pronoun in lam yastajībū ("they do not respond") refers to "those you can call upon" (from the previous verse). It means: If those you call upon besides Allah do not respond to your request for help in opposing this [Quran]—because they know their own inability and that their power is too short to reach it—then:

• "Then know that it was sent down by the knowledge of Allah": Meaning, it was sent down accompanied by that which no one knows except Allah, such as a composition that is miraculous to creation and the foretelling of unseen matters to which they have no access.
• "And know" at that point: "that there is no god but He" alone, and that His Oneness is obligatory, and that associating partners with Him is a great injustice.
• "So will you be Muslims?": Will you pledge yourselves to Islam after this decisive proof? This is a sound and consistent interpretation.

For those who consider the address to be directed to the Muslims: The meaning is: Remain firm upon the knowledge you possess, and increase in certainty and steadfastness that it is sent down from Allah and in the truth of His Oneness. The meaning of "So will you be Muslims?" is: "Will you be sincere?"

"Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments - We fully repay them for their deeds therein, and they therein will not be deprived. Those are the ones for whom there is not in the Hereafter but the Fire. And lost is what they did therein, and worthless is what they used to do."