Tafsir of Hud 11:54

{إِن نَّقُولُ إِلَّا اعْتَرَاكَ بَعْضُ آلِهَتِنَا بِسُوءٍ}

• {اعْتَرَاكَ}: This is the object of {نَقُولُ} (we say), and {إِلَّا} is redundant (laghw). The meaning is: We say nothing except our statement: "Some of our gods have afflicted you with evil."
• Meaning: They meant that some god has struck you with madness because you insulted them, turned people away from them, and showed them enmity. This is their "reward" to you for your evil deed with an evil recompense. Thus, you speak the speech of the insane and rave with the delirium of the fever-stricken.
• Reflection: It is no wonder that they—the banners of disbelief and the pillars of polytheism—would call repentance and seeking forgiveness "madness." The true wonder is found in those who profess Islam, whom we have heard calling the one who repents from his sins "mad," and the one who turns to his Lord "deranged." We have not found them to be as affectionate toward him as they were during his days of ignorance. This is nothing but a vein of atheism (ilhad) that insists on pulsing, and a hidden malice of heresy (zandaqa) seeking to raise its head.
• Character of the People: Their previous responses indicate that they were coarse, hard-hearted people who cared nothing for slander, paid no heed to advice, and whose resolve would not soften toward guidance.
• Extreme Ignorance: This final claim indicates excessive ignorance and ultimate stupidity, as they believed stones could aid and take revenge. Perhaps, since they permitted the possibility of punishment [from the idols], they also permitted the possibility of reward.
• A Great Sign: It is one of the greatest signs that a single man would face a nation thirsty for his blood, all attacking him in unison, while he remains confident in his Lord—that He will protect him from them, and their claws will not fasten upon him. Similar to this is what Noah (peace be upon him) said to his people: {Then resolve upon your plan and [call upon] your partners; then do not let your matter be obscure to me} (Yunus: 71).
• {فَاشْهَدُونِي}: He confirmed his innocence of their gods and their polytheism, strengthening it with the custom of people who verify matters by the testimony of God and the testimony of men. A man might say: "God is witness that I do not do such-and-such," and say to his people: "Be witnesses that I do not do it."
• Why the difference in phrasing?: If you ask: "Why was it not said: 'I call God to witness and I call you to witness'?" I reply: Because calling God to witness one's innocence of polytheism is a true, established testimony that signifies the confirmation of monotheism and the tightening of its bonds. As for calling them to witness, it is merely a belittling of their religion and an indication of total indifference toward them. Thus, the phrasing was altered from the first to reflect the difference between the two. It was brought in the form of a command to bear witness, just as a man might say to someone between whom and himself the earth has dried up (i.e., relations have severed): "Bear witness against me that I do not love you," as a form of mockery and disdain for his state.
• {مِمَّا تُشْرِكُونَ * مِن دُونِهِ}: Meaning: From your associating gods besides Him, or from the gods you associate besides Him. You make them partners, but He did not make them partners, nor did He send down any authority for that.
• {فَكِيدُونِي جَمِيعًا}: You and your gods, as quickly as you can, without delay. I do not care about you or your plotting, nor do I fear your power, even if you unite against me, for you are the strong and the mighty. How then could your gods harm me? They are but inanimate objects that neither harm nor benefit. How could they take revenge on me if I insulted them and turned people away from their worship by "afflicting me with madness" and taking away my intellect?