Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:139

"Say, do you argue with us..."

Zayd ibn Thabit read it as ataḥājjūnā (أتحاجونا), with the nūn assimilated. The meaning is: Do you dispute with us regarding the affair of Allah and His choosing a Prophet from the Arabs rather than from among you? You say, "If Allah had sent down [revelation] to anyone, He would have sent it down to us," and you consider yourselves more entitled to prophethood than us.

"...while He is our Lord and your Lord?"

We all share in being His servants. He is our Lord and your Lord, and He bestows His mercy and honor upon whom He wills among His servants. This is not a chaotic matter; it is not reserved for a non-Arab to the exclusion of an Arab, provided one is worthy of that honor.

"For us are our deeds, and for you are your deeds."

This means that deeds are the foundation of the matter, and by them, one is judged. Just as you have deeds that Allah considers in granting or withholding honor, we likewise have ours.

Then He said:

"...and we are sincere to Him."

He brought forth that which is the cause of honor—meaning we are monotheists, sincere to Him in faith. Do not, therefore, find it unlikely that He would deem the people of His sincerity worthy of His honor through prophethood. They used to say, "We are more entitled to have prophethood among us because we are People of the Scripture, while the Arabs are idolaters."

"Or do you say..."

For those who read it with the tā’ (second person), it is possible that am (or) is a correlative to the hamzah in "Do you argue with us?"—meaning: which of the two matters are you bringing? Is it the disputation regarding Allah’s wisdom, or the claim of Judaism and Christianity for the Prophets? The intent of the interrogation regarding both is to deny them both. It may also be munqaṭiʿah (disjunctive), meaning "Nay, do you say..." with the hamzah also serving for denial. For those who read it with the yā’ (third person), it can only be munqaṭiʿah.

"Say, are you more knowing, or is Allah?"

This means that Allah has testified to their [the Prophets'] religion of Islam in His saying: "Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was one inclining toward truth, a Muslim" (Al ʿImran: 67).

"And who is more unjust than one who conceals a testimony he has from Allah?"

Meaning: he conceals the testimony of Allah that he possesses, which He testified to—namely, His testimony regarding Abraham’s ḥanīfiyyah (inclination toward truth).

This admits two meanings:

1. That there is no one more unjust than the People of the Scripture, because they concealed this testimony while they were aware of it.
2. That if we were to conceal this testimony, there would be no one more unjust than us; therefore, we shall not conceal it.

It also contains an allusion to their concealment of Allah’s testimony regarding Muhammad (peace be upon him) and his prophethood, which is found in their books, along with all His other testimonies.

The "from" (min) in His saying: "a testimony he has from Allah" is like your saying, "This is a testimony from me for so-and-so," when you testify on his behalf. Similar to this is: "An acquittal from Allah and His Messenger" (At-Tawbah: 1).