Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:109

"So if they turn away, say..."

• "I have proclaimed (ādhantukum)": Derived from adhina (to know), but it is frequently used to mean "giving warning." An example is the Almighty’s saying: "Then be warned of a war from Allah and His Messenger" (Al-Baqarah: 279), and the words of Ibn Hilliza: "Asma has proclaimed to us her departure."

• The meaning: After your turning away and refusal to accept what has been presented to you regarding the obligation of declaring Allah’s Oneness and purifying Him from rivals and partners, I am like a man who has a truce with his enemies. Sensing treachery from them, he casts the treaty back to them, makes the renunciation public and widespread, and informs them all of it.

• "On equal terms (ʿalā sawāʾ)": Meaning, you are all equal in being informed of it. I have not concealed it from any of you; I have revealed it to all, "peeling the stick of its bark" (an idiom for total disclosure).

• "And what you are promised": Regarding the Muslims’ victory over you, it will inevitably come to pass. You will certainly be met with humiliation and disgrace.

• "I do not know": I do not know when that will be, for Allah has not taught me its timing nor informed me of it.

• "Allah is the Knower": Nothing is hidden from Him—neither what you declare openly in your speech as critics of Islam, nor "what you conceal" in your hearts of malice and hatred toward the Muslims. He will recompense you for it.

• "I do not know, perhaps...": Perhaps the delay of this promised time is a trial for you, to see how you act; or perhaps it is a respite for you "until a time," so that it may serve as a proof against you, and so that the appointed time may occur at a moment when it is in accordance with His wisdom.

"He said: 'My Lord, judge with truth! And our Lord is the Most Merciful, the One whose help is sought against what you describe.'"