Tafsir of Al-Anbiya' 21:24

"Or have they taken gods besides Him? Say, 'Bring your proof. This is the message of those with me and the message of those before me.' But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away."

"Or have they taken gods besides Him?" The phrase is repeated to emphasize the enormity of their conduct and the gravity of their disbelief.

"Say, 'Bring your proof'" Meaning: You have described Allah, the Exalted, as having a partner, so produce your evidence for this—either from the perspective of reason or from the perspective of revelation. You will not find a single book among the books of the ancients that does not call to the Oneness of Allah and His transcendence above rivals, and that does not forbid associating partners with Him and threaten punishment for it.

"This is the message of those with me and the message of those before me" Meaning: This revelation regarding the Oneness of Allah and the negation of partners is as it has been revealed to me; it has been revealed to all the prophets. It is a dhikr (a reminder/exhortation) for those with me—meaning my nation—and a dhikr for those before me—meaning the nations of the prophets, peace be upon them.

• Grammatical Note: It is recited as dhikru man ma‘iya wa dhikru man qabli (with tanwin), where man is the object of the verbal noun dhikr, similar to the verse: "Or feeding on a day of severe hunger, an orphan" (Al-Balad: 14-15). This is the original form.
• Alternative Reading: The genitive construction (idafa) of the verbal noun to its object, as in: "The Romans have been defeated... in their defeat" (Ar-Rum: 3).
• Alternative Reading: min ma‘iya and min qabli (using min as a preposition). The use of a preposition before ma‘a (with) is unusual, but it is justified because ma‘a is a noun functioning as an adverb, like qabla (before), ba‘da (after), ‘inda (at), and ladun (at/near). Thus, min enters upon it just as it enters upon its counterparts.
• Alternative Reading: dhikru ma‘iya wa dhikru qabli.

"But most of them do not know the truth, so they turn away." It is as if it were said: Rather, they possess the root of all evil and corruption, which is ignorance, the absence of knowledge, and the inability to distinguish between truth and falsehood. From this stems their turning away, and from that source comes this denial.

• Grammatical Note: It is recited as al-haqqu (in the nominative case) by placing the emphasis between the cause and the effect. The meaning is that their turning away, caused by ignorance, is the [actual] truth, not falsehood. It is also permissible for it to be in the accusative case (al-haqqa) with the same meaning, just as you would say: "This is the true servant of Allah, not the false one."

"And We sent not before you any messenger except that We revealed to him that, 'There is no deity except Me, so worship Me.'"