Tafsir of Al Imran 3:31

"Say, if you..."

The love of the servants for Allah is a metaphor for their souls desiring to single Him out for worship, to the exclusion of others, and their yearning for it.

The love of Allah for His servants is that He is pleased with them and praises their actions. The meaning is: If you truly desire to worship Allah in reality...

"...then follow me."

...so that your claim of desiring His worship may be validated, He will be pleased with you and forgive you.

Al-Hasan said: Some people during the time of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) claimed that they loved Allah. He wanted to provide proof for their claim through action. Whoever claims to love Him while opposing the Sunnah of His Messenger is a liar, and the Book of Allah refutes him. If you see someone mentioning the love of Allah while clapping his hands, becoming ecstatic, shrieking, and fainting, do not doubt that he does not know who Allah is, nor does he understand what the love of Allah is.

His clapping, ecstasy, shrieking, and fainting are nothing but him imagining in his wicked soul a pleasant, beloved image, which he ignorantly and impudently calls "Allah." Then he claps, becomes ecstatic, shrieks, and faints for that image. You might even see that semen has filled the lower garment of that "lover" during his fainting spell, while the foolish masses around him fill their garments with tears, moved by his state.

It has been recited as tuḥibbūna (you love) and yuḥbibkum (He will love you) and yuḥibbukum (He will love you), from the verb ḥabba, yuḥibbu. It is said: I love Abu Tharwan for the love of his dates, And I know that kindness to a neighbor is kinder. By Allah, were it not for his dates, I would not have loved him, Nor would he be closer than 'Ubayd or Mushriq.

"But if they turn away..."

It is possible that this is in the past tense, or it may be in the present tense, meaning "if you turn away," and it is included in the statement that the Messenger says to them.