(… قُلْ ) (Say …): The presence of this word here is evidence of the truthful conveyance of the Prophet (saws). The Angel Gabriel came to him and said (Say!), thus he also said the same, without deleting even a word or letter from the book of Allah (swt) is He.

(…قُلْ أَرَأَيْتَكُمْ إِنْ أَتَاكُمْ عَذَابُ اللَّهِ أَوْ أَتَتْكُمُ السَّاعَةُ ) (Say, “Have you considered: if there came to you the punishment of Allah or there came to you the Hour – …): The phrase used here is made up of an interrogative article, a verb and a pronoun, the whole phrase means: Tell me, if you were in a situation of difficulty, or the torment of Allah (swt) afflicted you, or the Hour came upon you suddenly, who would you call upon?

Instinctively, when a human being loses all forms of lifelines, he will seek refuge in Allah (swt) and say: ‘O my Lord.’ Therefore, the phrase here means: ‘Show me what you will do.’

(  أَغَيْرَ اللَّهِ تَدْعُونَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ… ) (…is it other than Allah you would invoke, if you should be truthful?”): In these specific dire instances, the human being has no choice but to be truthful, for he knows that none except Allah (swt) can give benefit or prevent harm. So, in these instances, he will not try to do put in any effort, nor will he call upon his idols such as Al-Lat and Al-‘Uzza. He will also not call upon the sun, the ocean, or his own intellect. He will not call upon anyone but Allah (swt).