Overall meaning : Abraham’s people, Allah informs us, argued with him regarding his worshipping his Lord alone and his disowning their false deities, so he disapprovingly said to them, 'Do you argue with me about my worshipping Allah alone, when He Himself has guided me to the truth? I do not fear the false gods you worship besides Allah, for they can do me no harm at all unless Allah so wills. My Lord encompasses all things in His Knowledge, and nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him. Will you not, then, reflect and take heed? And how should I fear the false gods you worship besides Allah and do neither harm nor good, while you do not fear to associate partners with Allah without His having sent down to you any proof or authority to do so, and He has power over all things? Tell me, then, which of the two parties has better title to safety and security if you have any knowledge: those who worship Allah who alone can do good and harm, or those who worship false deities besides Him and can do neither good nor harm?!’
In reply to the question Abraham, peace be upon him, asked his people, Almighty Allah says: Those who believe and do not mix their faith with wrongdoing by ascribing partners to Him and worshipping them besides Him are the ones who will be secure from all fears in this world and the next, and they are the ones who have been guided to the right path.
Such was the argument, Allah states, with which He furnished Abraham against his people, explaining that just as He raised him to an exalted rank in this life and in the hereafter because of such argument with which He defeated him people, so, too, He raises in degrees whomever He wills by bestowing upon them knowledge and the power of reasoning and argumentation, and that He is All-Wise, All-Knowing.