Overall meaning : Allah Almighty mentions another scene of the Day of Judgement, portraying the idolaters with the false gods they associate with Allah and worship them besides Him: Tell them, Muhammad, of the time when Allah will say to those who ascribe partners to Him, ‘Call on your gods that you claimed to be My partners and you worshipped besides Me to protect you today against My punishment.’ They will invoke them and seek their help, but they will not come to their aid. We will place between these worshipped deities and those who worshipped them besides Me a barrier of doom in Hell too wide for either group to cross over.
Then, portraying their state when they see the Fire of Hell, He says: The wicked will see the Fire and will know for certain that they will be thrown into it, and they will find no way of escape from it.
Next, He mentions the greatness of the Qur’an, saying: We have put forth in this Qur’an all manner of parables for mankind and explained to them all kinds of lessons in various ways and forms so that they may take heed and believe, but man is the most disputatious of all creatures—arguing in favour of falsehood the most and refusing to accept the truth, with the exception of those Allah has guided to it.
He then states the reason for some people’s refusal to accept the faith: What prevents people from believing in the truth after it has come to them and from seeking their Lord’s forgiveness but the fact that, according to Allah’s foreknowledge, they will persist in their unbelief until they become liable to the effects of the law Allah has set in operation and thus be utterly destroyed, as was the case with the past unbelieving nations, or be afflicted by divine punishment which will come upon them face to face.
After that, He sheds light on His messengers’ duty: We send the messengers to people only to give the believers good news of divine reward in this life and the hereafter and to warn the unbelievers of divine punishment in this life and in the life to come. The unbelievers, however, argue with their messengers using false arguments, out of sheer stubbornness, in a vain attempt to disprove the truth that the messengers bring them, and they make a mockery of My revelations and signs and the warnings they are given.