Overall meaning : If you, people, disbelieve in Allah, then know that He does not stand in need of you or your worship of Him, nor is He pleased with unbelief from His servants; whereas if you give thanks and believe, He is pleased with it from you and will reward you generously for it. No person will bear the sins of another person: everyone will be repaid for his own deeds and will not be held responsible for other people’s sins. To your Lord alone will you then be returned, and He will inform you of all the good and evil deeds you have done. He knows full well even the innermost secrets of the hearts.
When man is afflicted with hardship and distress, he calls upon his Lord to relieve his suffering, turning to Him alone; nonetheless, once He removes the adversity from his life and bestows upon him His favours by His grace, he forgets all about the harm which he has previously implored his Lord to remove and makes other deities Allah’s equals, which he worships in order to lead people away from His path and His religion!
Say, Muhammad, to such people who ascribe partners to Allah and worship them besides Him, ‘Enjoy your unbelief for a little while. You are among the inhabitants of the Fire to abide in it for ever.’