Surah 16. An-Nahl, Ayah 51

The double dual in ilahayn ithnayn ("two deities") serves to emphasize the prohibition of worshipping "more than one deity" - i.e., anything but the One God.

This is a striking example of the fluctuation to which personal pronouns are subjected in the Qur'an whenever they refer to God. As already pointed out in my Foreword, note [2], as well as in other places, such abrupt changes of pronoun ("He", "I", "We", "Us", "Me", etc.) indicate that God is limitless and, therefore, beyond the range of definition implied in the use of "personal" pronouns.

The ancient Persians believed in two powers in the Universe, one good and the other evil. The Pagan Arabs also had pairs of deities: e.g., Jibr (Sorcery) and Tagut (Evil), referred to in iv. 51, n. 573, or the idols on Safa and Marwa referred to in n. 160 to ii. 158: their names were Isaf and Naila.