Surah 16. An-Nahl, Ayah 86

Cf. 6:22 and the corresponding note [15].

The Qur'an states in many places that every sinner who dies without repentance will be endowed on Judgment Day with a clear, objectified vision of his sins, every one of which will have assumed for him the status of an independent reality bearing witness against him and forcing him to acknowledge his now irremediable guilt. It is to be remembered in this connection that the Qur'an describes every act of sinning - whether it be an offence against the concept of God's oneness and uniqueness or a wrong done to any of His creatures - as, primarily, one's "wronging oneself" or "sinning against oneself".

Cf. {6:23-24} and the corresponding notes [16] and [17].

The worshippers of false gods will try to shift the responsibility from their own shoulders to that of the false gods. They will suggest (though they will not have the courage for such a bare-faced lie) that they were misled by the false gods. But their lying suggestion will be contradicted and thrown back at them as explained in the next note.