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Surah 34. Saba, Ayah 21

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وَمَا كَانَ لَهُۥ عَلَيْهِم مِّن سُلْطَـٰنٍ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَن يُؤْمِنُ بِٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ مِمَّنْ هُوَ مِنْهَا فِى شَكٍّ ۗ وَرَبُّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىْءٍ حَفِيظٌ
Wam a k a na lahu AAalayhim min sul ta nin ill a linaAAlama man yuminu bi a l a khirati mimman huwa minh a fee shakkin warabbuka AAal a kulli shayin h afee th un
And yet, he had no power at all over them:30 [for if We allow him to tempt man,] it is only to the end that We might make a clear distinction between those who [truly] believe in the life to come and those who are in doubt thereof:31 for thy Sustainer watches over all things.
  - Mohammad Asad

Cf. a similar phrase placed in the mouth of Iblis in 14:22 ("I had no power at all over you: I but called you - and you responded unto me"), and the corresponding note [31]; also, see note [30] on {15:39-40}. - Although, on the face of it, verses {20-21} of the present surah refer to the people of Sheba, their import is (as the sequence shows) much wider, applying to the human race as such.

See 15:41 and the corresponding note [31].

even though he had no authority over them. It all happened because We wanted to see who among them believed in the hereafter and who is in doubt concerning it. Your Rabb is watching over all things.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
He does not have any authority over them, but 'Our Will is' only to distinguish those who believe in the Hereafter from those who are in doubt about it. And your Lord is a 'vigilant' Keeper over all things.'
  - Mustafa Khattab
And he had no warrant whatsoever against them, save that We would know him who believeth in the Hereafter from him who is in doubt thereof; and thy Lord (O Muhammad) taketh note of all things.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
But he had no authority over them except that We might test the man who believes in the Hereafter from him who is in doubt concerning it: and thy Lord doth watch over all things. 3821
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Might test: the word in the original is might know. It is not that Allah does not know all. Why does He want to test? It is in order to help us subjectively, to train our will, to put us definitely the question, "Will you obey Allah or other than Allah?" Cf. n. 467 to iii. 154.

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