Surah As-Saffat 37:128

(When he said to his people: "Will you not have Taqwa") means, `do you not fear Allah when you worship others instead of Him'

(Will you call upon Ba`l and forsake the Best of creators,) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah and As-Suddi said that the word Ba`l means lord. `Ikrimah and Qatadah said, "This is the language of the people of Yemen." According to another report from Qatadah, it is the language of Azd Shanu'ah. `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam narrated from his father that it is the name of an idol which was worshipped by the people of a city called Ba`labak (Baalbek) which is to the west of Damascus. Ad-Dahhak said, "It is an idol which they used to worship."

(Will you call upon Ba`l) means, `will you worship an idol,'

(and forsake the Best of creators, Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers) means, `He is the One Who is deserving of your worship alone, with no partners or associates.'

(But they denied him, so they will certainly be brought forth,) means, for the punishment on the Day of Reckoning.

(Save the chosen servants of Allah.) means, those who believe in Him alone.

(And We left for him among the later generations.) means, he is praised and spoken of highly.

(Salam (peace!) be upon Ilyasin!) Similarly, one might say for Isma`il, Isma`in. This is the language (dialect) of Bani Asad; they say Mikal, Mika'il, and Mika'in. They say Ibrahim and Ibraham; Isra'il, Isra'in; Tur Sina', Tur Sinin. All of that is fine.

(Verily, thus do We reward the doers of good. Verily, he was one of Our believing servants.) We have already discussed the meaning of this above. And Allah knows best.

Ayat ini menerangkan bahwa kaum Nabi Ilyas menentang Nabi Ilyas. Mereka memandang Nabi Ilyas berbohong dengan dakwah yang disampaikannya. Oleh karena itu, mereka menolak untuk kembali kepada agama tauhid. Karena tetap memilih syirik dan tidak kembali ke agama tauhid itu, maka selama di dunia mereka dibiarkan, tetapi di akhirat nanti mereka akan diseret dengan paksa ke dalam neraka.

Mereka yang mengerjakan kebaikan dengan ikhlas dihindarkan dari neraka. Mereka disebut al-mukhlishin 'orang yang ikhlas. Setelah keikhlasan mereka dalam beramal begitu kuatnya sehingga sudah menjadi sifatnya, maka Allah menyambut keikhlasan itu sehingga ia dijadikan-Nya sebagai orang yang telah diterima sepenuhnya keikhlasannya. Orang itu disebut al-mukhlashin 'orang yang diikhlaskan-Nya. Dalam Al-Qur'an orang itulah yang tidak mempan digoda oleh setan sebagaimana diakui setan itu sendiri:

Ia (Iblis) berkata, "Tuhanku, oleh karena Engkau telah memutuskan bahwa aku sesat, aku pasti akan jadikan (kejahatan) terasa indah bagi mereka di bumi, dan aku akan menyesatkan mereka semuanya, kecuali hamba-hamba-Mu yang terpilih di antara mereka." (al-hijr/15: 39-40)