أَلَيْسَ ٱللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُۥ وَيُخَوِّفُونَكَ بِٱلَّذِينَ مِن دُونِهِۦ … قُلْ يَٰقَوْمِ ٱعْمَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِكُمْ إِنِّى عَٰمِلٌ
"Is God not enough for His servant? Yet they frighten you with those besides Him… Say: 'O my people! Work where you stand; I too am working.'"
أَلَيْسَ ٱللَّهُ بِكَافٍ عَبْدَهُ — a declaration of sufficiency in the form of a question. The root ك-ف-ي: to suffice, to meet a need.
I record this as an observation: the verse names the instrument the other side uses — not evidence, but fear. And through the fourth block of the sūra this instrument will be mentioned several times.
ٱعْمَلُوا۟ عَلَىٰ مَكَانَتِكُمْ إِنِّى عَٰمِلٌ — the second occurrence of the sentence of parting that came in the fifteenth verse (fa'ʿbudū mā shiʾtum min dūnih). And it is in the same pattern as the sentence fa'ʿmal innanā ʿāmilūn, which came from the mouth of the other side in Fuṣṣilat at 41/5.
| Place | Who says it |
|---|---|
| Fuṣṣilat 41/5 | The other side — to close the argument |
| Al-Zumar 39/15, 39/39 | This side — stating the outcome |
The two sūras put the same sentence into two mouths. This is a repetition that can be verified from the text, and I add the following as my own reading: in both mouths the sentence conveys a parting; what makes the difference is the statement of outcome appended to it.