From the translation by Muhammad Asad (Leopold Weiss)

About the translator:
Muhammad Asad, Leopold Weiss, was born of Jewish parents in Livow, Austria (later Poland) in 1900, and at the age of 22 made his first visit to the Middle East. He later became an outstanding foreign correspondent for the Franfurter Zeitung, and after his conversion to Islam travelled and worked throughout the Muslim world, from North Africa to as far east as Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. After years of devoted study he became one of the leading Muslim scholars of our age. His translation of the Holy Qur'an is one of the most lucid and well-referenced works in this category, dedicated to “li-qawmin yatafakkaroon” (For people who think).

Chapter 39, verses 1 – 3
The bestowal from on high of this divine writ issues from God, the Almighty, the Wise: for, behold, it is We who have bestowed this revelation upon thee from on high, setting forth the truth: so worship Him, sincere in thy faith in Him alone!
Is it not to God alone that all sincere faith is due? And yet, they who take for their protectors aught beside Him [are wont to say,] “We worship them for no other reason than they bring us nearer to God.” [ 1 ]
Behold God will judge between them [on Resurrection Day] with regard to all wherein they differ [from the truth]: for, verily, God does not grace with His guidance anyone who is bent on lying [to himself and is] stubbornly ingrate.

Chapter 39, verse 7
If you are ingrate – behold, God has no need of you; nonetheless, He does not approve ingratitude in His servants: whereas, if you show gratitude, He approves it in you.
And no bearer of burdens shall be made to bear another’s burden. [ 2 ]
In time, unto your Sustainer you all must return, and then He will make you [truly] understand all that you were doing [in life]: for, verily, He has full knowledge of what is in the hearts [of men].

Translator’s Notes
[ 1 ] This relates not only to worship of saints, angels and “deified persons” as such, but also to their symbolic representations (statues, pictures, relics, etc.) and, in the case of defunct human personalities, of their real or reputed tombs. Since all such practices are based on the worshipper’s hope of “mediation” between himself and God, they obviously conflict with the concept of His omniscience and justice, and are, therefore – notwithstanding their widespread occurrence – utterly rejected by the Qur’an.
[ 2 ] This statement occurs in the Qur’an five times in exactly the same formulation. In the present instance, it contains an allusion to (and rejection of) the doctrine of “vicarious atonement” and, indirectly, to the worship of saint, etc., referred to in verse 3 above.