۞ وَمَن يَقُلْ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّىٓ إِلَٰهٌ مِّن دُونِهِۦ فَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِيهِ جَهَنَّمَ ۚ كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِى ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
Commentary:
It is significant that whereas claimants to the Godhead will only be punished in the hereafter for their false claims, those pretenders and mountebanks who falsely lay claim to prophethood are punished in this very world. They meet with death and destruction and their whole organizations come to nought in this very life (69:46-48). This difference in treatment of these two kinds of pretenders is due to the fact that the absurdity of a claim to the Godhead is self-evident because no sane person would ever accept a claimant to godhead as God and therefore such a claimant need not be punished here. But a false claimant to prophethood, if allowed to go scot-free, may succeed in deceiving many innocent people into accepting his false claim; therefore he ultimately meets with defeat, discomfiture and destruction in this very life and is not allowed to live long and his mission is not permitted to prosper.
It is significant that whereas claimants to Godhead will only be punished in the hereafter for their false claims, those pretenders and mountebanks who falsely lay claim to Prophethood are punished in this very world. They meet with death and destruction and all their organizations come to naught in this very life (69:45-48). This difference in the treatment of these two kinds of pretenders is due to the fact that the absurdity of a claim to Godhead is self-evident, therefore such a claimant need not be punished here. But a false claimant to Prophethood, if allowed to go scot-free, may succeed in deceiving innocent people into accepting his false claim; therefore he ultimately is made to suffer defeat, discomfiture and destruction in this very life and is not allowed to live long, and his mission is not allowed to prosper.