Transliteration:( Wa laqad oohiya ilaika wa ilal lazeena min qablika la in ashrakta la yahbatanna 'amalu ka wa latakoonanna minal khaasireen )
"And indeed, it has been revealed to you, and to those before you that if you associate other gods with Allah, then surely all your deeds shall go in vain, and you shall certainly remain in loss [158]."
Though this verse addresses the Holy Prophet ﷺ, its true aim is to warn the listeners—especially the disbelievers.
If understood literally about the Prophet ﷺ, then it is a case of "making the impossible conditional", i.e., stating a hypothetical scenario that can never occur.
This style is also seen elsewhere in the Qur'an, such as:
"If the Most Merciful had a son, I would be the first to worship him." (Surah 43:81)
—an impossible condition used to powerfully refute a false claim.
The purpose here is to emphasize the gravity of shirk (associating partners with Allah):
Even if it were hypothetically done by a Prophet, it would nullify all deeds and lead to complete loss.
Thus, for any ordinary person, the consequences are even more dire.
The tafsir of Surah Az-Zumar verse 65 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Zumar ayat 62 which provides the complete commentary from verse 62 through 66.
(39:65) (Tell them clearly that) it was revealed to you and to all Prophets before you: “If you associate any others with Allah in His Divinity, your works will surely come to naught[74] and you will certainly be among the losers.”
74. That is, no act which is performed along with shirk will be adjudged as a righteous act, and no one who, being a mushrik, performs many acts as good acts in his personal judgment, will deserve any reward for them, and his whole life work will be deemed to have gone waste.
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