"[O you who have believed, be persistently standing firm in justice]" until His saying: "[Then Allah is more worthy of both of them]." He says: Testify against yourselves, your children, your fathers, your mothers, and your relatives, whether they be rich or poor. "[If he is rich or poor, then Allah is more worthy of both of them]"—meaning: He is more worthy of their richness and their poverty than you are.

Qatada said: He means, let not the richness of a rich person, nor the poverty of a poor person, prevent you from testifying against him according to what you know. "[So do not follow personal inclination, lest you not be just]"—(meaning: so that you do not abandon) the testimony. "[And if you distort]" your tongues, thus altering the testimony, "[or refuse]"—that is, by not testifying with it—"[then indeed Allah is ever, with what you do, Acquainted]."