And when the decree was: So We honored him as he thought of Us with an honor that We established until it continued in his offspring until the Day of Resurrection, he turned to his saying: ﴿And We granted him﴾ meaning: By Our glorious power, in gratitude for his migration, ﴿Isaac﴾ from his wife Sarah, peace be upon her, who combined barrenness in her youth with despair in her old age. His mention of the gift to him with the conjunction 'wa' is evidence of what will come, if Allah, the Most High, wills, in the verses of As-Saffat that the sacrificial one is Ishmael, peace be upon him, due to his connection to the gift there regarding the migration with the conjunction 'fa' ﴿and Jacob﴾ from his son Isaac, peace be upon both of them.

And when the context in this surah is for testing, and Ibrahim, peace be upon him, was tested with Ishmael, peace be upon him, by parting with him and his mother, may Allah be pleased with both of them, and placing them in a desolate part of the earth with no companion therein, he did not mention him explicitly in the context of gratitude. He singled out Isaac, peace be upon him, because he was not tested with anything of that sort, and because the favor of him—due to his mother being old and barren—is greater and more significant, as it is more astonishing. And he mentioned Ishmael, peace be upon him, allusively in his saying: ﴿And We made﴾ meaning: By Our might and wisdom ﴿in his offspring﴾ from the children of Isaac and Ishmael, peace be upon them, ﴿prophethood﴾ so that there would be no prophet after him who is foreign to him. And whenever this connection is valid, it must be established that the sacrificial one is Ishmael, peace be upon him, for he is the one most closely mentioned in this surah. It is as if it were said: We gave him glad tidings of what he would rejoice in from Isaac after We commanded him with what would harm Ishmael, peace be upon them, and he was patient in the trial of hardship and grateful in the trial of ease.

﴿And the Book﴾ for no book was revealed except to his descendants. He singled it out to indicate—with the inclusion of the four books—that nothing is worthy of being written except what was revealed in them or is related to them. And if he had gathered, it would not have conveyed this meaning. ﴿And We gave him his reward﴾ for his migration ﴿in this world﴾ with what We specified for him of what no one else can attain, such as abundance of provision, ease of living, many servants, and children in old age, and a large progeny, and good praise, and love from all of creation, and other than that.

And when the disbeliever believes—due to his denial of resurrection—that he has made his life miserable with migration, a misery that cannot be remedied, the situation necessitated the emphasis in his saying: ﴿And indeed, in the Hereafter﴾ meaning: which is the abode and the place of settlement ﴿is certainly among the righteous﴾ whom We have designated for happiness and made for them the best and more.