'And when Allah said'; meaning: by what He has of the attributes of majesty and beauty; indicating what He has of high rank by the tool of address: 'O Jesus, son of Mary'; and that is a confirmation that he acted according to the demand of the blessing; and a rebuke to those who went astray in it from the Christians; and a denial against them; 'Did you say to the people'; meaning: those to whom you were sent from the Children of Israel; and it is as if he expressed that for the sake of increasing the reproach against them; because they believed that; and among them is the Book; so it is as if there are no people other than them; 'Take me'; meaning: impose upon yourselves contrary to what you believe by natural disposition regarding Allah; by taking me; 'and my mother as two gods'; and when the worship of others than Allah - even if it is in the form of polytheism - invalidates the worship of Allah; because He - glorified and exalted is He - is the richest of the rich; and no one accepts polytheism except a poor one; He said: 'besides Allah'; meaning: the supreme King; who has no equal; so the meaning would be: take our deity as a means by which you reach Allah; and it is permissible that the meaning is on the basis of contrast; and there is no involvement then for the partnership.

And when it was known to us; in many places; that he did not say that; he stated it here; as a rebuke to those who praised him; and as a confirmation of what we have of knowledge; and as a glorification for him - blessings and peace be upon him - by what he shows of the answer; and as a preference by informing that he did not deviate from the path of correctness; rather he exerted effort in fulfilling the covenant; and as a reprimand for those who said that about him while claiming to love him and follow him - peace be upon him -; and as a humiliation for them; so when the ears longed for his answer and the ears listened to him; and there was in his mention of the wisdoms that were previously indicated; he mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - saying: 'He said'; beginning with glorification; 'Glory be to You'; meaning: to You is the utmost glorification from every blemish of deficiency; and He indicated with the present tense that this saying is still prohibited for him; so He said: 'It is not for me'; meaning: it is not appropriate; and it is not correct at all; 'to say'; meaning: at any time; 'what is not for me'; and He emphasized the negation; as is the right of the position; so He said: 'truly'.

And when he - peace be upon him - hastened, out of reverence for the station, to indicate the denial of what he was asked about; he followed it with what indicates that it would suffice in answering him: 'You know best'; and he only responded with what had preceded, indicating that this saying nearly causes the heavens to burst asunder. And it was a prompt to rebuke the one who claimed divinity for him. He said - indicating that he was not satisfied with what contained the greatest praise, because the station is one of submission -: 'If I said it'; meaning: absolutely to the people; or I spoke it to myself; 'then you have certainly known it'; and this is an exaggeration in etiquette, and a display of humility, and a complete delegation of the matter to the Lord of Glory. Then he justified the informing of his knowledge with what is among the attributes of the Divine, saying: 'You know'; and when the self is expressed by it as the essence, and the saying is applied to the self, then if it is negated, the linguistic meaning is negated. He said: 'What is in my self'; meaning: even if I strive to conceal it, it is your creation; and I am but a tool and a vessel for it; so how about it if I had revealed it?! And when he affirmed that for him - glorified and exalted is He - he denied it from himself, reproaching the one who claimed divinity for him. He said - in a manner of similarity -: 'And I do not know what is in your self'; meaning: what you have concealed from me of things. Then he justified both matters with his saying: 'Indeed, you are'; meaning: alone; there is no partner for you; 'the Knower of the unseen.'