And when He mentioned - glorified and exalted is He - the disgraceful acts of the Children of Israel at one time; and specified another; He mentioned a calamity from their calamities; they were driven to it by arrogance and pride in what Allah had bestowed upon them; so He said: ﴿And the Jews and the Christians said﴾; meaning: each group said that for itself; specifically for itself; without the rest of creation; ﴿We are the children of Allah﴾; meaning: by which He looks at us with all attributes of perfection; ﴿and His beloved﴾; meaning: they are immersed in each of the two descriptions - as indicated by the conjunction 'and' -; then He began to refute this claim, refutation after refutation; on the assumption of the reality of sonship; or its metaphorical meaning; and what led them to this doubt - if they did not say that out of stubbornness - is that in a place in the Torah regarding Allah's saying (the Most High) to Moses - blessings be upon him -: (My people are My firstborn); and He said at the beginning of Moses' prophethood - as I have mentioned in 'Al-A'raf': (And say to Pharaoh: Thus says the Lord: My firstborn is Israel; send him to worship Me; and if you refuse to send My son, I will kill your firstborn); and similar to this; and in much of what is before them from the Gospel regarding the saying of Jesus - blessings be upon him -: (p-67) 'Do this so that you may be the children of your Father who is in heaven'; and similar to that; and I have clarified its meaning on the assumption of its correctness by what necessitates referring it to the judge without doubt in the first verse of 'Al-Imran'; Al-Baydawi said in the first verse of 'Al-Kahf': that they used to refer to the father and the son in those religions as meaning the influencer and the influenced; and he said in 'Al-Baqarah'; in the interpretation of: ﴿The Originator of the heavens﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 117] that they used to refer to the father as Allah; considering Him the original cause; then the ignorant among them thought that what was meant by it was the meaning of birth; and for that reason, the one who said it disbelieved; and it was absolutely forbidden from it; it has ended.

So the first refutation with which - glorified and exalted is He - refuted this claim is the statement that He will punish them; so He said: ﴿Say, then why does He punish you﴾; meaning: if you are combining between being His children; and beloved; between the affection of sonship; and the tenderness of love; ﴿for your sins﴾; and their punishment is mentioned in the text of their Torah; in many places; and is well-known in their histories; by making them apes; and pigs; and others; meaning: if the intended meaning of sonship is the reality, then the son of God cannot have a sin; let alone be punished for it; because the son can only be of the same kind as the father - (the Most High) is exalted above type, kind, and association; and the child; in great exaltation -; and if the intended meaning is metaphorical; meaning: by His honoring you with the honor of a child and beloved; that would be a barrier to punishment.

And when the meaning of that is that He punishes you because you are neither sons nor beloved ones; (p-68) He followed that with another refutation, clearer than the first; and He said: ﴿But you are humans from among those He created﴾; and that is a matter observed; and observations are among the clearest of proofs; so you are equal to others in humanity and existence; there is no superiority for any of you over another in creation and humanity; and these two prevent sonship; for the ancient does not give birth to a human; and a father does not create his son; thus, sonship is prevented by these two descriptions; and by punishing them, it is prevented that they be beloved of Allah; so the two descriptions they claimed are invalidated.

And when the estimation is: He will do to you what He does to the rest of His creation; He reached with His saying - in response to one who says: And what will He do with those He created? -: ﴿He forgives whom He wills﴾; meaning: from His creation; from you and from others; as a favor from Him (glorified and exalted is He); ﴿And punishes whom He wills﴾; justly; as you see Him honoring some of you in this world; and humiliating others.

And when the estimation is: "Because He is the Owner of His creation; and their King; there is no objection to Him in anything of His command"; He followed that with His saying - a third refutation; with something broader than what preceded it; and He said -: ﴿And to Allah﴾; meaning: to Him belongs all command; so there is no equal to Him; ﴿is the dominion of the heavens﴾; and He preceded it for its honor; as a proof of the dominion of others by greater right; and He stated with His saying: ﴿and the earth and whatever is between them﴾; meaning: and you are among what is between them; and with that, He combined with ownership and creation; the complete ownership and management and full authority; and that is the absolute wealth; and whoever is like that does not need anything from offspring or otherwise; and no one has a right over Him; nor is there justification for objection against Him.

And when the estimation is: So from Him alone is the beginning; He followed that with His saying: (p-69) ﴿And to Him﴾; meaning: alone; ﴿is the return﴾; meaning: the return and the coming back; and the time of that; and its place is a meaning in this world in that nothing escapes His will; and a reality in the Hereafter; so He will judge between His creations with utmost justice - as is required by wisdom; and the affair of every king in establishing his kingdom is to ensure fairness among some of his servants against others; it is not permissible for him in the demands of governance to allow the strong among them to act against the weak; for that leads to the ruin of the kingdom; and the weakness of the dominion; so if this is the case for kings over imperfect servants; what do you think of the wisest of judges?! So if He treats them all with justice, He bestows upon whom He wills the garments of virtue.