And when this was their view regarding what is between them and the rest of the animals, by what He has given them of sensory and spiritual powers, and what He has established for them of intellectual ascents and transmitted evidences by which they reach the ultimate of beings, and they penetrate through what their knowledge leads them to the highest of creations. Then they looked at what is between the animals and the plants, and then between them and the inanimate objects, clearly indicating that He, glorified and exalted is He, gives whom He wills what He wills. If He had wanted, He would have empowered them to penetrate from it, and if He had empowered them for that, it would have been among the greatest of blessings. And that He, glorified and exalted is He, is capable of what He wants from them. If He had willed, He would have destroyed them, but He delays them until their appointed times, out of His forbearance and pardon towards them. This is the reason for His saying: 'So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?' That is, the Benefactor towards you, the One who nurtures you by what you know of His power over all that He wills. 'You both deny' the blessing of hearing from the left side or otherwise, by making you equal in that you cannot oppose His will, whether you are a group or individuals, or by gathering you on the Day of Gathering, and He had gathered you before when He began creating you, or on the Day of Witness, and He had made you witness over yourselves and took a covenant from you, or by the tearing apart of the heavens, and you witnessed the tearing apart of the clouds after its spreading, or by the recompense, and you have seen the immediate recompense and witnessed what befell the past nations.