'And if We had made him' meaning: their desired one 'an angel' meaning: it would be possible in the course of customs in this world for them to see him and for them to remain after seeing him. 'We would have made him a man' meaning: in the form of a man. However, he expressed this as a reference to the completeness of the disguise, so that no one who sees him would doubt his being a man, just as Gabriel - blessings and peace be upon him - would descend at times upon the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - in the form of Dihyah al-Kalbi. When some of the Companions - may Allah be pleased with them - saw him, they did not doubt that he was Dihyah - may Allah be pleased with him. 'And if We had made him a man' 'We would have confused them with what they wear' meaning: we would have mixed upon them by making him a man what they mix upon themselves and upon others in their saying: indeed, the message cannot be valid from a human. If this one who claims to be a messenger were an angel, he would have been a man. Thus, the confusion occurred for them because when this one who claims to be a messenger was an angel, he was a man. It is also possible that this could be stated in another way, which is that 'And if We had sent down' [al-An'am: 7] in the context of 'they were turning away from it' [al-An'am: 4] meaning: they turned away from us if We had sent it down to you on something other than parchment. And if We had sent down to you from the sky a book on parchment, they would have turned away in that between the sense of sight and touch. And those who have established their disbelief out of stubbornness and denial said: this is nothing but clear magic. And 'And they said' is connected to 'the disbelievers said' [al-An'am: 7] and this would be before their proposing that, as narrated by Allah, the Most High, about them in Surah al-Isra with His saying: 'And they said: we will not believe in you until you cause a spring to gush forth for us from the earth' [al-Isra: 90] until its end. Thus, it would be news of the unseen.