And when he mentioned that He obligated them to the rulings of the Book in this overwhelming, compelling, and constraining manner, which is among the greatest covenants according to the people of knowledge, and that He emphasized to them the covenants in many chapters of the Book, and that all of this was specific to them; He commanded him to mention to them that He has instilled in them, in general, of this human type of intellects and has set forth from the clear evidence that clarifies the matter as the witnessed is for the witness. If the one who neglects it and is careless about it were to be punished, his punishment would be in accordance with the methods suitable for intellects. However, due to the precedence of His mercy and the predominance of His compassion, He did not hold them accountable for that until He included the messengers and sent down with them the Books, and increased in them the covenants, and added in the clarification and explanation. And to this is the reference by the name of the Lord, so that it is as if those who have knowledge are more blameworthy than the ignorant. He said: "And when" meaning: and mention to them when "He took" meaning: created by His saying and power "your Lord" meaning: the Benefactor (p-152) to you by preparing for your message just as lice is taken out with a comb from the head.

And when the context was for taking the covenants and taking them with strength, He mentioned taking the offspring from the strongest type of humans, which are the males. He said: "from the children of Adam" and mentioned that He made it from the best of the members, saying: "from their backs" each one from the back of his father "their offspring" indicating that when He emphasized the covenants to them and made them strong for them, He commanded them with strength in the matter of it. He gave them from the strength in composition and temperament what would make them obedient to that. So it is a duty within what is possible, and He made for them intellects according to the one who said: it is in its reality like the ant of Solomon, blessings and peace be upon him. "And He made them testify against themselves" meaning: He clarified for them from the proofs of the favor of intellects along with the creation of the heavens and the earth and what is in them in this manner that witnesses to His oneness and the completeness of knowledge and power, and from the sending of the messengers supported by miracles, they were like witnesses that there is no Lord other than Him; [And the Imam Al-Ghazali, the proof of Islam, mentioned the meaning of this in his discourse on reason from the perspective of knowledge in the revival; for he said: the meaning of this verse and the intended is the acknowledgment of their souls, not the acknowledgment of the tongues, for they divided in the acknowledgment of the tongues where (p-153) the tongues and individuals were found; then he mentioned that the souls were created to recognize things as they are due to the proximity of readiness for perception.]

And when it became clear that He is One with no partner, there is no one to repel His command. And that He is the Lord, there is none more compassionate than Him nor more merciful. This was a cause for their obedience to Him, out of fear of His might and hope for His mercy. They were thus in the position of one who is asked about the truth and affirms it. For this reason, He said: ﴿Am I not your Lord?﴾ meaning: the Benefactor to you in creation, nurturing, provision, and others. ﴿They said: Yes, we bear witness.﴾ This means: our knowledge of that was a witnessing knowledge. This is because they reached, after the clarification, a point where the only answer could be that, as if they had said it. And Allah knows best [more than] the valley of His saying, the Exalted: ﴿And to Allah prostrates whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or by compulsion.﴾ [Ar-Ra'd: 15] The verse: ﴿And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth of creatures, and the angels, and they are not arrogant.﴾ [An-Nahl: 49]

And when it was as if it was said: Why did He do that? It was said: A sign that the previous one is merely on the path of representation, making their empowerment to deduce like a witnessing. He did it out of dislike for ﴿you to say on the Day of Resurrection﴾ meaning: if evidence were not established for them. ﴿Indeed, we were of this﴾ meaning: Your Oneness and Lordship ﴿unaware.﴾ This is due to the lack of evidence, and for this reason, we associated partners.