His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "That is Jesus, son of Mary, the saying of truth about which they dispute." "It is not for Allah to take a son. Glorified is He! When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, 'Be!' and it is." "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path."

The meaning: Say, O Muhammad, to your contemporaries among the Jews and Christians: That is the one from whom the story of Jesus, son of Mary, comes.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: We have inferred in the speech "Say" because it comes in the verse after "And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord." This is a saying of a human, and the apparent meaning of the verse does not imply a speaker from among humans other than Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. It is possible that his saying: "That is Jesus" up to his saying: "and it is" is an announcement to Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and an interruption during the speech of Jesus. His saying: "And that" with the opening of the alif is an addition to his saying: "the Book." Wahb ibn Munabbih said: Jesus entrusted them with "Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord," and whoever broke the alif added to his saying: "Indeed, I am a servant of Allah."

Ibn Kathir, Nafi', Hamzah, al-Kisai, and the majority of the people read: "the saying of truth," while Asim, Ibn Amir, and Ibn Abi Ishaq read: "the saying of truth" with the accusative of "saying" as a source. Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Muqri said: A trustworthy blind man used to sit with me, and he said: I saw the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in a dream reading: "the saying of truth" in the accusative. Abu Abd al-Rahman said: I used to read with the nominative only, so I began to read it in both ways. Abdullah ibn Mas'ud read: "Allah said" meaning: the word of Allah, and Jesus read: "He said the truth."

Nafi' and the majority read "they dispute" with the ya as a reference to them, while Nafi' also and Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, and Dawud ibn Abi Hind read: "you dispute" with the ta as addressing them. The meaning is: You differ, O Jews and Christians, so some of you say: He is the result of adultery and similar to this, and some of you say: He is Allah, the Exalted. This is their dispute, and an explanation of that will come after this.

And His saying, exalted is He: "It is not for Allah to take a son" means negation, and this is the meaning of these words wherever they occur. Then it is added to that according to the state of what is mentioned in it, either as a reprimand and prohibition like His saying, exalted is He: "It is not for the people of the city and those around them from the Bedouins to remain behind" [At-Tawbah: 120], or as a declaration of inability like His saying, exalted is He: "It is not for you to cause its trees to grow" [An-Naml: 60], or as a disavowal like this verse. And His saying: "from a son" the "from" has entered affirming the denial, to negate one and what is above it from what is implied by this expression if "from" does not enter. And His saying: "a matter" means: one of the matters, and it is not from the root "command". The meaning of "decreed" is to create and bring forth from non-existence. And these actions in these verbs of past and future are according to the figurative usage of the Arabs and their expansiveness. The saying has already been mentioned regarding His saying, exalted is He: "Be! and it is."

Ibn Kathir, Nafi, and Abu Amr read: "And that Allah" with a فتح (fath) on the alif. This is an addition to his saying: ﴿That is Jesus, son of Mary, the word of truth﴾ and ﴿And indeed Allah is my Lord﴾, likewise. Ibn Amer, Asim, Hamza, and Al-Kisai read: "And indeed Allah" with a كسر (kasr) on the alif. This is clear as a new statement. Ubayy ibn Ka'b, may Allah be pleased with him, read: "Indeed Allah is my Lord and your Lord" with a كسر (kasr) on the alif without a waw.

His saying: "So worship Him," he paused and then began: "This is a straight path." That is: what He has informed you about regarding Allah, the Exalted, of His oneness, and the negation of having a son, and other than that which He is exalted above, is a clear path leading to salvation and the mercy of Allah, the Exalted.