His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Rather, We have brought them the truth, and indeed they are liars. Allah has not taken a child, and there was not with Him any deity; otherwise, each deity would have taken away what it created, and some of them would have certainly overpowered others. Exalted is Allah above what they describe. He is the Knower of the unseen and the witnessed; so exalted is He above what they associate."

The meaning: The matter is not as they claim regarding their attribution to Allah, exalted is He, that which is not befitting Him. Rather, We have brought them. Ibn Abi Ishaq read: "We have given them" addressing Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And "they are liars" refers to what they mentioned about Allah, exalted is He, regarding having a companion, a child, and a partner. And in His saying, exalted is He: "And there was not with Him any deity" is evidence of contradiction. This is the corruption contained in His saying, exalted is He: "If there had been within them gods other than Allah, they would have certainly been corrupted" [Al-Anbiya: 22]. The invented part is impossible to be associated with two powers simultaneously. And if two deities differed in will, it is impossible for both to prevail, and it is impossible for both to be incapable. So if the will of the One prevails, He is the Supreme, and the other is not a deity. If it is said: We assume they do not differ in will, it is said: That is subject to occurrence, and if the disbelievers allow it, the proof stands against them. For what is obligated to be possible applies in the proof as what is obligated to occur.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Otherwise" is a response to something omitted, the estimation of which is: If there were a deity with Him, then each deity would have taken away what it created. Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, and Hafs from Asim read: "The Knower of the unseen" with a kasra on the mim, following what is written in His saying: "Exalted is Allah." The others and Abu Bakr from Asim read: "The Knower of the unseen" with a damma, and the meaning is: He is the Knower. Al-Akhfash said: The genitive is better for the speech to be from one aspect. Abu Ali said: And the aspect of the nominative is that the speech has been cut off.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The beginning, in my opinion, is more eloquent.

And the fa in His saying, exalted is He: "So exalted" is a conjunction in meaning, as if He said: "The Knower of the unseen and the witnessed; so exalted." This is like saying: "Zayd is brave, so his status has increased," meaning: He was brave, so his status increased. It is possible that the meaning is: So I say, exalted is He above what they associate, in a report that is distinct. And "the unseen" is what is absent from people, and "the witnessed" is what they have witnessed.