It was said regarding the honor of Adam's offspring: Allah honored him with intellect, speech, discernment, writing, a beautiful form, and an upright stature, as well as the management of worldly affairs and the Hereafter. It was also said that He made them dominant over what is in the earth and made it subservient to them.

It was said: Everything eats with its mouth except for Adam's offspring. And regarding Al-Rashid: he brought food and called for spoons, and Abu Yusuf was with him. He said to him: It has come in the interpretation of your grandfather Ibn Abbas regarding His saying, 'And We have certainly honored the Children of Adam,' that He made for them fingers to eat with. So he brought the spoons back and ate with his fingers. 'Upon many of those We created' refers to others besides the angels.

[Muhammad said: 'The intended meaning is that We have preferred them over others besides the angels... etc.' Ahmad said: 'It has reached a level of foolishness that warrants punishment, and we are only debating with him from the perspective of knowledge, not from the perspective of foolishness. The extent that this verse specifically addresses is that carrying the many upon the all is neither unlikely nor strange. Do you not see that it has been reported to carry the few upon the nonexistence? Al-Zamakhshari prefers this in His saying, 'And few of them believe,' and similar verses are many. The poet hinted at this in his saying.

'Few are the sounds in it except for its murmurs.'

That is, there are no sounds in it, and we can maintain it as it is and say: The created beings are of two types: the Children of Adam are one type, and all others among the created beings are the other type. There is no doubt that the others are more than them, even if they are not significantly more. Thus, the meaning of His saying, 'And We have preferred them over many of those We created,' means over others among all the created beings, and those others are many without dispute. This is synonymous with saying: 'And We have preferred them over all others besides them among those We created.' The apparent meaning of the verse, therefore, aligns with the Ash'ari who called them 'the compelled,' and they boast in their cursing and elaborate expressions in their arguments, and 'not a word does he utter but there is by him a vigilant guardian.' And Allah is the Guardian of success and guidance.

And it is enough for the Children of Adam to be preferred that the angels are raised above them, and they themselves are in their place with Allah, their status with Him is their status. And it is astonishing how the compelled have reversed this.

And it indicates their doctrine: "Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds, it is they who are the best of creation." As for those who disbelieved, they are the worst of creation. The claim of the opposite is due to extreme partisanship for the Mu'tazila. They have been stubborn in everything and have become so accustomed to stubbornness that they have even preferred humans over angels. This is after they heard Allah magnifying their matter and increasing it while glorifying their mention. They knew where He settled them, how close He brought them, and how He placed them among His Prophets as His Prophets among their nations. Then their extreme partisanship led them to fabricate sayings and reports, including: The angels said: "Our Lord, indeed You have given the children of Adam the world." Its beginning is as in Al-Khazin: When Allah created Adam and his offspring, the angels said. And His saying: "I created with My hands" in Al-Khazin: And I breathed into him from My Spirit. They said: "Our Lord, indeed You have given the children of Adam the world to eat from it and enjoy, but You have not given us that, so grant us in the Hereafter." He said: "By My might and majesty, I will not make the offspring of one whom I created with My hands like one to whom I said 'Be' and he was." This was narrated by Al-Tabarani in Al-Awsat from the path of Muhammad ibn Mahan, who reported to us from Talha ibn Zaid, from Safwan ibn Sulaym, from 'Ata ibn Yasar, from Abdullah ibn 'Umar, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, who said: "Indeed, the angels said: 'Our Lord, You have given the children of Adam the world to eat and drink and wear, while we glorify You in praise and do not eat or drink or amuse ourselves. So just as You have given them the world, grant us the Hereafter.' He said: 'I will not make the offspring of one whom I created with My hands like one to whom I said 'Be' and he was.'" Talha and Abu Ghassan are the only ones who narrated it from Safwan; Talha Muhammad ibn Mahan is unique in this. And from Abu Ghassan, Al-Hajjaj the one-eyed narrated the path of Al-Hajjaj in Al-Mu'jam Al-Kabir, and its narrators are trustworthy. There is another witness in 'Abd Al-Razzaq's Tafsir from Ma'mar from Zayd ibn Aslam who said: The angels said, and he mentioned something similar, stopping at him. And Al-Daraqutni said in Al-'Ilal: 'Abd Al-Majid ibn Abu Dawood narrated from Ma'mar from Zayd ibn Aslam from 'Ata ibn Yasar from Ibn 'Umar. He mentioned something similar and said: Shurayh ibn Yunus narrated it from 'Abd Al-Majid stopping at it. And it is more authentic. There is another witness narrated by Al-Tabarani in the Musnad of the people of Sham and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Asma' wa Al-Sifat from the narration of 'Abd Rabbih ibn Salih from 'Urwah ibn Ruwayh who heard him narrate from Jabir that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "When Allah created Adam and his offspring, the angels said: 'O Lord, You created them to eat, drink, marry, and ride, so grant them the world and give us the Hereafter.' Allah, the Exalted, said: 'I will not make the offspring of one whom I created with My hands like one to whom I said: 'Be' and he was.'" And they narrated from Abu Hurairah, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: "A believer is more honored with Allah than the angels who are with Him." Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab narrated it from the narration of Hamad ibn Salamah from Abu Al-Mahzam from Abu Hurairah stopping at it. Ibn Majah narrated it from this path stopping at it. And Abu Al-Mahzam is abandoned. There is a witness narrated by Al-Tabarani and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Shu'ab from the narration of 'Ubaydullah ibn 'Umar, may Allah be pleased with both of them, who said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "There is nothing more honored with Allah on the Day of Resurrection than the children of Adam." It was said: "Not even the angels?" He said: "Not even the angels. The angels are compelled like the sun and the moon." Al-Bayhaqi said: "This was uniquely narrated by 'Ubaydullah ibn Tamam, who narrates the hadiths of Mu'awiyah, and he is weak." And they narrated from Abu Hurairah that he said: "A believer is more honored with Allah than the angels who are with Him." And among their errors is that they interpreted KATHIR as meaning 'all' in this verse, and they were forsaken until they lost their sense, not realizing the ugliness of their words: "And We preferred them over all whom We created," to the extent that the meaning of their saying "over all whom We created" is more painful to their throats and more distressing to their eyes, but they do not perceive. So look at their attempts and their clinging to distant interpretations in enmity towards the highest assembly, as if Gabriel, peace be upon him, angered them when he destroyed the cities of the people of Lot. This malice does not depart from their hearts.