When they answered him with the response of those who imitate their forefathers, he said to them: Ascend the matter of your imitation to its utmost limits, which is the worship of the earliest ancestors from your fathers. For precedence and being first is not a proof of correctness, and falsehood does not turn into truth by virtue of age. The worship of those who worship these idols is nothing but the worship of enemies to them. The meaning of enmity is His saying, 'Certainly, they will disbelieve in their worship of them and will be against them.' And the one who entices them to worship it is the most hostile enemy of man, which is the devil. He said 'enemy' to illustrate the matter in his own mind, meaning: As I contemplated my situation, I saw that my worship of it is worship of the enemy, so I avoided it and preferred the worship of the One who is all good. He showed them thereby that it was advice he gave to himself first and built upon it the management of his affairs, so they would look and say: 'Ibrahim advised us only with what he advised himself, and he wanted for us only what he wanted for his own soul,' so that it would be more likely for them to accept and more compelling for them to listen to him. If he had said: 'For it is an enemy to you,' it would not have had that same status, for it would have entered into the realm of insinuation, and insinuation may reach the advised person what explicitness does not reach, for he reflects upon it, and perhaps reflection leads to acceptance. Among this is what is narrated about ash-Shafi'i, may Allah be pleased with him, that a man confronted him with something, and he said: 'If I were in your position, I would need etiquette.' And a man heard people talking about a stone and said: 'It is neither my house nor your house.' The enemy and the friend come in the meaning of unity and community. He said: 'And a people upon me of strength... I see them enemies while they were friends.' [M'ara: strength, and intensity of debate, and it is narrated: 'of nobility', meaning: enmity or pride or intensity. The enemy and the friend apply to masculine and feminine, dual and plural. He says: 'And by the Lord of the worlds, an exception that is disconnected, as if he said: 'But the Lord of the worlds, He guides me.' He means that when He completed His creation and breathed into him the spirit, thereafter followed His continuous guidance that does not cease to all that is good for him and concerns him. Otherwise, who guided him to be nourished by blood in the stomach through absorption? And who guided him to recognize the breast at birth, and to know its place, and who guided him to the manner of suckling, and other such guidance related to livelihood and the Hereafter? He said: 'I am ill' instead of 'He made me ill' because many causes of illness occur due to neglect by man in his food and drink. [Mawlana said: 'He attributed the illness to himself because much of it is due to man's neglect in his food and drink.' Ahmad said: 'What was mentioned by others than az-Zamakhshari is that the secret in attributing illness to himself is to show etiquette with Allah by specifying the attribution of healing, which is an evident blessing, to Him. And perhaps az-Zamakhshari deviated from this because Ibrahim, peace be upon him, attributed death to Allah, which is more severe than illness, so the mentioned meaning was not established for him. However, the meaning that az-Zamakhshari also expressed regarding illness is broken by death, for illness can be due to man's neglect of himself, just as death can arise from the cause of this illness that is due to man's neglect, and he attributed it to Allah. And it can be differentiated between the attribution of death and the attribution of illness in terms of etiquette: that death is known and well-established as a predetermined decree from Allah upon all humans, and a general ruling that does not specify, while illness is not like that.

How many who are healthy have suddenly faced death? Therefore, one should take heed of the universality of death, perhaps it will diminish the effect of it being a trial, and it is permissible in etiquette to attribute it to Allah, the Most High. As for illness, since it is something that affects some people and not others, it is a confirmed trial. This necessitates that, in the etiquette with Allah, a person attributes it to himself considering that cause from which one cannot be free. This is supported by the fact that everything he mentioned with illness he reported as occurring with certainty, because it is something that must happen. As for illness, since it may occur or may not, he mentioned it with a condition, saying, 'And when I am ill.' It was possible for him to say, 'And the One who makes me ill will heal me,' as he said in other contexts. He did not deviate from the matching correspondence of the established sayings except for that reason, and Allah knows best. And other than that. Hence, the philosophers said: If most of the dead were asked, 'What is the cause of your lifespans?' they would say: 'Overeating.' And it was read: 'My sins,' and the intended meaning is what is rare from some minor sins, because the prophets are infallible and chosen over the worlds. It was said: It refers to his saying, 'Indeed, I am ill,' and his saying, 'Rather, their great one did it,' and his saying to Sarah, 'She is my sister.' And it is nothing but evasions of speech and fabrications for the disbelievers, and they are not sins for which forgiveness is sought. If you say: If only minor sins occur from them and they are expiated, why did he affirm for himself a sin or sins and hope for them to be forgiven? I say: The answer is what I have previously mentioned: that the seeking forgiveness of the prophets is humility from them before their Lord and a self-effacement, and this is indicated by his saying, 'Am I hopeful?' and he did not assert the saying of forgiveness. In this is a teaching for their nations, and it is meant to be a kindness for them in avoiding sins and being cautious of them, and seeking forgiveness for what they may have committed. If you say: Why did he link the forgiveness of sin to the Day of Judgment, when it is forgiven in this world? I say: Because its effect will be evident on that day, while now it is hidden and unknown.