If you say: What do you make of His saying, "Say, travel in the land"? I say: It is a narration of words that Ibrahim, peace be upon him, recounted to his people, just as our Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, narrates the words of Allah in this manner throughout much of the Qur'an. If you say: If it was a speech addressed to Quraysh, what is the purpose of their being in the middle between the two ends of the story of Ibrahim and the phrase? Or do the interjected phrases not need to be connected to what they are interjected in? Do you not see that you do not say: Mecca - and Zayd's father is standing - is the best of Allah's lands? I say: The mention of the story of Ibrahim is only intended to relieve the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, and to be a source of comfort for him, as his father Ibrahim, the friend of Allah, was afflicted in a way similar to what he was afflicted with from the polytheism of his people and their worship of idols. He interjected with the words: "And if you deny," meaning: O Quraysh, if you deny Muhammad, then Ibrahim's people denied him, as did every nation its prophet, because His saying, "Indeed, nations before you have denied," must include the nation of Ibrahim. And it is, as you see, an interjection that is connected. Then the subsequent verses that follow it are extensions and continuations of it, as they speak of monotheism and its proofs, the destruction of polytheism and the weakening of its foundations, and the attributes of Allah's power and sovereignty, and the clarity of His proof and evidence. It has been read as "they see" with a yā and a tā. And "He begins" and "He begins." And His saying, "Then He will return him" is not connected to "He begins," and the vision does not apply to it. Rather, it is a statement on its own about the resurrection after death, as it was reflected in His saying, "So look how He began creation; then Allah will create the final creation" regarding the beginning without the creation. And likewise your saying: I have always preferred so-and-so and appointed him over whom I have appointed. If you say: It is connected by a conjunction, so it must have something to be connected to; what is it? I say: It is the phrase "Do they not see how Allah begins creation?" Likewise: "And I appoint him," is connected to the phrase "I have always preferred so-and-so." That refers back to what he refers to in His saying, "And it is easier for Him" than the meaning of "He will return." His saying, "the final creation" indicates that there are two creations, and that each one of them is a creation, meaning: a beginning and an invention, and bringing forth from non-existence to existence. There is no difference between them except that the latter is a creation after a similar creation, while the former is not so. And it has been read: "the creation" and "the creation" like "compassion" and "the compassion." If you say: What is the meaning of mentioning His name explicitly while placing it as a subject in His saying, "Then Allah will create the final creation" after it was implied in His saying, "How did creation begin?" The norm would be to say: How did Allah begin creation, then create the final creation? I say: The discussion with them was taking place regarding resurrection, and in it, the knees were knocking. So when He established for them the beginning as being from Allah, He argued with them that resurrection is a creation just like the beginning. So if Allah, who is not incapable of anything, is the one who was not incapable of the beginning, then He is the one who should not be incapable of the resurrection.

I said: Because the Hereafter is the intended creation, and in it the legs were striking together. It was fitting to manifest His name, the Most High, in order to affirm the relation of resurrection to the one to whom the first was attributed." Ahmad said: The origin is manifestation, then concealment follows it for the purpose of magnification: manifestation after manifestation, and following it, which is the most magnificent of the three, is manifestation after concealment as in the verse. And Allah knows best. It is as if he said: Then that one who created the first creation is the one who creates the Hereafter. So, to indicate and alert to this meaning, His name was manifested and placed as a subject: He punishes whom He wills with punishment and has mercy on whom He wills with mercy. The relation of the two wills is explained and clarified in various places in the Qur'an. The saying "and the relation of the two wills is explained and clarified in various places in the Qur'an" is interpreted by what follows, based on the belief that it is obligatory for Him to punish the disbeliever and the sinner if they do not repent, and to reward the infallible and the repentant, which is the view of the Mu'tazila. And nothing is obligatory upon Him, according to the people of the Sunnah; thus, the will in the verse is unrestricted. (A) It is He who deserves them from the disbeliever and the sinner if they do not repent, and from the infallible and the repentant. You will be turned back and returned, and you will not escape your Lord; that is, you will not evade Him if you flee from His judgment and decree in the vast earth or in the heaven, which is more expansive and broader than it, if you were therein, as His saying: "If you are able to penetrate the regions of the heavens and the earth, then penetrate them." And it was said: nor from those in the heaven. As Al-Hasan said, may Allah be pleased with him: "Is there anyone who insults the Messenger of Allah among you... and praises him and supports him equally?" It is possible that it is meant: You will not be able to escape Him however you descend into the depths of the earth and its abysses, or ascend in the towers and fortresses that rise in the sky, as His saying: "And if you were in lofty towers." Or you will not be able to escape His command that is ongoing in the heavens and the earth from being executed upon you, afflicting you with a calamity that appears from the earth or descends from the heaven.