So ask them, which is connected to a similar phrase at the beginning of the surah, even though there is a distance between them: He commanded His Messenger to inquire of Quraysh about the reason for their denial of resurrection first, then He continued the speech connected one part to another. Then He commanded him to ask them about the unjust division they made, where they assigned to Allah the females and to themselves the males in their saying: the angels are the daughters of Allah, while they had a strong aversion to them, burying them alive, and their disdain for mentioning them.

And indeed, they committed three types of disbelief in this matter. The first is anthropomorphism, because birth is specific to bodies. The second is their preference for themselves over their Lord when they assigned the lower of the two genders to Him and the higher to themselves, as He said: And when one of them is given the glad tidings of what he has attributed to the Most Merciful, his face becomes darkened and he is filled with grief. Or one who is raised in adornment while he is in dispute, not clear. The third is that they belittled the most honorable of Allah's creation to Him and the closest to Him, as they feminized them. If it were said to the least and lowest of them: in you is femininity. Or your shape is like that of women, the speaker would be wearing a leopard's skin, and his eyes would turn red in their insults, openly.

So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, repeated all types of this in His Book multiple times and indicated their severity in verses: And they said: The Most Merciful has taken a son. You have certainly brought forth something monstrous. The heavens almost rupture from it, and they said: The Most Merciful has taken a son. Glorified is He! Rather, they are honored servants. And they said: Allah has taken a son. Glorified is He! Rather, to Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and the earth. The Creator of the heavens and the earth, how can He have a son? Indeed, they are lying in their falsehood, saying: Allah has a son, and they have made a part of His servants. And they assign daughters to Allah, glorified is He, while for themselves is what they desire. Or does He have daughters while you have sons? And they assign to Allah what they dislike. Have they preferred daughters over sons? Or has He taken from what He creates daughters and has chosen you with sons? And they made the angels, who are the servants of the Most Merciful, females. Or did We create the angels as females while they were witnesses?

If you say: Why did He say: while they were witnesses, specifying the knowledge of witnessing? I say: It is nothing but mockery of them and making them ignorant. Likewise, His saying: Did they witness their creation? And similar to His saying: I did not witness their creation of the heavens and the earth, nor the creation of themselves. This is because, just as they did not know that through witnessing, they did not know it through Allah's creation, nor by true news, nor by way of reasoning and observation.

And it may mean: They say that, like one who speaks with a heart at ease and a tranquil soul due to their extreme ignorance, as if they had witnessed their creation. And it has been read: the son of Allah, meaning the angels are His children. And the word 'son' is an action meaning the object, applicable to both singular and plural, masculine and feminine. You say: This is my child, and these are my children. If you say: Has He preferred the daughters? With the opening of the hamzah: it is a question in the way of denial and disbelief. How then did the reading of Abu Ja'far with the hamzah being broken for affirmation become valid? I say: He made it from the words of the disbelievers as a replacement for their saying: Allah has a son. And this was also read by Hamzah and Al-A'mash, may Allah be pleased with them. This reading, although this is its interpretation, is weak. What weakens it is that denial has surrounded this sentence from both sides, as in His saying: And indeed, they are liars. What is wrong with you? How do you judge? So whoever made it for affirmation has placed it as an intrusion between two relatives. And it has been read: Do you remember, from the mention? Or do you have a proof that has descended upon you from the heavens and news that the angels are the daughters of Allah? So bring your Book.

What was revealed to you regarding that is like His saying, 'Or have We sent upon them a sultan so that he speaks of what they used to associate?' These verses are issued from great anger, and a terrible denial, and a strong rejection of their sayings. The methods that were mentioned are nothing but indicative of the foolishness of the dreams of Quraysh, and the ignorance of their souls, and the confusion of their minds, along with mockery, ridicule, and astonishment, that such a thought could occur to someone and be spoken of, let alone to make it a belief and to profess it as a doctrine.