— at times, and at other times to its causer, even if the one from whom the action originated was someone else. How much more so then with an action that a servant acquires by earning, while Allah, majestic be His praise, brings its actual essence into being by creation? Rather, it is all the more worthy to be attributed to the one who earned it as his acquisition, through his ability to perform it and his choice of it — and to Allah, majestic be His praise, by bringing its essence into existence and creating it through divine management.

(Issue asked by the heretics who attack the Qurʾān)

If one of them should ask us, saying: You have stated earlier at the beginning of this book, in describing clarity, that the highest in degree and most noble in rank is that which is most eloquent in conveying the need of the speaker expressing himself, most clear regarding the intent of its speaker, and closest to the understanding of its listener. And you also said: The most deserving speech to be such is the speech of Allah, majestic be His praise, due to its superiority over all other speech and its elevation above the highest degrees of clarity (1); so what is the wisdom — if the matter is as you described — in lengthening the speech in a chapter like the Mother of the Qurʾān into seven verses, when two verses of it already encompass the meanings of all of them, namely His statement: {Master of the Day of Recompense, You alone we worship and You alone we ask for help}, since there is no doubt that whoever knows the Master of the Day of Recompense has known Him by His most beautiful names and supreme attributes; and whoever is obedient to Allah is undoubtedly following the path of those upon whom Allah has bestowed favor in His religion, and turning away from the path of those who earned His anger and went astray? What wisdom, then, is there in adding the remaining five verses that is not encompassed by the two verses we mentioned?

It is said to him: Indeed, Allah, exalted be His remembrance, gathered for our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, and for his nation — through what He revealed to him of His Book — meanings that He did not gather in any book He revealed to any prophet before him, nor for any nation among the nations before them. That is because every book that He, majestic be His remembrance, revealed to a prophet among His prophets before him was only revealed with some of the meanings that are entirely encompassed by His Book revealed to our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him. Examples include the Torah, which consists of admonitions and elaboration; the Psalms, which consists of praise and glorification; and the Gospel, which consists of admonitions and reminders — with no miracle in any of them bearing witness to the truthfulness of the one to whom it was revealed. Whereas the Book revealed to our Prophet Muḥammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, encompasses the meanings of all of that, and adds to it many meanings of which all other books are devoid.