regarding those who turn back to Him in repentance, and His decree regarding those who act arrogantly toward turning back, as an excuse-clearing from God to them thereby and a warning to them, so that they might ponder His signs and so that those of understanding among them might remember. And He singled out the People of the Book—by mentioning the story of Adam and the rest of the stories that He mentioned alongside it and after it, which the People of the Book knew while the unlettered nation of polytheistic idolaters was ignorant of them, as an argument against them—rather than any other of the various nations who had no knowledge of that—for His Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, (1) so that they would know, through his informing them of that, that he is a Messenger sent by God, and that what he brought them was from Him; since what he recounted to them of these stories was from the treasured knowledge of their scholars, the preserved contents of their scriptures, and the subtle details of their affairs of which none claimed knowledge except them and those who learned from them and read their scriptures.
And it was well known concerning Muhammad, peace and blessings of God be upon him, that he was never a literate man, nor a reader of their scriptures, nor a companion or associate of any of them, such that they could claim he took that from their books or from some of them. So He, majestic be His mention, said—in enumerating to them the blessings in which they were dwelling, despite their disbelief in Him and their failure to thank Him for them as is due to Him from their obedience—: {He it is Who created for you all that is on earth, then He turned to the heaven and fashioned them into seven heavens, and He is Knowing of all things} [Surah al-Baqarah: 29]. Thus He, majestic be His mention, informed them that He created for them all that is on the earth, because the earth and all that is within it are benefits for the children of Adam. As for religion, it is evidence of the oneness of their Lord; and as for worldly life, it is sustenance and a means of reaching His obedience and fulfilling His obligatory duties.
Therefore He, majestic be His mention, said: "He it is Who created for you all that is on earth."
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