Likewise, He says:
“Those who stayed behind will say, when you set out to take spoils, ‘Let us follow you.’ They want to change the Word of Allah. Say: ‘You shall never follow us; that is what Allah said before.’” (Q 48:15)

In the same vein is the Messiah’s saying, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away.” If by this he meant the knowledge of Allah, then the knowledge of Allah is everlasting—whether he was referring to the knowledge inherent in His Essence or to the objects of knowledge whose permanence He Himself has affirmed—so you have no evidence in it for your claim. Likewise, if he intended a particular word, then according to your own doctrine the Messiah is not a single, specific word from His speech; rather, in your view he is the very Word itself and is God the Creator. Nothing in that wording shows that he meant the Messiah by “the word,” and, according to you, the Messiah is eternal without beginning or end, so he cannot be described as merely enduring without pre-eternity.

Even if it were assumed that he did mean the Messiah by “the word,” we do not deny that he is called “the Word,” for Allah said to him, “Be!” and he was—as will be explained shortly—and he intends