or “O Gospel of Allah,” or “O Quran of Allah, forgive me and have mercy on me.” In truth, a worshipper directs his plea to Allah Himself—exalted is He—who is characterized by every perfection. How then could such a plea be addressed to the Messiah when the Messiah is not the Speech itself?

The Messiah is a self-subsisting entity, whereas speech is an attribute that inheres in the Speaker; it is not identical with the Lord who speaks. The speaking Lord is the One they call “the Father,” and, according to them, the Messiah is not the Father but the Son.

They have therefore gone astray in their doctrine from several angles:

– First: They restrict the hypostases to three, whereas the attributes of Allah are by no means confined to three.

– Second: They regard an attribute as a creator, even though an attribute does not create.

– Third: They make the Messiah identical with the Word, although the Messiah was created by the Word; it was said to him, “Be!” and he was, as will be explained, God willing.

The Messiah alone was singled out with the designation “Word of Allah,” in distinction from the rest of humankind, because other people are created in the customary manner: each descendant of Adam originates from a drop of fluid, then a clot, then a lump of flesh, after which the spirit is breathed into him. They are produced from the fluids of both parents—the father and the mother.

The Messiah—peace be upon him—was not produced from a man’s fluid. Rather, when the Holy Spirit breathed into his mother she conceived him, and Allah said, “Be!” and he was. For this reason Allah likened him to Adam in His saying: