However, some commentators have alleged that this sentence was spoken by certain People of the Scripture, citing His words: “Allah knows best how long they stayed.” That is not so, for Allah did not quote this from the People of the Book; He presented it as His own statement, exalted be He.
Saʿīd said: In those days the affair took place of the Patriarch of Constantinople, John—nicknamed “Chrysostom” (“Golden Mouth”). After him his son, Theodosius the Younger, reigned for 42 years, beginning in the eleventh year of the rule of Yazdegerd son of Bahrām.
In that same period Nestorius—after whom the Nestorian doctrine is named—was installed as Patriarch of Constantinople.
He went on: Nestorius maintained that the Virgin Mary is not truly the Mother of God, and therefore there are two:
- One who is God, begotten of the Father,
- And the other a human being, born of Mary.
He claimed that this human being who is called the Messiah is, through love, united with the Son of God, and is called “God” and “Son of God” not in actuality but as a gift, the coincidence of two names and an honorific—much like one of the prophets.
When these words reached the Patriarch of Alexandria, he denounced them and wrote to Nestorius, censuring him.