Another instance is His saying, “and We did not reduce them in the least of their deeds,” which removes the notion that the parents are lowered to the rank of their children in order for the union and following to take place. He dispelled that idea by repeating, “and We did not reduce them in the least of their deeds” (1)—meaning that by this joining We have taken nothing away from the parents’ deeds; rather, We have elevated the offspring to their level as a joy to their eyes, even though the children have no deeds that would entitle them to that station.

Another is His saying, “Every person is held in pledge for what he has earned,” so that no one might imagine that this joining applies equally to the people of Paradise and the people of Hell. Rather (2) it is confined to the believers and not to the disbelievers, for Allah punishes no one except for what he himself has earned, while He may reward a servant even without any deed on his part.

Another example is His words: “O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you are God-fearing, then do not be soft in speech, lest the one in whose heart is a sickness should yearn for you; and speak an honorable word” (Al-Aḥzāb 33:32). After commanding them to be mindful of Allah—a quality that normally entails humility and gentleness of speech—He then forbade them (3) to be soft-spoken, lest someone whose heart is diseased should covet them. He next instructed them to speak in an appropriate manner, thus removing any assumption that, once they had been forbidden soft speech, they were thereby permitted to speak objectionably.

Of the same order is His saying, “Eat and drink until the white thread becomes distinct to you from the black thread of the dawn” (Al-Baqarah 2:186), by which He dispelled the misunderstanding that the two threads were actual strings, adding the clarifying words, “of the dawn” (4).