He brings about death and life. The disbeliever claimed the ability to perform acts that may properly be described as giving life and causing death: acts upon which Allah customarily creates death or life in the body subjected to them. Thus Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Whoever saves a life, it is as though he had saved all mankind.” [al-Mā’idah: 32]

The Arabs also sometimes describe killing as causing death. Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, therefore explained that his argument did not rest on the acts to which the disbeliever had applied his words, either through ignorance of his intention or in an attempt to mislead. For, when used without qualification, giving life and causing death refer more clearly to originating death and life than to the meaning the disbeliever had assigned to them. How much more so when accompanied by a contextual indication that this alone was intended—namely, the lordship with which their discussion began, which entails precisely that ability.

Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, then confronted him with wording that left him no room for deception and no action he could perform in response. He did not depart from the premise with which he had begun their discussion: that lordship belongs to the One capable of originating and creating acts. For this attribute is one and the same, admitting neither degrees nor variation. He said to him:

“Allah brings the sun from the east, so bring it from the west.” [al-Baqarah: 258]

That is, if your claim is true that you bring about life and death and that they occur according to your will; for whoever can bring something about can bring about its like. When the disbeliever recognized the binding force of Abraham’s argument, peace and blessings be upon him, and could neither refute it, resort to deception, nor perform any action in response, he was confounded, as Allah, Exalted is He, has said. Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, had therefore not moved from one proof to another. Rather, he silenced and confounded him with the very proof with which he had begun his discussion. All praise belongs to Allah.

And He, Blessed and Exalted is He, says:

“Thus We show Abraham the dominion of the heavens and the earth, so that he might be among those who have certainty.” [al-An‘ām: 75]

“When night fell over him, he saw a star and said, ‘This is my Lord.’ But when it set, he said, ‘I do not love those that set.’” [al-An‘ām: 76]

Up to His words:

“And I am not one of those who associate partners with Allah.” [al-An‘ām: 79]

Abraham, peace and blessings be upon him, inferred from the movement he observed in the stars, the sun and the moon that they had been brought into existence, for motion and rest are signs of things that have been brought into existence. He then knew that everything brought into existence must have an originator, who is Allah, Lord of all worlds. This is the reasoning and its true import. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, related it to us to awaken us and guide us to what is incumbent upon us. Such passages are numerous in the Quran