Ibn Mājah (1) likewise transmits it through Abū Bakr ibn Abī Shaybah, from Yūnus ibn Muḥammad, from Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim, with the same wording.

A presentation of Abraham the Friend’s debate with one who sought to dispute the Majestic, the Sublime, over the cloak of grandeur and the mantle of pride, claiming lordship for himself—though he was but a feeble slave.

Allah, Exalted is He, says:

“Have you not considered the one who argued with Abraham about his Lord—because Allah had given him kingship—when Abraham said, ‘My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death’? He replied, ‘I give life and cause death.’ Abraham said, ‘Indeed, Allah brings the sun from the east; so bring it from the west.’ Thus the disbeliever was confounded, and Allah does not guide a wrongdoing people.” (al-Baqarah 2:258)

The Almighty recounts the debate of His intimate friend with that tyrannical, rebellious king who claimed lordship for himself. Abraham (peace be upon him) demolished his argument, exposed the breadth of his ignorance and the paucity of his intellect, silenced him with proof, and laid bare the clear path of guidance.

The exegetes and other scholars of genealogy and historical reports state: This king was the ruler of Babylon, and his name was Nimrod ibn Canaan ibn Cush ibn Shem ibn Noah, as related by Mujāhid (2). Others (3) said he was Nimrod ibn Fāliḥ ibn ʿĀbir ibn Shāligh ibn Arfakhshadh ibn Shem ibn Noah.

Mujāhid (4) and others added that he was one of the rulers who held sway over the entire world. They mention that four men have ruled the whole world—two believers and two disbelievers:
• The believers: Dhū’l-Qarnayn and Solomon.
• The disbelievers: Nimrod and Nebuchadnezzar.

They further relate that this Nimrod’s reign lasted four hundred years, during which he grew insolent and tyrannical, surpassed all bounds, and preferred the life of this world.

When Abraham the Friend called him to worship Allah alone, without partner, ignorance, misguidance, and long-cherished worldly hopes drove him to deny the Creator. He therefore contested with Abraham and claimed divinity for himself.

So when the Friend said, “My Lord is the One who gives life and causes death,” he retorted, “I give life and cause death” (al-Baqarah 2:258).

Qatādah, al-Suddī, and Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq explained that his meaning was: when two men sentenced to death were brought before him, he would command the execution of one and pardon the other; thus it was as though he had given life to one and caused the other to die (5).

Yet this was no rebuttal to the Friend; it was merely a statement outside the scope of the debate—neither a refutation nor an objection, but rather