“Whoever asks Allah to grant me al-wasīlah”—and so on in the hadith.

The other Quran commentators offered explanations similar to his, but he surpassed them in his treatment, saying:

“‘Which of them’ is the subject, and ‘is nearest’ is its predicate. ‘Those’ refers to the beings worshipped; it is the subject, and ‘seek’ is its predicate. The pronoun in ‘they invoke’ refers to the unbelievers, while that in ‘they seek’ refers to the beings worshipped. The implied meaning is: what they consider and discuss is ‘which of them is nearest.’

“This resembles what ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said in the report about the banner at Khaybar: ‘The people spent that night eagerly discussing which of them would be given it’—that is, competing in their pursuit of nearness.”

He further said, may Allah have mercy on him: “Al-Zajjāj fell short in his treatment of this passage, so reflect upon it.”

He was indeed right. Al-Zajjāj proposed two interpretations of “which of them is nearest,” both fundamentally unsound. Ibn al-Jawzī and others related these interpretations from him, and al-Mahdawī, al-Baghawī, and others followed him. Ibn ‘Atiyyah, however, was more firmly grounded than these scholars in Arabic and its meanings, and more familiar with the school of Sībawayh and the Basran grammarians. He therefore recognized where al-Zajjāj had fallen short, despite the latter’s learning in Arabic, his distinction, and his understanding of meaning and expression—may Allah have mercy on him. Those scholars possessed mastery and merit in matters in which they surpassed Ibn ‘Atiyyah. Yet he was more knowledgeable about what words convey according to Arabic usage, even if they were more knowledgeable about other matters, whether transmitted reports or otherwise.

Allah, glorified and exalted, has made it clear that although the Messiah was a noble messenger, he worshipped Allah. Thus, whoever worships him worships one who can neither benefit nor harm him. The Most High says:

“Indeed,