to him the Quran all at once?’ Thus it is, so that We may strengthen your heart thereby, and We have recited it in measured stages.”
“They never bring you an argument without Our bringing you the truth and the best explanation.”
These Sabians have indeed brought an argument, namely their assertion:
“From one, only one can proceed and be generated. The Lord is one, so only one can proceed from Him and be generated from Him.”
Allah therefore brought the truth and the best explanation. He made clear that nothing at all proceeds from or is generated from a single thing, and that nothing has been generated from Him or proceeded from Him. Rather, He created everything, and He created two of every kind, forming a pair. Hence Mujāhid said regarding the even and the odd—as al-Bukhārī records in his Sahīh:
“The even is creation, for every created thing has a counterpart; the odd is Allah, who has no likeness.”
Thus He said:
“How could He have a son when He has no consort?”
For effects proceeding from causes, and things generated among existing beings, necessarily involve two things: one acts like the father, and the other like the receptive mother. They may call these the agent and the recipient, as with the sun and the earth, or fire and wood. As for a single thing proceeding from a single thing, this has no existence whatsoever in reality. Their analogy with rays in relation to the sun, and with sound—such as ringing—in relation to motion and striking, likewise constitutes an argument against them in support of Allah, His Messenger, and the believers.
This is because, if the rays