If you go through the verses of the Quran as children are taught them, you will find the same holds true. For He, glorified be He, says:

“Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind,
the King of mankind,
the God of mankind.”

Which people do not have Allah as their Lord, their King, or their God?

Then His words:

“From the evil of the retreating whisperer.”

If this designation refers to a single individual, it has no general scope. If it denotes a class, it is general. Which retreating whisperer should one not seek refuge in Allah from?

Likewise, His words:

“In the Lord of daybreak.”

Which part of “daybreak,” or which daybreak, does not have Allah as its Lord?

“From the evil of what He has created.”

What evil in creation should one not seek refuge from?

“And from the evil of those who blow.”

Which woman who blows on knots should one not seek refuge from?

Likewise, His words:

“And from the evil of an envier.”

The general scope of this expression does, however, involve a subtle question whose discussion does not belong here.

Then Surah al-Ikhlās contains four instances of generality:

“He neither begets”

covers every kind of begetting. The same applies to:

“Nor is He born.”

Likewise:

“And there is none comparable to Him.”

This encompasses every individual and everything that falls within the meaning of comparability. Has the scope of any of this been qualified?

Another example is the declaration of pure faith, more familiar to Muslims than any other utterance:

“There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.”

Has its general scope ever been qualified?

Anyone who, after this, says, “There is no general expression whose scope has not been qualified, except such-and-such,” is either profoundly ignorant or extremely deficient in expressing himself. For I think he only meant “among expressions that encompass everything.” Yet this statement is unsound, even if it is interpreted