, made necessary by His will and wisdom, and that whatever He wills occurs, while whatever He does not will does not occur. Whatever He wills must therefore exist, and whatever He does not will cannot exist. A fuller discussion of this belongs elsewhere. Whether these verses indicate this meaning, however, is open to question.

As for the agreed-upon meaning, it is certainly intended in all three verses: through them He directs people to the straight path—the direct way, which is guidance and points only to Him. This is the truth: its course leads to Allah without turning aside from Him.

The difficulty arose, however, because He said “upon Us,” using the preposition denoting elevation, rather than “to Us.” Ordinarily, when someone is indicated as the destination, one says, “This road leads to so-and-so”; but when passing someone along the way, one says, “Our route goes by so-and-so.” He expressed this meaning using the preposition denoting elevation. This is one of the beauties of the Quran, whose wonders never cease and of which scholars never tire.

All creatures ultimately return to Allah, whichever path they follow, as He, Most High, says:

“O man, you are indeed toiling toward your Lord, and you will meet Him.”

And He says:

“To Allah is the final return.”

“Indeed, to Us is their return.”

That is, to Us they will return. And He says: