is inseparable from Him. For the heaven cannot be built except by its Builder, nor the earth spread out except by its Spreader, nor the soul proportioned except by its Fashioner. As for the person who purifies or corrupts his soul, his work has ended in this world, and his success or failure in the Hereafter does not require that work to continue. Similar to this is His saying:

“And by the One who created the male and the female.”

For this reason, mā (“what”) is used to ask about the attributes of beings endowed with knowledge, as in His saying:

“What is the Lord of all worlds?”

Likewise, in one respect, it is used to ask in His saying:

“What do you worship?”

As for His saying:

“If you ask them who created the heavens and the earth, they will surely say, ‘Allah,’”

the question concerns the identity of the Creator, to distinguish Him from the gods that are worshipped. For those being questioned already acknowledged the attribute of being the Creator; the question sought only to identify and distinguish Him, and to establish the proof against them that He alone deserves worship.

Pharaoh, however, denied the very One described and named, so he asked his question using mā (“what”). He was not acknowledging His existence and seeking to identify Him. Thus Moses answered this question by saying:

“The Lord of the heavens and the earth,”

and:

“Your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers.”

Thus, he too answered by stating an attribute. In the other passage, however, He says:

“If you ask them who created them, they will surely say, ‘Allah.’”

The answer was therefore the name that distinguishes the One named from all others. The same applies to His saying:

“Say, ‘To whom belong the earth and all who are in it?’”

—and so on to the end of these verses.