It is thus clear that any entity subsisting in its own right that is said to be generated from another can arise only from material issuing from that parent, and only from two sources. The Lord Most High is al-Samad, so nothing can issue from Him. Moreover, He—glorified be He—has no consort, so He cannot have a child.

As for expressions concerning the generation of accidents, such as saying that rays are generated, knowledge is generated by thought, satiety by eating, or heat by movement, and the like, this is not the generation of independently subsisting entities. Nevertheless, it necessarily requires a subject in which to inhere and two sources.

Thus, the Christians’ statement that the Messiah is the son of Allah—exalted is Allah above that—necessarily entails their saying that Mary is Allah’s consort. They thereby attribute to Him a wife and consort, just as they attribute a child to Him. Whatever meaning they give to his being His son, the notion of a wife is to be understood in that same sense. The proofs requiring that He be declared free of having a consort likewise require that He be declared free of having a child. If they describe Him in terms even further removed from what befits Him, they are necessarily committed to describing Him in terms that are less remote. This has been discussed at length in refuting the Christians.

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This further clarifies that what Allah has declared Himself free of and denied of Himself in His words:

“He neither begets nor is born,”

and in His words:

“Indeed, it is out of their falsehood that they say,
‘Allah has begotten,’ and indeed they