the Nestorians: “Rather, they are two substances, two natures, and two wills; but the divine nature dwelt in the human nature as water dwells in a vessel.”

The Melkites said: “Rather, they are one substance with two wills and two natures, or two operations, like fire in iron.”

Some have held that those referred to in the words of the Most High,

“Those who say, ‘Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary,’ have certainly disbelieved,”

are the Jacobites; that those referred to in His words,

“The Christians say, ‘The Messiah is the son of Allah,’”

are the Melkites; and that those referred to in His words,

“Those who say, ‘Allah is the third of three,’ have certainly disbelieved,”

are the Nestorians. This is unfounded. Rather, all three groups affirm the statements that Allah, Almighty and Majestic, has reported from the Christians. They all say that he is Allah, and they say that he is the son of Allah. Likewise, in the creed upon which they agree, they say: “True God from true God.”

As for His words, “the third of three,” the Most High said:

“And when Allah says, ‘O Jesus, son of Mary, did you say to the people, “Take me and my mother as two gods besides Allah”?’ He will say, ‘Glory be to You! It is not for me to say what I have no right to say.’”

Abū al-Faraj Ibn al-Jawzī said regarding His words,

“Those who say, ‘Allah is the third of three,’ have certainly disbelieved”:

The exegetes said that the verse means that the Christians held divinity to be shared between Allah, Jesus, and Mary, each of them being a god. It was related from al-Zajjāj that exaggeration means exceeding the proper bounds in wrongdoing, and that the Christians’ exaggeration concerning Jesus consists in some of them saying that he is Allah, others saying that he is the son of Allah, and others saying that he is