Selected Exegesis

This verse, in another argument for the purity of Jesus the Messiah from the claim of divinity and being God’s son, and for the negation of that personage’s divinity and the absolute refutation of the Trinity, presents the non-disdain (lā yastankif)(120) and non-turning away of that personage as well as the angels brought near to God from servitude (ʿubūdiyya) and bondage to God; how can he be considered God or one of the three gods when he calls himself a servant of God?(121)

God has proclaimed the servanthood of Jesus and the angels to refute the delusion of the divinity of the Messiah - which a group of Christians had fallen into - and to remove the false notion of the lordship (rubūbiyya) of the angels - which the polytheists (mushrikān) had accepted. Indeed, transparently and by expressing the implied word - instead of saying “ʿabd Allāh” - He says “ʿabdan lillāh” (a servant of God) to explicitly convey the servitude of the Messiah as well as the angels.

The conjunction of “angels” (malāʾika) with “Messiah” (masīḥ) can indicate that none of the characteristics of Jesus, such as creation without a father, the ability to perform miracles,(122) and being brought near and honored,(123) can prevent him from being a servant or cause him to disdain and flee from servitude, because the angels have neither father nor mother, they are brought near to God(124) and have a lofty station, and they perform miracles by the permission of the Lord. Indeed, the miraculous power of the Messiah was through the assistance of the Holy Spirit (rūḥ al-qudus).(125) Despite this, they never turn away from worship, but rather worship God more than others.(126)

The submission (khuḍūʿ) and humility (khushūʿ) and servitude of Jesus the Messiah and the angels brought near results from their complete awareness of the divine names (asmāʾ al-ilāhiyya) and also their knowledge that all their perfections shine in the mirror of their existence as borrowed reflections from the source of eternal light (nūr azalī). For this reason, no perfection causes them to disdain.(127)

The aforementioned conjunction may also be an implicit warning to the polytheists (mushrikān) of the Hijaz who called the angels the children of God. The literary justification (muṣaḥḥiḥ adabī) for the mentioned conjunction is the superiority of the station of the angels brought near(128) over the rank of Jesus the Messiah; otherwise, that is, if their station were lower and inferior, the aforementioned conjunction would have no justification. Even if their station were equal to the rank of that personage, there would not be much necessity for mentioning them in this sensitive position.

The Dominant God (qahār) will bring those who disdainfully and arrogantly refuse to worship to the scene of resurrection (maḥshar) on the Day of Judgment and punish them for their deeds:

“And whoever disdains His worship and is arrogant, He will gather them all toward Him” (4:172).(129)

“Disdain” (istinkāf) is ignorant turning away and “arrogance” (istikbār) is conscious disobedience.(130) Therefore, if someone possesses knowledge but turns away from the worship of God, their disdain is mixed with arrogance, as in this verse and the following verse, after “disdain” the qualification “arrogance” is mentioned, because the disdain of Jesus the Messiah and the angels would only occur if an arrogant spirit dominated them. Since what prevents the Messiah and the angels from disdain and arrogance is their knowledge and faith in being gathered in the presence of God, the mention of arrogance in the second sentence is to express the complete purity of those sacred beings from this contamination.