{Nay, God raised him up to Himself}

That is, He—glorified be He—raised him up to Himself in certainty. It is mentioned in the Bahr that Al-Khalil asserted that what follows bal (nay) does not act upon what precedes it. The speech is a rebuttal and a denial of his killing, and an affirmation of his ascension, peace and blessings be upon him. Abu Hayyan suggests an implied genitive case here, meaning: to His heaven. He stated: He is alive in the second heaven, according to what has been authentically reported from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) in the Hadith of the Mi'raj (Ascension). He remains there until he descends to the earth to kill the Dajjal (Antichrist) and fill it with justice just as it was filled with oppression. He will then live on earth for forty years—or the remainder of his years from the time he was raised—having been thirty-three years old at the time of his ascension. He will die as humans die and be buried in the room of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) or in Jerusalem.

Qatada said: God Almighty raised Isa (Jesus), peace be upon him, to Himself, clothed him with feathers, arrayed him with light, and severed from him the pleasure of food and drink, so he flew with the angels. Thus, he became with them around the Throne, becoming human and angelic, celestial and terrestrial. This ascension, according to the preferred view, occurred before the crucifixion of the one who resembled him. There is that in the Gospel of Luke which supports this. As for the vision of some of the disciples of him, peace be upon him, after the crucifixion, it is a matter of spiritual manifestation (tatawwur), for the holy ones possess the power of manifestation in this world, even if their spirits are raised to the highest station. This manifestation has occurred for many of the saints of this Ummah, and the accounts of such events are too numerous to encompass.

#{And God is Exalted in Might} He is not overcome in what He wills.

#{All-Wise} In all His actions, and this includes His divine decrees regarding the affair of Isa, peace be upon him, and the casting of the resemblance upon the one upon whom it was cast, as a primary inclusion.