(When Allah said, "O Jesus, son of Mary") is in the position of a substitute (badal) for the phrase "When Allah gathers the messengers." It is in the accusative case due to the implied verb "Remember" (udhkur). It has also been said that it is in the nominative case with the meaning of "that was when," but this is weak. The past tense form is used for the reason mentioned a moment ago: to indicate the certainty of the occurrence. The intention is to detail what transpired between Him, the Almighty, and an individual from among the gathered messengers, following the statement of what occurred between Him, the Almighty, and all of them in a general manner. This is so that it may serve as a model for the detailed conditions of the others. The specification of Jesus, peace be upon him, for mention is because his situation, peace be upon him, relates to both factions of the People of the Scripture—the excessive and the deficient—whose crimes this noble Surah has described; thus, detailing it is more grievous to them and more productive of their regrets.
The manifestation of the glorious name [Allah] is for what has been mentioned. "Jesus" (Isa) is indeclinable (mabni) according to Al-Farra and his followers, either based on an implied damma or similarly on an implied fatha, treating it like "Ya Zayd ibn 'Amr" regarding the permissibility of the vocative being both damma and fatha according to the majority. This is when "son" (ibn) is parsed as an adjective for Jesus. However, if it is parsed as a substitute (badal) or an explanatory noun (bayan), then the estimation of the fatha is not permissible by consensus, as explained in grammar books.
The "on" (‘ala) in His saying, "Remember My favor upon you and upon your mother," is connected to "My favor," considering it a verbal noun—meaning "remember My bestowing of favor upon you." Or, it is connected to a deleted element acting as a state (hal) of "favor," if we consider it a noun—meaning "remember My favor, which is [situated] upon you." On both estimates, what is intended by "favor" is what is contained within the plurality [of blessings]; it is not intended—as the Sheikh al-Islam said—that his command, peace be upon him, on that day to recount the favor organized in the string of enumeration is a burdening of him, peace be upon him, to thank it and fulfill its obligations. There is no place for burdening when he, peace be upon him, has already discharged the duty of gratitude in its proper time. Rather, it is the manifestation of his command, peace be upon him, to enumerate those favors as Allah the Almighty has explained them, counting them, and finding pleasure in mentioning them before the witnesses. This is so that the narrative of this, as the noble arrangement indicates, serves as a rebuke to the disbelievers from the two factions who differed regarding him, peace be upon him, through excess and deficiency, and as a refutation of both their statements.
"When I strengthened you" (id ayyadtuka) is an adverbial phrase for "My favor"—meaning, "remember My favor upon you both at the time I strengthened you." Or it is a state (hal) from it—meaning, "remember it, being [present] at that time." It is also said it is a substitute of inclusion (badal al-ishtimal) for it, and in meaning, it is an explanation of it. Abu al-Baqa permitted it to be a direct object on the basis of latitude.
It was recited as ayadtuka with a long vowel (alif), and its weight according to al-Zamakhshari is af'altuka, and according to Ibn 'Atiyyah, it is fa'altuka. Abu Hayyan said: "It requires the transmission of its imperfect tense from the speech of the Arabs; if it is yu'ayidu, then it is fa'ala, and if it is yu'ayyidu, then it is af'ala." Its meaning is the same as ayyada. It is said that its meaning with the long vowel is "strength" and with the doubled letter (tashdid) is "support," and they are—as it is said—close in meaning, because support is a form of strength.
"With the Holy Spirit," meaning Gabriel, peace be upon him, or the Speech (Kalam) by which he revives the religion and which becomes a cause for purity from the filth of sins, or [the power] by which you revive the dead, or the souls with an eternal life, or the essence of his own spirit, peace be upon him, as He, the Almighty, manifested it as a holy, pure, radiant, luminous, and exalted spirit. That this strengthening is a favor upon him, peace be upon him, is something about which there is no obscurity. As for it being a favor upon his mother, it is due to what resulted from it regarding her exoneration from what was attributed to her—far be it from her—and other things.
"You spoke to the people in the cradle," meaning as a small child. The noble arrangement is more eloquent than declaring "childhood," and more appropriate, because a small person is called a "child" (tifl) until they reach puberty; therefore, it turned away from it. The adverbial phrase is in the position of a state from the pronoun in "spoke." It is also permitted that it be an adverb for the verb, and the sentence is either an initiation explaining his strengthening, peace be upon him, or in the position of a state from the object pronoun in "I strengthened you," as Abu al-Baqa said. The "cradle" is well-known. It is reported from al-Hasan that what is meant by it is his mother's lap, peace be upon them. The Christians denied his speech, peace be upon him, in the cradle and said: "He only spoke, peace be upon him, at the time children usually speak," and this has been addressed with its answer.
His saying, "And as a man of maturity" (kahlan), is to indicate—as it is said—that there is no disparity in his speech, peace be upon him, in childhood and in maturity, not because each of them is a miracle, since speaking in maturity is known from everyone. The Imam [al-Razi] said: "The second is also an independent miracle, because the intention is speaking to people in childhood and in maturity when he descends from the sky." For when he, peace be upon him, was raised, he was not a kahln (a man of mature age). This is based on interpreting kahl as one whom grey hair has touched and who has reached a certain state, or one who has passed thirty-four years up to fifty-one. Jesus, peace be upon him, was raised when he was thirty-three years old—it is said: and three months and three days. It is also said: he was raised when he was thirty-four. It is not proven that he, peace be upon him, was touched by grey hair. As for if it were interpreted as one who has passed thirty, then this statement would not hold, as is not hidden.
Some said: The best way is to treat "and as a man of maturity" as a metaphorical simile (tashbih baligh), meaning: "You spoke to them while being in the cradle and being like a man of maturity." You know that extracting a simile from a conjunction has no basis, and estimating the ka (like) is a burden.
"And when I taught you" is a conjunction to "when I strengthened you," meaning: "And remember My favor upon you both at the time I taught you without a teacher, the Book and the Wisdom." This refers to their categories. It is also said: the Book is writing and Wisdom is accurate, correct speech. "And the Torah and the Gospel" were singled out for mention to manifest their honor over the former.
"And when you design" means: you fashion "out of clay" (its generic form) "like the form of a bird" (a form like its form) "by My permission, then you breathe into it" (that is, into that fashioned form) "and it becomes" (after your breathing, without delay) "a bird by My permission," meaning an animal that flies like all other birds. Nafi' and Ya'qub read it as "a flying creature" (ta'iran), which is either a singular noun or a collective noun like baqir (cattle) and samir (night-talkers).
"And you heal the blind and the leper by My permission" is a conjunction to "you design." And His saying, the Almighty, "And when you bring forth the dead by My permission," is a conjunction to "when you design," in which "when" (idh) was repeated—as it is said—because bringing the dead out of their graves, especially after they have become bones and dust, is a dazzling miracle worthy of explicitly reminding of its time. The phrasing in the noble arrangement is more eloquent than "you revive the dead," so it turned away from it to this. The discussion regarding whom he, peace be upon him, revived, along with what benefits you in this verse, has already preceded in Surah Al 'Imran.
"By My permission" is mentioned here four times, and there [in Al 'Imran] twice. They said: because here it is for the sake of bestowing favor, and there it is for information; thus, this repetition is appropriate here.
"And when I restrained the Children of Israel from you," meaning the Jews when they intended to kill him and were unable to do so, "when you brought them clear proofs," meaning the obvious miracles, from what was mentioned and what was not mentioned. It is an adverb for "restrained," while considering His saying, the Almighty: "And those who disbelieved among them said, 'This is not but clear magic.'" This indicates that they intended to assassinate him, peace be upon him, which necessitated the restraint—meaning: I restrained them from you when they said that upon your coming to them with clear proofs. The relative pronoun [those] was placed in the position of their pronoun to condemn them for what is in the contents of the silah (relative clause). The word "among" (min) is explanatory. This is a reference to what he brought. Hamza and al-Kisa'i read "magician" (sahiran), so the reference is to Jesus, peace be upon him. Making the reference to him, peace be upon him, according to the first reading and interpreting "magic" as "magician" so that the two readings may align is unnecessary.
