And We gave Moses the scripture and after him We sent successive mes- sengers and We gave Jesus son of Mary the clear proofs and We confirmed him with the holy spirit and whenever there came to you a messenger with what your souls did not desire you became arrogant; and some you called liars and some you slayḍ The allusion is that “We [God] delivered the address to them and made one messenger follow after another all calling to the same thing. But they listened to the call of the callers with the ear of whim hawā; they accepted what their lower selves found pleasurable and rejected what their whims ahwāÌ found troublesome. They were characterized by this self-serving desire and moreover became servants ʿabadū to it. The [human] attributes of the worshiper ʿābid became the object of worship maʿbūd.” What a terrible affliction is upon them!
