And when it was said to them “Believe in what God has revealed” they said “We believe in what was revealed to us” and they disbelieve in what is beyond that; yet it is the truth confirming what is with them. Say: “Why then were you slaying the prophets of God formerly if you were believersḍ” Here the allusion is that when it is said to them “Recognize the truth of what has been shown to you from the decree of [divine] harmony min ḥukm al-wifāq by recognizing the situation and the establishment of proof” their lower selves permit some of what they find ambiguous insofar as it agrees with their self-serving desires but then they disbelieve in what is beyond their worldly concerns. They are distant from the elite and are not considered to be among the masters who have special claim arbāb al-ikhtiṣāṣ.
