23ثُمَّ لَم تَكُن فِتنَتُهُم إِلّا أَن قالوا وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنا ما كُنّا مُشرِكينَMuhammad AsadWhereupon, in their utter confusion, they will only [be able to] say: "By God, our Sustainer, we did not [mean to] ascribe divinity to aught beside Him !"1This refers to beliefs which undoubtedly imply shirk ("the ascribing of divinity or divine qualities to beings or forces other than God") in the objective sense of this concept, but which the person. concerned does not subjectively visualize as denying God's oneness (Razi): for instance, the mystical dogma of, the "Trinity" which, in the Christian view, does not conflict with the principle of God's oneness inasmuch as it is supposed to express a "threefold aspect" of the One Deity, or the attribution of divine or semi-divine qualities to saints as supposed "mediators" between man and God, and so forth. All such beliefs are, of course, emphatically rejected by the Qur'an.