[2:213] People were one community; then God sent forth the prophets as bearers of good tidings and warners; and He revealed with them the Scripture with the truth that He might decide between people regarding their differences; and only those who had been given it, differed about it after the clear proofs had come to them out of insolence, one to another; then God guided those who believed to the truth, regarding which they were at variance, by His leave; and God guides whomever He will to a straight path.
It means absence from the Real was a point of unity in them. Then when He sent the messengers, they became distinguished by what they were given or deprived of from the lights of insight. It is said they were as they had been previously in the pre-eternal choosing, and became Jews or Christians as a people with the coming of the messengers. Then, in the end, each one will be returned to what was preordained for him. Verily all mankind was gathered together in His (s) knowledge, and then separated by His decree (ḥukm). Some people He guided (hadāhum) and some He led astray (aghwāhum). Some people He veiled (ḥajabahum) and some He attracted (jadhabahum). Some people He bound to disappointment (khidhlān) and some He opened to beneficence (iḥsān). It is not a matter of acquisition for those who are accepted, nor is there a cause for the rejection of those rejected. Rather it is a decree (ḥukm) that has been carried out and a divine determination (qa?āÌ) that has been decided.