Kitāb al-Anwār wa'l-Marāqib: Discourse V · Ch. 10: Anan’s view that only an israelite may create the tools for circumcision

هذا ايضا مما تفرد به ولم يقل به أحد ولا دل عليه دليل والدي تعلق به هو نظير لما ادعاه من قول الله عز وجل لיהושע [יהושע ה' ב'] עשה לך חרבות צורים وان بقوله עשה לך أوجب ان يعمله الموافق وحظر ان يعمله المخالف وقد قلنا في الباب الرابع والثلثون من المقالة الرابعة ان هذا من دعاويه في الكلم والحروف ما ليس هو في اللغة اذ كان البارئ عز وجل قد قال لנח [בראשית ו' י"ד] עשה לך תבת עצי גפר ونحن نعلم ضرورة انه لم يحرم عليه ان يعمل معه فيها المخالفين بل يجوز ان يعملوها بأسرها من غير ان يعمل معهم فيها موافق والضرورة الموجبة لذلك هي انه لم يكن في ذلك الوقت لנח موافق غير بنيه ومن المحال ان يكون هو وبنيه عملوها وانما عملها الكفار فقول الكتاب עשה לך חרבות لا يجب منه ان يكون لا يعمل ذلك الا موافق.

This is another distinct view of his that no one agrees with, and there is no proof for it, and is premised on the parallel verse in which God, blessed and almighty, says to Joshua (Joshua 5:2) “At that time the LORD said unto Joshua: 'Make thee (‘aseh) knives of flint, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.'” Thus, “make thee” obligates a Jew make it and forbids a gentile from doing it. As we argued previously in the thirty-fourth chapter of the fourth discourse, this is an example of his arguments of words and expressions that have no basis in the language, considering that the Creator, praised and exalted, already said to Noah (Genesis 6:14) “Make thee an ark of gopher wood; with rooms shalt thou make the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch” and we know certainly that he did not forbid gentiles from working on the ark with him. Rather, it was permitted for his family to work with him, without Jews working with him, and the necessity requires this, since there were no believers at the time of Noah except his sons and it is impossible that he and his sons built the ark. However, it was built by heretics, and thus scripture’s verse (Joshua 5:2) “Make thee knives of flint…” does not obligate that only a believer can make it.