Does it not mean that He asked of them devotion towards his...

Does it not mean that He asked of them devotion towards his Prophet's progeny in return for what he has done for them?", then we would have to say that the facts are now what you have presumed them to be; since the proof of reason and of the Qur’an refute it, as we demonstrated above.

The exceptive (istithna’) in this particular place is not part of the main sentence because it refers to something distinct from the main clause; 'I do not ask of you a return for this, but I ask and oblige you to show devotion towards kinsfolk'.

Then His speech, "I do not ask of you a return for this", is an independent sentence complete in itself; while His speech (only I demand of you) "loving-kindness towards kinsfolk" forms a new sentence signifying, "but I do ask of you devotion to (my) kinsfolk". This is similar to His saying: Then the angels bowed themselves all together, save Iblis [15:30-31], which means, "whereas Iblis (did not)"; hence it is not an exceptive clause dependent on the preceding.

And His saying: They are an enemy to me, except the Lord of all beings [26:77], which means, 'but the Lord of all beings is not an enemy of mine'. The poet says: A land in which there is no companion, but the gazelles and the piebald camels.Then the meaning of his verse, 'A land in which there is no companion', is a self-sufficient sentence, complete in itself, while the verse, 'but the gazelles . . .' being a new sentence, means 'but there are gazelles and piebald camels in it'.

This is clear and has no obscurity for anyone with any knowledge of language, and it is too well-known to linguists to require elucidation. Previous…