and peace—then Gabriel brought it down upon the heart of the Prophet—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family. Allah attributed the Quran as speech both to Gabriel and to Muhammad—may blessings and peace be upon them. Regarding the former, Allah Most High said: ﴾Indeed, this is the word of a noble messenger, possessed of great power and held in honour by the Lord of the Throne, obeyed there and trustworthy﴿ [al-Takwīr: 19–21]. Regarding the latter—its attribution to the Messenger, may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family—He said: ﴾Indeed, this is the word of a noble messenger. It is not the word of a poet; little do you believe﴿ [al-Hāqqa: 40–41]. In the first passage, He attributed the speech to Gabriel—peace be upon him—because he conveyed it from Allah to Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him and his family. In the second, He attributed it to Muhammad—may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon him—because he conveyed it to the people. Yet the One who originally spoke it is Allah, Glorified and Exalted.
﴾Surely it is a decisive Word﴿—a Word that distinguishes truth from falsehood and the righteous from the wrongdoers. Indeed, it is decisive in that it vanquishes everyone who sets himself against it and opposes it. Thus, when the Muslims strove against the disbelievers through the Quran, they overcame them, uprooted them, and the matter between them was settled. When they turned away from the Quran, however, they were defeated and humiliated in proportion to their distance from it. The farther a person moves away from the Book of Allah, the farther honour and victory move away from him, until he returns to the Book of Allah, Glorified and Exalted.
﴾And it is not frivolous﴿: it is not play, futility, or idle talk. Rather, it is truth. All its words are true, its reports are truthful, its rulings are just, and its recitation earns reward. Even if a person recited it continually, he would never tire of it. When he recites it with reflection and contemplation, Allah opens up to him meanings he had not previously grasped. This is something readily observed: read the Quran and reflect upon it. Each time you read and contemplate it, you will grasp meanings that had not occurred to you before. All of this is because it is decisive and not frivolous. Idle human speech, by contrast, becomes distasteful, wearisome, and tedious with repetition; but not the Book of Allah.
Allah Most High then said: ﴾Indeed, they are devising a plot.﴿ ﴾Indeed, they﴿ means the disbelievers who denied the Messenger—may Allah’s blessings be upon him