and that Buhayra merely questioned them about him and spoke to him only a few words to inquire about his condition, imparting no information to him whatsoever.

Even so, some of the People of the Scripture malign him by saying that he was sent with the sword. They will even assert, “His religion stood only by the sword,” and seek to convince people that those who followed him did so merely out of fear of the sword. They add that the preacher rests upon a sword during the Friday sermon to signal that the religion is upheld by the sword—along with other claims of this sort, which are among the most obvious fabrications against him; anyone with the slightest acquaintance with his life knows them to be false, yet they still cling to them.

If they truly possessed reports from the earlier prophets that condemned him and warned against following him, publicizing such material and adducing it as proof would have been stronger and more decisive. In the ordinary course of events, it would have become renowned among their scholars and laypeople alike, in past and present times, and its circulation among them would have been even more prominent than the account of the Antichrist is among them and among the Muslims, for nothing would more powerfully impel people to transmit and publicize a report than this.

Since nothing of the kind exists, it is evident that the prophets’ scriptures contain nothing that obliges anyone to declare him a liar. On the contrary, decisive evidence proves that the prophets had to mention him and describe his state; and because they did not say that he was an impostor, it follows that they stated he is a true prophet, just as