He opened the surah with the mention of the isrāʾ (Night Journey), which, by everyone’s agreement, took place while he was still in Mecca. He then issued—and reinforced with an oath—a declaration to both orders of creation, humankind and jinn alike: if they were all to band together to bring forth something comparable to this Qur’an, they would never manage it; rather, they would be utterly unable. In this alone lie manifest signs of his prophethood.

One such sign is the boldness with which he made this momentous claim concerning every human being and jinn until the Day of Resurrection—that they will never succeed, but will inevitably be powerless. No one who seeks the people’s confirmation would dare venture such a statement unless he were completely certain of its truth; for had he the slightest doubt, his falsehood could have been exposed, frustrating the very aim he sought. No intelligent person would take that risk—especially when all nations, the believers in Muhammad and the deniers alike, concur regarding the perfection of his intellect, knowledge, and experience, for he led the world with a statesmanship unmatched by any other.

Moreover, his decision to embed this challenge within the recited, preserved Qur’an—destined to endure until the Day of Resurrection, recited in the ritual prayers and heard by commoner and elite, friend and foe alike—demonstrates the absolute confidence he had in the truthfulness of that proclamation. Had he entertained any doubt, he would have feared that his falsehood might be exposed before countless people, indeed before most of those who follow him and those who oppose him, and this—