—manifest signs, by means of which He displays the proofs of truth and its clear evidences, and exposes the worthlessness of the specious arguments raised against it.
When the idolaters rejected the Quran and exerted every effort to discredit it—even though it had challenged them first to bring something like it, then ten surahs, and finally a single surah—this very confrontation showed people of sound intellect that they were incapable of matching it, despite their utmost striving and the abundance of available means. Had they accepted it without opposing it and persisting in their attempts to refute it, their inability to produce anything comparable—upon which the decisive proof rests—would never have become apparent.
The same holds for the sorcerers who confronted Moses, peace be upon him: when Allah annulled what they had produced, it thereby became clear that what Moses had brought was true. This is one of the distinctions between the prophets’ signs and proofs—what are called miracles—and the extraordinary feats that may resemble them, whether wrought by sorcerers or through Satanic manipulation. Between the two lie numerous points of difference.
Among them is what the Exalted has stated:
“Shall I inform you upon whom the devils descend? They descend upon every sinful liar.” (26:221–222)
Another is what He clarified in the verses of challenge: the prophets’ signs, peace be upon them, can never be paralleled, let alone surpassed, and no one can invalidate them. The feats of sorcerers and devils, on the other hand, can be matched, even outdone, and can indeed be nullified.