and others were hurled into a blazing fire that became, for them, coolness and peace; wonders of this kind are too numerous to list. Yet our purpose here is only to recall some Qur’anic passages in which he informed them about past events in such detailed fashion that no one could have known them unless he were himself a prophet, or had been taught by one. Their own people knew with certainty that no human being had informed him of these things, and this fact constituted conclusive proof against them. Despite the vehemence of their enmity toward him and their relentless search for grounds on which to discredit him, they could not advance a single objection that would stand.

Other nations likewise understood that his very countrymen—his antagonists, who exerted every effort to malign him—were unable to say, “A man has taught him these unseen tidings.” It therefore became incumbent upon all mankind to recognize that no human being had instructed him. Concerning this Allah the Exalted says:

“These are accounts of the unseen that We reveal to you; neither you nor your people knew them before this” (Hud 49).

Allah thus declared that neither the Prophet nor his people had previously known these matters, and his people themselves acknowledged the same. He had learned from no one outside his own community; it was only in desperation that some of them alleged he had received instruction from a certain man who had appeared