— they are the ones who believe in the unseen, establish prayer, and spend out of that with which We have provided them; they are the ones who stand upon guidance from their Lord, and it is they who are truly successful.

Yet after first stating their faith in concise form, He then set it out in detail so that no one might imagine that a mere claim of “believing in the unseen” would avail a person if he does not also believe in what was sent down to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and in what was sent down before him.

Thus, were someone to declare, “I believe in the unseen,” while at the same time disbelieving in part of what was revealed to Muhammad—peace and blessings be upon him—or in part of what was revealed to those before him, he would not be deemed a believer until he believes in everything that was revealed to him and in everything that was revealed to those before him.

Had there been another category, the successful would have fallen into two groups: one that believes in the unseen yet does not believe in what was sent down to him and to those before him, and another that believes in what was sent down to him and to those before him yet does not believe in the unseen. Such a division is rejected by all believing communities, as well as by the Jews and the Christians, for faith in what was sent down to him and to those before him necessarily entails faith in the unseen, and faith in the unseen is not complete unless one believes in everything that Allah, blessed and exalted, has revealed.

[What establishes—and once established, when proof becomes binding upon the Muslims]

Among the Muslims no one considers it permissible to deny anything that was revealed to those before Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. However, citing those earlier revelations as binding proof against Muslims requires three preliminaries:

First: that their attribution to the Prophets—peace be upon them—be firmly established.

Second: that the translation into Arabic, or into the language which—