, when they claimed that it was fabricated, to produce ten similarly fabricated surahs, or a single surah like it. He addressed them in their own language, yet they were unable to do so, despite his telling them that they could not produce its like, even if humankind and the jinn joined forces to that end.

Through it he, peace be upon him, left them and others without any excuse, just as Moses, peace be upon him, left the sorcerers and others of his time without any excuse through the staff that exposed their sorcery. What the staff did made it clear—to them and to others—that this was the work of Allah Most High, beyond their powers and beyond anything they could hope to achieve.

Likewise, Jesus, peace be upon him, left the physicians of his time without any excuse. They had become highly proficient in their knowledge of medicinal substances, the properties of herbs, and the limits of what their treatments and techniques could achieve. Yet he raised the dead without treatment, healed the blind and lepers, and performed other deeds with which