“others who are sick, and others traveling through the land seeking Allah’s bounty.” [Al-Muzzammil: 20]
This sūrah is among the earliest revelations in Mecca.

Likewise, the Exalted says in the sūrah that opens with “The Hour has drawn near,” which is Meccan by unanimous agreement:
“The multitude will be routed and will turn their backs in flight. (45) But the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour is more calamitous and more bitter.” [Al-Qamar: 45–46]
The fulfillment of this defeat came later on the Day of Badr. Many similar, clear and evident examples exist, and a separate section will follow on the matters he—ﷺ—foretold that occurred after him exactly as he had foretold.

The Qur’an also contains just rulings—commands and prohibitions—encompassing consummate wisdom. When a person of understanding and sound intellect reflects on them, he is certain that such rulings could only have been sent down by the One who knows the unseen, is merciful to His servants, and treats them with His kindness, mercy, and beneficence. Allah, Most High, says:
“The word of your Lord has been perfected in truth and in justice.” [Al-Anʿām: 115]
that is, truthful in its reports and just in its commands and prohibitions.

He also says:
“Alif Lām Rā. A Book whose verses have been perfected and then explained, from One who is All-Wise, All-Aware.” [Hūd: 1]
meaning: its wording has been perfected and its meanings clarified.

And He says:
“He it is who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth.” [Al-Fath: 28]
i.e., beneficial knowledge and righteous action.

It is likewise related from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said to Kumayl ibn Ziyād: “It is the Book of Allah: in it is the account of those before you, the judgment among you, and the news of those after you.” We have elaborated on all of this in our book Tafsīr (1), and that suffices (2).

The Magnificent Qur’an is miraculous in many respects: its eloquence, rhetoric, composition, structures, and stylistic modes; the reports it contains of past and future events; and the clear rulings it comprises. The challenge based on the eloquence of its wording applies specifically to the eloquent Arabs, whereas the challenge based on the soundness and perfection of its meanings—which many scholars consider the greater challenge—embraces all the people of the earth: the two religious communities, the People of the Scripture (3), and others of sound intellect among the Greeks, Indians, Persians, Copts, and the various classes of humanity across all regions and lands.

As for those among the scholastic theologians (4) who claim that its miraculousness lies merely in Allah’s diverting the motives of the unbelievers from attempting to match it, even though they possess the ability, or in His stripping them of that ability altogether, this claim is false. It is founded upon their belief that the Qur’an is created—that Allah produced it within some physical entity—and, in their view, there is no difference between one created thing and another. Their assertion is sheer falsehood and unbelief, and it is not