“Or cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed; or bring Allah and the angels before us face-to-face; or have a house of gold; or ascend into heaven. Yet we will not believe in your ascent until you bring down to us a book that we can read.” Say, “Glory be to my Lord! Am I anything but a human messenger?” (92–93)

“Or cause the sky to fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed”: Nafi‘, Ibn ‘Amir, and ‘Asim recited it with the letter sin bearing a fathah, meaning: pieces. It is the plural of kisfah, meaning a piece or a side, just as kisrah has the plural kisar. The others recited it with the sin unvowelled, in the singular; its plurals are aksaf and kusuf. That is, cause it to fall upon us as a single layer [one] (1). It was also said that it means: its side falling upon us. It was further said that it likewise means pieces, as a broken plural, like sidrah and sidr. In Surat al-Shu‘ara’ and Surat Saba’, Hafs recited kisafan with the sin bearing a fathah, while in Surat al-Rum, Abu Ja‘far and Ibn ‘Amir recited it with the sin unvowelled.

“Or bring Allah and the angels before us face-to-face”: Ibn ‘Abbas said: as guarantors—that is, guaranteeing the truth of what you say. Al-Dahhak said: as one who guarantees. Mujahid said: it is the plural of qabilah, meaning: with the various categories of angels, tribe after tribe. [Qatadah said: visibly—that is, so that you see them face-to-face] (2), meaning: directly before your eyes. [Al-Farra’ said: It derives from the Arabs’ expression, “I met so-and-so qabīlan and qabalan,” meaning: face-to-face] (3).

“Or have a house of gold”: that is, made of gold; the original meaning of zukhruf is adornment. “Or ascend”: that is, climb “into heaven.” This was the statement of Abdullah ibn Abi Umayyah. “Yet we will not believe in your ascent”: that is, in your climbing up, “until you bring down to us a book that we can read,” in which we are commanded to follow you. “Say, ‘Glory be to my Lord!’” Ibn Kathir and Ibn ‘Amir recited, “He said,” referring to Muhammad, while the others recited it as a command: that is, Say, O Muhammad. “Am I anything but a human messenger?” Allah commanded him to declare His transcendence and magnify Him, meaning that had He willed to send down what they requested, He would have done so. But Allah does not send down signs according to the demands proposed by human beings; I am only a human being, and what you have asked lies beyond human capability.

Know that Allah, exalted is He, gave the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, signs and miracles sufficient to dispense with all of this, such as the Quran, the splitting of the moon, the gushing of water from between his fingers, and the like. Most of these people were obstinate; their aim was not to seek proof in order to believe. Thus, Allah rebuffed their demand. (4)