“Yet they have taken, besides Him, gods that create nothing but are themselves created; they possess neither harm nor benefit for themselves, nor do they possess death, life, or resurrection. And those who disbelieve say, ‘This is nothing but a lie that he has fabricated, and other people have helped him with it.’ Thus they have indeed committed an injustice and a falsehood. And they say, ‘Tales of the ancients, which he has had written down, and which are dictated to him morning and evening.’ Say, ‘It has been sent down by Him who knows all that is hidden in the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.’” (3–6)

His saying, exalted is He: “Yet they have taken”—that is, the worshippers of idols—“besides Him, gods”: that is, idols, “that create nothing but are themselves created; they possess neither harm nor benefit for themselves”: that is, they can neither ward off harm nor bring benefit. “Nor do they possess death or life”: that is, causing death or giving life. “Nor resurrection”: that is, resurrection after death.

“And those who disbelieve say”: that is, the idolaters—44/b—namely, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith and his companions—“This”: that is, this Quran, “is nothing but a lie”: a falsehood, “that he has fabricated”: Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, invented it, “and other people have helped him with it.” Mujahid said: this refers to the Jews. (1) Al-Hasan said: it refers to Ubayd ibn al-Khidr, the Abyssinian soothsayer. It was also said: Jabr, Yasar, and Addas ibn Ubayd. They were among the People of Scripture in Mecca, and the idolaters alleged that Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, took it from them.

Allah, exalted is He, said: “Thus they have indeed committed”—that is, those who uttered this statement—“an injustice and a falsehood”: that is, they have come with injustice and falsehood. Because the preposition has been omitted, the words occur in the accusative. That is, they have come with idolatry and falsehood by ascribing the speech of Allah, exalted is He, to lies and fabrication.

“And they say, ‘Tales of the ancients, which he has had written down’”: al-Nadr ibn al-Harith used to say, “This Quran is not from Allah; rather, it is from the writings of the ancients, such as the tales of Rostam and Esfandiyar.” (2) “Which he has had written down”: Muhammad copied them from Jabr, Yasar, and Addas. The meaning of “he has had written down” is that he requested that they be written for him, because he did not write. “And which are dictated to him”: that is, they are read aloud to him so that he may memorize them, not so that he may write them, “morning and evening”: at daybreak and in the late afternoon.

Allah, exalted is He, said in response to them: “Say, ‘It has been sent down’”—that is, the Quran—“by Him who knows all that is hidden”—that is, the unseen—“in the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.”