4–6. “Those who disbelieve say, ‘This is nothing but a lie that he has fabricated, and other people have helped him with it.’ They have indeed committed a grave injustice and uttered a falsehood. They say, ‘These are legends of the ancients which he has had written down, and which are dictated to him morning and evening.’ Say, ‘It was sent down by the One who knows every secret in the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.’”

That is, those who disbelieved in Allah—whose disbelief led them to say of the Quran and the Messenger, “This Quran is a lie concocted by Muhammad, a falsehood that he fabricated against Allah, and other people helped him with it.”

Allah refuted them by declaring that their claim was sheer obstinacy and a brazen venture into injustice and falsehood—something no rational mind could entertain. They, of all people, knew the Messenger’s character best: his perfect truthfulness, trustworthiness, and righteousness. They also knew that neither he nor any other created being could produce this Quran, the noblest and loftiest of all speech, and that he had never met with anyone who could help him do so. Thus, in making this claim, they had indeed committed injustice and uttered falsehood.

Among their other claims about it was their statement: “These are legends of the ancients which he has had written down.” That is, what Muhammad brought consisted of the stories and legends of earlier peoples, passed from mouth to mouth and relayed by one person after another, which Muhammad had copied for him. “And which are dictated to him morning and evening.” This claim of theirs contained several grave offenses:

Among them was their accusation that the Messenger—who was the most righteous and truthful of people—was guilty of lying and tremendous audacity.

Another was their assertion that this Quran—the truest, greatest, and noblest of all speech—was a lie and a fabrication.

Another was the implicit claim that they were capable of producing its like, and that a created being, deficient in every respect, could rival the Creator, who is perfect in every respect, in one of His attributes—namely, speech.

Another was that the Messenger’s circumstances were well known, and they knew them better than anyone: he neither wrote nor met with anyone who would write for him. Yet they made this claim.

For that reason, He refuted them by saying: “Say, ‘It was sent down by the One who knows every secret in the heavens and the earth.’” That is, it was sent down by the One whose knowledge encompasses everything in the heavens and the earth: the unseen and the visible, the open and the secret. As He says:

“It is indeed a revelation from the Lord of all worlds. The Trustworthy Spirit brought it down upon your heart, so that you may be one of the warners.”

The manner in which this establishes the proof against them is that the One who sent it down encompasses all things in His knowledge. It is therefore inconceivable and impossible that a created being could invent this Quran, falsely ascribe it to Him, and say, “It is from Allah,” when it is not from Him; declare the lives and wealth of those who oppose him lawful; and claim that Allah had commanded him to do so—while Allah knows all things, yet still supports him, grants him victory over his enemies, and gives him mastery over their persons and lands. Thus, no one can reject this Quran without first denying Allah’s knowledge—a position maintained by no group among humankind other than the materialist philosophers.

Moreover, mention of the all-encompassing knowledge of Allah, the Exalted, alerts them and urges them to contemplate the Quran. Had they contemplated it, they would have found within it such knowledge and perfect judgments as conclusively demonstrate that it could have come only from the Knower of the unseen and the visible.

Despite their denial of monotheism and the Message, Allah was so kind to them that He did not abandon them to their wrongdoing. Rather, He called them to repent and turn back to Him, and promised them forgiveness and mercy if they repented and returned. He therefore said: “Indeed, He is Ever-Forgiving”—that is, forgiveness is His attribute toward those guilty of offenses and sins when they pursue the means of attaining forgiveness, namely, desisting from disobedience to Him and repenting of it. “Most Merciful” toward them, for He does not hasten to punish them even though they have done what warrants punishment; He accepts their repentance after their sins, erases their past misdeeds, accepts their good deeds, and restores those who return to Him after straying and turn toward Him after having turned away to the state of His obedient servants who return to Him in repentance.