“You were not on the western side.” That is, on the western side of Mount Sinai when We entrusted Moses with the command. “Nor were you among the witnesses” to that event, such that it could be said that this knowledge reached you by that means.
“But We brought forth generations, and long ages passed over them.” Knowledge faded away and His signs were forgotten. We therefore sent you at a time when the need for you, and for what We taught and revealed to you, had become acute. “Nor were you dwelling”—that is, residing—“among the people of Midian, reciting Our signs to them,” teaching them and learning from them, which might account for how you came to report what you did about Moses in Midian. “Rather, it is We who sent you.” That is, the account you brought concerning Moses is one of the effects of Our having sent you. It is revelation that you could not possibly have known without Our sending you.
“Nor were you at the side of Mount Sinai when We called” Moses and commanded him to go to the wrongdoing people, convey Our message to them, and show them the signs and wonders of Ours that We have recounted to you. The point is that the events which befell Moses—peace be upon him—in these places, and which you have related exactly as they occurred, without addition or omission, admit of only two possibilities.
Either you were present and witnessed them, or you visited the places where they occurred and learned about them from the people there. If that had been the case, it would not necessarily prove that you were Allah’s Messenger, since matters reported through observation and study are accessible to all and are not exclusive to prophets. Yet it is known with certainty that neither of these things ever happened, and both your allies and your enemies know that they did not.
The second possibility is therefore established: that this knowledge came to you from Allah through His revelation and His sending you. Thus the truth of your messengership is proven by decisive evidence, as is Allah’s mercy to His servants through you. Hence He said: “But it is a mercy from your Lord, so that you may warn a people to whom no warner came before you”—that is, the Arabs and Quraysh. For messengership [among them] had been unknown at the time the Messenger was sent and for many long ages before him—“so that they might take heed”: learning good in detail and then doing it, and learning evil and then abandoning it. Since you occupy this station, they were duty-bound to hasten to believe in you and give thanks for this blessing, whose worth cannot be measured and for which adequate gratitude can never be rendered.
His being sent to warn the Arabs does not mean that he was not sent to others as well. He was an Arab, the Quran revealed to him was Arabic, and the Arabs were the first people whom he directly called. His message was therefore addressed to them in the first instance and to others by extension. As Allah Most High said: “Is it a wonder to mankind that We revealed to a man from among them: ‘Warn mankind’?” And: “Say, O mankind, I am the Messenger of Allah to you all.”
“Had it not been that a calamity might befall them because of what their hands had sent ahead”—namely, disbelief and sins—“and they would then say, ‘Our Lord, why did You not send us a messenger so that we might follow Your signs and be among the believers?’” That is, We sent you, O Muhammad, to leave them without an excuse and bring their argument to an end.
“But when the truth came to them”—the truth in which there is no doubt—“from Us,” namely, the Quran that We revealed to you, “they said,” denying it and raising an invalid objection: “Why was he not given the like of what Moses was given?” That is, why was a Book not sent down to him from heaven all at once? They meant that, as long as it was being revealed in portions, it could not be from Allah. Yet what proof is there in this? What grounds are there for doubting that it is from Allah merely because it was revealed in portions?
Rather, part of the Quran’s perfection, and of Allah’s care for the one to whom it was revealed, is that it was sent down in portions, so that through it Allah might strengthen the heart of His Messenger and increase the believers in faith. “They bring you no argument without Our bringing you the truth and the best explanation.” Moreover, their appeal to the Book of Moses as an analogy was an analogy they had themselves invalidated. ⦗618⦘ How could they appeal to a Book in which they had disbelieved and which they had never accepted? Hence He said: “Did they not previously disbelieve in what Moses was given? They said, ‘Two works of magic supporting one another’”—meaning the Quran and the Torah, which, they alleged, cooperated in their magic and in misleading people—“and they said, ‘We disbelieve in both.’” This establishes that these people merely sought to invalidate the truth with what constituted no proof, to refute it with what could not refute it, and to utter contradictory and inconsistent claims. Such is the way of every disbeliever. They openly declared their disbelief in both Books and both Messengers. But did they disbelieve in them because they were seeking the truth and following something they possessed that was better than both, or was it merely their own desire?
Allah Most High challenged them on that very basis, saying: “Then bring a Book from Allah that gives better guidance than these two”—the Torah and the Quran—“and I shall follow it, if you are truthful.” Neither they nor anyone else can produce the like of these two Books. Since Allah created the world, nothing equal to them has ever appeared in it in knowledge, guidance, clarity, and mercy toward creation. This demonstrates the complete fairness of the one calling them, for he said: “My aim is truth, guidance, and sound judgment. I have brought you this Book, which encompasses all of that and accords with the Book of Moses. We must therefore all submit to both and follow them because they are guidance and truth. If you bring me a Book from Allah that provides better guidance than these two, I shall follow it. Otherwise, I will not abandon guidance and truth that I know for something other than guidance and truth.” (1)
“If they do not respond to you” by producing a Book that provides better guidance than these two, “then know that they are merely following their desires.” That is, know that in refusing to follow you, they are not proceeding toward any truth they know or toward any guidance; they are merely following their desires. “And who could be more astray than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah?” Such a person is among the most astray of all people: guidance and the straight path leading to Allah and to the abode of His honor were presented to him, yet he paid them no heed and did not turn toward them. His desire called him to take the paths leading to destruction and misery (2), so he followed it and abandoned guidance. Could anyone be more astray than one of this description?
Yet it was his wrongdoing, transgression, and lack of love for the truth that caused him to remain in his error and prevented Allah from guiding him. Hence He said: “Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people.” That is, those for whom wrongdoing has become an ingrained quality and obstinacy a defining trait. Guidance came to them, but they rejected it; desire presented itself to them, so they followed it. They closed the doors and paths of guidance against themselves and opened the doors and ways of error. Thus they wander blindly in their error and wrongdoing and vacillate amid their misery and destruction.
His words, “If they do not respond to you, then know that they are merely following their desires,” prove that anyone who does not respond to the Messenger and instead adopts a view contrary to the Messenger’s words has not followed guidance, but only desire.