(50) “Say, ‘I do not tell you that I possess Allah’s treasures or know the unseen, nor do I tell you that I am an angel. I follow only what is revealed to me.’ Say, ‘Are the blind and the seeing equal? Will you not then reflect?’”

Allah Most High tells His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—to address those who demanded(1) signs from him, or who said to him, “You are calling us only so that we will take you as a god alongside Allah.” “I do not tell you that I possess Allah’s treasures”—that is, the keys to His provision and mercy. “Nor do I know the unseen.” All of that rests with Allah. Whatever mercy He opens for people, none can withhold; and whatever He withholds, none can release after Him. He alone knows the unseen and the seen, and He discloses His unseen to no one except a messenger whom He has approved.

“Nor do I tell you that I am an angel,” such that I would possess great strength and the power to act unhindered. I do not claim a station above that in which Allah has placed me. “I follow only what is revealed to me”—that is, this is the utmost extent, culmination, and highest reach of my mission: I follow only what is revealed to me, put it into practice myself, and call all people to the same.

Once my station is known, why should anyone press me further or ask me for something I do not claim to possess? Is a person to be held responsible for anything beyond what he has undertaken?

And why, when I call you to what has been revealed to me, do you impute to me a claim to a station beyond my own? Is this anything but injustice, obstinacy, and rebellion on your part? To clarify the distinction between one who accepts my call and submits to what has been revealed to me and one who does not, tell them: “Are the blind and the seeing equal? Will you not then reflect?”—and thus put things in their proper places and choose what is most worthy of being chosen and preferred?