namely the sacred land that is the place where the Messiah appeared.
Mount Sinai—the mountain upon which God spoke to Moses—is likewise the scene of his prophethood.
And “this secure city” is Mecca (1), God’s inviolable sanctuary and place of safety, which is the locus of the prophethood (2) of Muhammad—may God’s blessings and peace be upon them all.
Thus these three correspond exactly to the earlier three.

The Jews claim, “Paran is the land of Syria, not the land of the Ḥijaz.” This, however, is hardly surprising in view of their brazenness and distortions. Yet their own Torah states that when Ishmael parted from his father he settled in the wilderness of Paran. That is precisely how the Torah (3) phrases it: “And Ishmael dwelt in the wilderness of Paran, and his mother gave him in marriage to a woman from Jurhum” (4).

The learned among the People of the Book do not doubt that Paran is the dwelling place (5) of Ishmael’s descendants. Accordingly, the Torah contains: a prophecy that revelation will descend upon the land of Paran; a prophecy that it will descend upon a great man from the progeny of Ishmael; and a prophecy that his community and followers will spread until they fill both the plains and the mountains—as we shall explain, God willing.

In light of all this, no doubt whatsoever remains: this is the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ, which descended in Paran upon the noblest of Ishmael’s offspring until it filled the earth with brilliance and light, and filled