One of them even said to his face, “We bear witness that you are a prophet.” He replied, “What keeps you, then, from following me?” They answered, “We fear that the Jews might kill us.” (1)

Allah, exalted is He, has said: “Indeed, those against whom your Lord’s word has already been confirmed will never believe—though every sign should come to them—until they behold the painful punishment.” (Quran 10:96–97).

Yet there have come to you signs far greater and clearer than the glad tidings once delivered by the prophets; each single sign would be enough for any human being to embrace faith. Instead, these signs have only increased you in aversion, denial, and refusal to accept the truth. Had Allah sent angels down upon you—(and had the dead spoken to you, and had every living and lifeless thing borne witness to his prophethood) (2)—misfortune (3) would still have prevailed over you, and you would have ended up with what was already decreed for you in the Mother of the Book.

People more intelligent than you and less prone to envy saw with their own eyes the signs granted to earlier prophets, yet those signs only deepened their rejection and obstinacy. Your forefathers—and the very models you follow—in denying the prophets are too many to count; it is as though you made a pact to do so, the first generation bequeathing it to the last, and the last imitating the first.

Allah says: “In the same way, whenever a messenger came to those before them, they said, ‘A sorcerer or a madman.’ Have they passed this saying down to one another? Rather, they are a people who transgress.” (Quran 51:52–53).

Suppose we were to disregard altogether the testimonies of the earlier prophets—are the signs and proofs that appeared at his hands not sufficient to attest to the soundness of his prophethood?

Once we have finished answering these objections, we shall mention a selection of those signs—enough to leave no excuse and to establish the proof. (4) Allah’s help is sought.