the language of the man to whom they referred—by attributing this Quran to him and claiming that he was the one teaching Muhammad the Quran—was foreign, whereas the Quran is in clear Arabic. He expressed this meaning with the word “yulhidūn” (“they refer to”), because it conveys their turning away from the truth and towards the person to whom they attributed this Quran. The word “ilhād” denotes a wrongful turning away from one thing towards another. Had the disbelievers claimed that he taught him only its meanings, this would not have refuted their claim, for someone may learn something from a foreign speaker in that speaker’s language and then express it in his own words.

It is widely reported in Quranic commentary that some disbelievers used to say, “He learned it from a man in Mecca who spoke a foreign language.” It was said that this man was a client of Ibn al-Hadramī. Since the disbelievers claimed that a human being taught him what the Holy Spirit brought down, and Allah refuted this by pointing out that the man’s language was foreign whereas this is clear Arabic, it follows that the Holy Spirit brought down the clear Arabic wording, and that Muhammad did not compose the wording of the Quran but heard it from the Holy Spirit. Since the Holy Spirit brought it down from Allah, it follows that he heard it from Him and did not compose it himself. This is a declaration from Allah that the Quran, which is in clear Arabic, was heard by the Holy Spirit from Allah and brought down from Him.

A parallel to this verse is His saying, Most High:

“Thus We have appointed for every prophet an enemy—devils from among mankind and jinn,”

through to His words:

“So leave them and what they fabricate.”

Likewise, His words:

“And it is He who has sent down to you the Book, explained in detail. And those to whom We have given