a liar with the same kind of support He grants to the truthful; rather, the liar must inevitably be exposed, and although God may defer his punishment for a time, He finally destroys him.
Another proof is that the prophets share a single way in what they enjoin: worshipping God alone, acting in obedience to Him, affirming the Last Day, and believing in all the revealed scriptures and all the messengers. It is impossible for any one of them to depart from what they have unanimously proclaimed. The later prophets confirm those who came before them, while the earlier prophets herald those who will follow them—just as Jesus and the prophets before him gave glad tidings of Muhammad, and as Muhammad ﷺ affirmed every prophet who preceded him.
Among the evidences of prophethood is God’s succour for the prophets. It is known from God’s constant practice that He does not aid a liar in the way He aids a truthful man; rather, He disgraces the liar and grants him no real victory, indeed He must ultimately destroy him. Should He grant victory to an unjust king, such a ruler never claimed prophethood nor lied about God; he is merely a tyrant whom God sets in power over another tyrant, as He says: “And thus do We set some wrongdoers over others because of what they used to earn.”⦗1⦘ By contrast, the one who falsely asserts, “God has sent me,” will not receive unbroken support. God may give him a short reprieve, but in the end He ruins him.
Now, even in matters far beneath a claim to prophethood there are many ways to tell a truthful person from a liar—so how much clearer must the distinction be when the claim is prophethood itself? It is plain that anyone who claims to be a messenger is either the very best and most complete of human beings, or else the worst and most deficient. For that reason, when one of the notable men of Thaqîf heard of the Prophet ﷺ and was invited to Islam, he said to him, “By God, I shall not utter a single word to you. If you are truthful, you are too exalted in my sight for me to rebut you; and if you are lying, you are too despicable for me to answer you.” How, then, could the finest and most perfect of creation ever be mistaken for the basest and vilest?