And when he presented in this surah what he mentioned of the stories of the ancients and the news of the past, reproaching by that the matter of Quraysh for their stubbornness against the Jews, they were unable to deny anything of it nor to direct any criticism towards it. He interspersed it with marvelous wisdoms and strange admonitions in the most eloquent words. He concluded that with the greatest call to piety, astonished by their not submitting to the truth, whether out of pride in proclaiming falsehood or fear of bad consequences. He said: ﴿And they said﴾, and perhaps he referred to what is to be understood in the context of his saying: ﴿Has it not guided them﴾ [Ta-Ha: 128] to his saying: ﴿Indeed, in that are signs﴾ [Ta-Ha: 128], so that it could be said: And they refused that and did not consider anything of it a sign: ﴿Why﴾ meaning why not ﴿does he not bring us﴾ [meaning Muhammad, the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him] ﴿a sign﴾ [meaning like the signs of the ancients-] ﴿from his Lord﴾ who is gracious to him, indicating his truthfulness.

And when this included that they did not consider anything of these clear signs - which he presented to those who preceded him - a sign out of obstinacy, they deserved denial. So he said: ﴿Did not﴾ meaning did not they receive from the signs in this Qur'an what I have specified for you of the rulings and wisdoms in the most eloquent meanings with the most eloquent arrangements that incapacitated their eloquent speakers and rendered their articulate ones mute? This certainly indicates that it is My speech.

﴿Did not they receive the clear proof of what﴾ meaning the news that ﴿is in the first scriptures﴾ from the scriptures of Ibrahim, Musa, Isa, and Dawud, peace be upon them, in the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, and other divine books (p-375) like the stories of Adam and Musa mentioned in this surah and others from what has been narrated to it as it is with its people in ways that only a few of their experts know without mixing with a scholar among them or among others, and without anyone among them being able to oppose what has been brought in its story from the productive arrangement that certainly indicates that there is no teacher for it except Allah, the One who sent it to him, and that what has been brought from it is a witness to what is in the first scriptures of that with truthfulness, because it is the speech of Allah. Thus, it is a clear proof against others due to its miraculous nature. All divine books are dependent on its testimony, just as the one who is argued against is dependent on the testimony of the proof, and there is no dependence after being unable to produce anything at all. Thus, it is greater than the signs of all the [prophets-] that they request something like it which cannot be compared.