Commentary
And when their contradiction became clear, first in their claim regarding the Qur'an, which is obviously contradictory to its description, and secondly that it was aided after the indication given by the form of derivation from singularity, Allah, the Most High, followed it with another contradiction for them by saying, amazed: "And they said" (p-340) meaning the disbelievers, "Legends" the plural of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: isṭārah] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: usṭūrah] "of the ancients" like the stories of [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: Rustam] and [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: Isfandiyar], so they stated that there is nothing in it "that he has written" meaning he sought its writing for him "so it is" meaning it resulted from his effort that it "is recited" meaning it is delivered by a reciter in a good, renewed, and continuous manner "to him" from the book which he has written in it during times of leisure "in the morning" before the people spread "and in the evening" meaning when they return to their dwellings, or always to make an effort to memorize it after he has made an effort to obtain it by copying that he is unlettered. And this, as you see, is not something said by one who has a grasp on reason or manliness, for it is known that it is not hidden from a rational person that if a man were to persist in something for ten days, morning and evening, there would remain no one among those who know him and are aware of his conditions who would not know that from him. So if he were to deny it afterward, it would be a disgrace that would never be washed away from him. So how is it when the town is small, and the man is great and famous, and they have claimed that he is persistent upon that until the time of their statement and afterward he does not cease, and they reproached him that he is destitute and needs to walk in the markets, while he calls them to a challenge, even with a chapter like it, and among them are the writers, poets, eloquent speakers, and orators, and he has more wealth than them and greater supporters, so they cannot.
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