And when the decree was: But We have sent you with the truth to cut off their argument, He built upon it His saying: ﴿So when the truth came to them﴾ meaning: the people of Makkah ﴿the truth﴾ which is broader than the Book and the Sunnah and what can be measured against them. It is in itself worthy of acceptance due to its being in the highest degree of stability. So how could it be [accepted] when it is ﴿from Us﴾ based on the greatness we possess, and upon your tongue while you are the greatest of creation! ﴿They said﴾ meaning: the people of the call from among the Arabs and others, stubbornly disbelieving in it: ﴿Why was not given to him﴾ from the signs, [meaning: this one who comes claiming that he is the truth], and it was built for the passive form because the intent is the absolute giving since it is what the purpose of the message depends on, even though the one given is known ﴿like what was given to Musa﴾ meaning: from the hand and the staff and other signs that no one can bring forth except the One who is capable of all things.

And when the coming with something like what Musa brought, blessings and peace be upon him, would not necessitate belief according to their claim [except that] it would be greater than what Muhammad ﷺ brought, or that the people would not have hesitated in believing in him. And both matters are negated by the fact that the people of his time disbelieved in him. And when they asked the Jews about Muhammad ﷺ and commanded them to test him with the spirit and the story of the People of the Cave and Dhul-Qarnayn, and he came in each of those with what required their belief in it, they refused and insisted on their disbelief. And in that was their disbelief in him and in Musa, blessings and peace be upon them. So it was known that the decree was: Did they not disbelieve in what he brought them of the clear signs while it is like [what] was brought by Musa, blessings and peace be upon him? Rather, it is greater than it ﴿Did they not disbelieve﴾ meaning: the Arabs and whoever among the Children of Israel received the call or whoever Allah willed from them or the descendants of their kind and whoever was like them in humanity and intellect in the time of Musa, peace be upon him, ﴿in what was given to Musa﴾.

And when each of their coming and their disbelief did not take a long time before, the neighbor was established, so he said: ﴿Before﴾ meaning: [from] before the coming of the truth on the tongue of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, to them. And when it was as if it was said: What was their disbelief in him? It was said: ﴿They said﴾ meaning: Pharaoh and his people and whoever disbelieved from the Children of Israel, like Qarun and those who followed him. And when it had previously been mentioned here that his supporter was his brother, the intended meaning was clear, he implied them both and said: ﴿Two sorcerers﴾ meaning: he and his brother ﴿cooperated﴾ meaning: each of them helped his companion in his magic until their magic became miraculous, and they overcame all the sorcerers. And the cooperation of the sorcerers is from the cooperation of the two magics - according to the reading of the Kufans - and it is permissible - and it is closer - that the pronoun refers to Muhammad and Musa (peace be upon them), and that is because it has been narrated that Quraysh sent to the Jews and they asked them about Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and they informed them that his description was in their book, so they said this statement, and the speech would be a resumption of the answer to the one who was as if he said: What was their disbelief in them? So it was said: They said - meaning: the Arabs -: The two men are sorcerers, or the two books are sorceries, one of which supported the other, with the knowledge of everyone who has understanding that this statement is false; because if the condition for the miracle of magic was cooperation, then the magic of Pharaoh would have been the greatest miracle, because all the sorcerers of the land of Egypt cooperated against him and were unable to oppose what Musa, peace be upon him, manifested from the sign of the staff. As for Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, he called the people of the earth from the jinn and mankind to oppose his book and informed them that they were unable, even if some of them were supporters of one another, they were unable.

And when their saying contained that disbelief, they stated it explicitly in their saying: ﴿And they said﴾ meaning: the disbelievers of Quraysh or those who preceded from Pharaoh and his kind: ﴿Indeed, we are disbelievers in all﴾ of the two sorcerers or the two magics that they cooperated with, and they are what they brought from Allah ﴿disbelievers﴾ in boldness against Allah and arrogance against the truth.