And when he informed about their slander against the Qur'an, he followed the news of their slander against the one who brought it, as a cover for his matter, acting upon their reports in the conclusion of what preceded it about themselves with disbelief, an increase and a deepening in what the blessings had led them to of arrogance. So he said: ﴿And they said﴾ when they were overcome by what they were reminded of from what they knew of the matter of Ibrahim, blessings and peace be upon him, regarding prophethood and messengership, and likewise from after him from his descendants. They could not persist in obstinacy by denying that the Prophet is from mankind, the saying of one who has a great matter in the management of the universe and control over the king who (p-420) is not questioned about what he does. So they denied the specification with what they brought of the specification in their saying: ﴿If only﴾ meaning, is there not, and if only.

And when the revelation of the Qur'an was in stages, they expressed what corresponds to that, so they said: ﴿It was revealed﴾ meaning from the one who revealed it, whom Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, mentioned. They specified their intent and denied any ambiguity, so they said with force and harshness of words against those who called them for the rectification of their state: ﴿This Qur'an﴾ meaning that which Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, brought and claimed that it is a collection of all good. In it is an indication of belittlement ﴿against a man from the two cities﴾ meaning Mecca and Ta'if, and he did not say: one of them - sufficing with the unity of a man ﴿great﴾ meaning by what he has among them of greatness, status, wealth, age, and the like. They know that the affair of the king is to send whom they approve, not whom the subjects propose. And they know that the messenger sent to him, blessings and peace be upon him, has absolute wealth, but they were ignorant - although he is the one who poured forth wealth and status - that he called to asceticism in both and to detachment from them, and that nothing approaches him except sincere devotion to him arising from the purity of the soul, the clarity of morals, the perfection of attributes, and the adornment with all virtues and the detachment from all vices. They made their excessive ignorance a condition for reaching the royal state that is contrary to it in every regard.