And when this saying appeared to be a clear nullification of all that they said, because their denial of him, on the assumption of his falsehood - according to their claim - is not dependent on anything outside of power, he demanded from them a challenge. For if they opposed him with something like it, the dispute would be resolved. Therefore, he caused his previous statement to be a refutation of them in their saying that they revealed with their tongues, which would stop others from goodness: ﴿So let them bring﴾ meaning, on any assumption they want ﴿a saying﴾ meaning, a new and distinct speech that comes with the times; they are not required to bring it all at once ﴿like it﴾ meaning the Qur'an in eloquence, correctness of meanings, and information about the unseen, whether it was or will be as it is, and the wisdoms therein.

And since the intended purpose here is absolute incapacitation for the deniers, not limited to the condition of gathering, as in "Glorified is He," because the descent of these early revelations challenged them to bring something like it in composition and application to events, whether chapters or verses or less than that, which would speak and renew something in the effect of something - as indicated by the expression of occurrences. Therefore, he stripped them of their pretense of gathering and the call of the capable, and because they are liars in their assertion of attributing it to [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: taqallul] and others, he indicated this with his words, reproaching them and urging them to engage in the challenge: ﴿If they are﴾ meaning, if they are firmly established in it ﴿truthful﴾ meaning, that he fabricated it from himself piece by piece, if they are deeply rooted in it as they claim, whether they claimed he is a poet, a soothsayer, or mad, or otherwise. Because the norm prevents one from a people who is equal to them from bringing what they all cannot bring something like it, and the rational person does not assert anything except that he is knowledgeable about it. And it follows from their knowledge of that their ability to bring something like what he brings. For he ﷺ is like them in eloquence, homeland, and lineage, and some of them exceed him in writing, reciting poetry, mingling with scholars, practicing speeches, letters, and other than that. So, no one can bring what they are unable to do except with divine support, which is what is meant by their denial of him. It has been known from this and from what has preceded in a similar manner scattered in the chapters that contain something like it that the challenge in each chapter is different from the challenge in another - and Allah is the guide. And these previous sections of their denial may be based on the assumption of belief in the deity as it is with its attributes of perfection, so he followed it with an oath based on the assumption of negation. If there is no deity, there is no messenger, so the denial comes. Then he followed that with another oath based on the assumption of affirming the deity but with weakness due to partnership. And since partnership can sometimes be from the speaker and sometimes from others, he presented from it what is for the speaker according to his claim, and he presented the assumption of his partnership with creation, then with the control of the treasures, then with writing, then with hearing the secrets, then with the weakness of the capacity by being content with the lesser type.