His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "So perhaps you will leave out some of what is revealed to you, and your chest will be constricted by it, because they say, 'Why has a treasure not been sent down upon him, or an angel come with him?' You are but a warner, and Allah is, over all things, a Guardian." "Or do they say, 'He has fabricated it'? Say, 'Then bring forth ten chapters like it, fabricated, and call upon whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be among the truthful.'"

The reason for this verse is that the disbelievers of Quraysh said: "O Muhammad, if you were to leave off insulting our deities and belittling our forefathers, we would sit with you and follow you." They said: "Bring forth a Quran other than this or change it," and similar statements. So Allah, exalted and majestic is He, addressed His Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in this manner of addressing, and He stopped him with it, refuting their words and invalidating them. It does not mean that he, blessings and peace be upon him, intended to leave out anything of what was revealed to him, nor was his chest constricted. Rather, his chest would constrict due to their words and actions and their distance from faith.

And "perhaps you will" here means a stopping and a confirmation. And "what is revealed to you" refers to the Quran, the Sharia, and the calling to Allah, exalted and majestic is He. This included the insults to their deities and the belittling of their forefathers or something else. It is possible that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, found the severity of what he faced to be great, so he inclined towards the idea that there might be permission from Allah, exalted and majestic is He, to be somewhat lenient with the disbelievers, and this is among the beliefs that befit him, blessings and peace be upon him, as the verses of reconciliation have come.

And he expressed "constricted" instead of "narrow" for the appropriateness of the wording with "leaving out," although "narrow" is more commonly used as it is a permanent description, while "constricted" is a temporary description. Thus, it is suitable here, and the pronoun in "by it" refers back to "some of it," and it is possible that it refers back to "what." And "that" is in the accusative position, on the assumption of: "out of dislike for that," and the treasure here refers to wealth. This is their request for a sign that compels them to believe, and Allah, blessed and exalted is He, did not send the prophets with signs of compulsion, but rather He sent them with signs of reflection and reasoning, and He did not make a sign of compulsion except for the nations that He decreed to punish for their disbelief after the sign of compulsion, like the she-camel for Thamud.

Then He reassured him, exalted and majestic is He, with His saying: "You are but a warner," meaning: this is the extent that has been entrusted to you, and Allah, exalted and majestic is He, after that is the Guardian who enforces the faith of whom He wills and the disbelief of whom He wills.

And His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Or do they say﴾, this "Or" which is with Sibawayh means "but" and the letter of inquiry. It is as if he has turned away from the first speech and inquired in the second in the sense of confirmation, like their saying: "Indeed, is it camels or sheep?" And the fabrication is more specific than lying, and it is only used in what a person has slandered with and has contradicted and has brought forth a great and unacceptable matter. The challenge in this verse is with ten, because he has constrained it with fabrication. So he has expanded upon them in quantity to establish the proof to the utmost extent, as he has incapacitated them in other than this verse with a chapter like it without constraint. This is a complete similarity in the unseen aspects of the Qur'an, its meanings, its structure, its promises, and its warnings. They have been incapacitated in this verse, but it has been said to them: Compete with it by ten like it in estimation, and the purpose is one. And make it fabricated; you will have nothing left but its structure. This is the utmost expansion. And the meaning is not: Compete with ten chapters with ten, because this would only come as a challenge of a chapter with a fabricated chapter, and it does not matter about the precedence of the revelation of this over that. What supports this view is that the obligation in the verse of Al-Baqarah is only because of doubt, and nothing removes doubt except knowledge that they cannot achieve complete similarity. And in this verse, the obligation is because of their saying: "He has fabricated it." So they were obliged to something like what they said, and this does not apply in the verse of "Yunus." And some people said: This is a prelude in revelation (p-549) to that, and it is not correct that they are incapacitated in one and are obliged to ten, and the two obligations are equal. And it is not correct for a single chapter to be anything but fabricated. And the verse of the chapter of "Yunus" in the obligation of a composite chapter is based on their saying: "He has fabricated it," and likewise the verse of Al-Baqarah; their doubt is that the Qur'an is fabricated.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

And the one who says this has not noticed the difference between the two obligations, in the completeness of similarity at one time, and its standing on the structure at another time.

And "Who" in His saying: ﴿Whoever you are able﴾ refers to the idols, the statues, the devils, and everything they used to venerate. And His saying: ﴿If you are truthful﴾ means: in that the Qur'an is fabricated.