His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "And if it were not that a calamity should strike them for what their own hands have sent before, they would say, 'Our Lord, if only You would send us a messenger, so we could follow Your signs and be among the believers.'" "But when the truth came to them from Us, they said, 'If only he were given the like of what was given to Moses.' Did they not disbelieve in what was given to Moses before? They said, 'Two magicians who have supported each other,' and they said, 'Indeed, we are in all disbelief.'" "Say, 'Then bring a Book from Allah which is more guiding than either of them, that I may follow it, if you should be among the truthful.'" "But if they do not respond to you, then know that they only follow their desires. And who is more astray than one who follows his desire without guidance from Allah? Indeed, Allah does not guide the wrongdoing people."

"The 'calamity' refers to punishment in this world for their disbelief. The answer to 'if only' is omitted; its meaning is: if we had not sent the messengers. And His saying, 'But when the truth came to them,' refers to the Qur'an and Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. The statement made by Quraysh, 'If only he were given the like of what was given to Moses,' was from the teachings of the Jews to them. They said to them, 'Why does he not bring a miraculous sign like the staff and the hand and the mountain being moved?' So Allah, exalted and majestic is He, turned their words back upon them, and made them realize that they had experienced in those signs what these people have experienced in this one. Thus, the pronoun in His saying, 'they disbelieve,' refers to the Jews.

The majority read: 'two magicians,' and they mean by them Moses and Aaron. This was said by Mujahid. Al-Hasan said: Moses and Jesus. Ibn Abbas said: Moses and Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Hasan also said: Jesus and Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon them. The first is more apparent. Al-A'sim, Hamzah, and al-Kisai read: 'two magicians,' and they mean by them the Torah and the Gospel. This was said by Ikrimah, and Ibn Abbas said: the Torah and the Criterion. Ibn Mas'ud read: 'two magicians who supported each other,' which is the reading of Talhah and al-Dahhak.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: It is possible that by 'what was given to Moses,' he means the matter of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, which is in the Torah. As if he is saying: What do they demand by asking for something like what was given to Moses while they have disbelieved—in denying you—what was given to Moses, peace be upon him, of the news about you? And they said: 'Indeed, we are in all disbelief.' And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: 'Indeed, we are in all disbelief' supports this interpretation. And 'supported each other' means: they cooperated.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: 'Say, then bring a Book,' this verse is a proof that Allah commanded him to proclaim it. That is: O you who deny these Books which have contained the command of worship and the virtues of morals, and have prohibited disbelief and deficiencies, and Allah has promised great reward for it, if your denial is for a reason, then bring a Book from Allah, exalted and majestic, that guides more than this, and I will follow it with you. Then He said, exalted and majestic is He: 'But if they do not respond to you'—and He knew that they would not respond—this is meant to clarify the corruption of their condition, and the context of the analogy is: 'because they follow their desires.' Then Allah expressed astonishment at following desires without guidance and for no clear purpose, and He established this in the context of clarification, meaning: no one is more astray than him.