2. Sūrat al-Baqarah

٢۔ سُورَةُ البَقَرَة

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2.6 The Quran is indeed from God. Challenge to produce a Sūra similar to the Quran.

٢۔٦ مقطع في سُورَةُ البَقَرَة

quran:2:23 –

And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant ˹Muhammad˺, then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.  

And if you are in doubt, in uncertainty, concerning what We have revealed to Our servant, Muhammad (s), of the Qur’ān, that it is from God, then bring a sūra like it, that is also revealed (min mithlihi: min is explicative, that is, a sūra like it in its eloquence, fine arrangement and its bestowal of knowledge of the Unseen; a sūra is a passage with a beginning and end made up of a minimum of three verses); and call your witnesses, those other gods that you worship, besides God, that is, other than Him, so that it can be seen, if you are truthful, in ˹your claim˺ that Muhammad (s) speaks it from himself. So do this, for you are also fluent speakers of Arabic like him. When they could not do this, God said:
القرآن:٢:٢٣ –

وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِنْ مِثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُمْ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ  

{وإن كنتم في ريب} شك {مما نزلنا على عبدنا} محمد من القرآن أنه من عند الله {فأتوا بسورة من مثله} أي المنزل ومن للبيان أي هي مثله في البلاغة وحسن النظم والإخبار عن الغيب. والسورة قطعة لها أول وآخر أقلها ثلاث آيات {وادعوا شهداءكم" آلهتكم التي تعبدونها} من دون الله} أي غيره لتعينكم {إن كنتم صادقين} في أن محمدا قاله من عند نفسه فافعلوا ذلك فإنكم عربيون فصحاء مثله ولما عجزوا عن ذلك قال تعالى:
quran:2:24 –

But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.  

And if you do not, do what was mentioned because you are incapable, and you will not (a parenthetical statement), that is, never ˹will you be able to˺, because of its inimitability, then fear, through belief in God and ˹belief˺ that this is not the words of a human, the Fire, whose fuel is men, disbelievers, and stones, like their very idols, indicating that its heat is extreme, since it burns with the ˹stones˺ mentioned, unlike the fires of this world that burn with wood and similar materials; prepared, and made ready, for disbelievers, so that they are punished in it (this ˹phrase, u‘iddat li’l-kāfirīna, ‘prepared for disbelievers’˺ is either a new sentence or a sustained circumstantial qualifier).
القرآن:٢:٢٤ –

فَإِنْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُوا وَلَنْ تَفْعَلُوا فَاتَّقُوا النَّارَ الَّتِي وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ ۖ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ  

{فإن لم تفعلوا} ما ذكر لعجزكم {ولن تفعلوا} ذلك أبداً لظهور إعجازه- اعتراض {فاتقوا} بالإيمان بالله وانه ليس من كلام البشر {النارَ التي وقودها الناس} الكفار {والحجارة} كأصنامهم منها، يعني أنها مفرطة الحرارة تتقد بما ذكر، لا كنار الدنيا تتقد بالحطب ونحوه {أعدَّت} هُيئت {للكافرين} يعذَّبون بها، جملة مستأنفة أو حال لازمة.