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ʾaw yakūna laka baytun min zukhrufin ʾaw tarqā fī s-samāʾi wa-lan nuʾmina li-ruqiyyika ḥattā tunazzila ʿalaynā kitāban naqraʾuhū qul subḥāna rabbī hal kuntu ʾillā basharan rasūlan
Or until you have a house of gold, or you ascend into the sky. And we will not believe your ascension until you bring down for us a book that we may read.’ Say, ‘Immaculate is my Lord! Am I anything but a human apostle?!’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Isra’ – Verses 92 - 93
92. “Or you cause the heaven, as you think, to fall in pieces upon us, or bring Allah and the angels face to face with us,”
93. “Or there be for you a house of gold, or you should be flying in to the sky, and never will we believe in your ascending unless you bring down to us a book which we may read. Say: ‘Glory be to my Lord! Am I aught but a mortal messenger?’”
Miracles are among the exclusive characters of the Divinity of the Lord and have their origin in the Divine will and Wisdom. From among the conditions of miracles is that they must not be aimless, useless and utterly improbable. The demands of the pagan from the Prophet (S) are worthless. Making the skies collapse will exterminate all and every thing, leaving no one alive to become a believer. Summoning of the Lord and the angels is also an utter impossibility, for they are not ‘bodies’ which can be summoned for us so as we witness them with our eyes.
Therefore, in this verse, the obstinate pagans reiterated that you thought you were a prophet and you possessed miracles, therefore, turn the sky into pieces, shredding everything and making them fall over us. Or you bring forth5 the Lord and the angels before6 us so as we can see them with our own eyes and witness that you are authentic and legitimate, your call being valid. The verse says:
“Or you cause the heaven, as you think, to fall in pieces upon us, or bring Allah and the angels face to face with us,”
In the subsequent verse, the Qur’an says:
“Or there be for you a house of gold…”
Or you ascend to the sky. Even if we witness with our own eyes, doing that, we are not to believe, unless you fetch us each a book from Allah testifying to your prophetic mission, which we shall read. The verse continues saying:
“…or you should be flying in to the sky, and never will we believe in your ascending unless you bring down to us a book which we may read…” 7
We read at the end of these verses that Allah commands His prophet, culminating these contradictory and paradoxical proposals, to say to them that He is clean and pure of all these imaginary conjectures; that is, He is distant from performing miracles according to your wishes. Thus, the holy Prophet (S), addressing them, said: I am also like other prophets. I am a human being. Those prophets used to perform miracles for their nations which were actualized by Allah.
This is not a matter of concern to me and up to me to do what I wish. It is up to Him alone, Who is aware of what is expedient. Thus, there is no reason as to why you demand such things from me. The verse continues saying:
“…Say: ‘Glory be to my Lord! Am I aught but a mortal messenger?’”
Footnotes