Tafsir of Al-`Ankabut 29:48

"And you did not recite..."

"And you were unlettered; no one ever knew you to recite a book or write."

{Then the falsifiers would have had doubt} If any of that—meaning recitation or writing—had occurred, the falsifiers among the People of the Scripture would have doubted and said: "The one we find described in our books is unlettered; he does not write or read, yet this is not him." Or, the polytheists of Mecca would have doubted and said: "Perhaps he learned it or wrote it with his own hand."

If you ask: Why did He call them "falsifiers"? If he were not unlettered, and they said, "He is not the one we find in our books," would they not be truthful and in the right? And would the people of Mecca not also be in the right in saying, "Perhaps he learned it or wrote it," since he would be a man who reads and writes?

I say: He called them falsifiers because they disbelieved in him even while he was unlettered—a state far removed from any cause for doubt. It is as if He said: "These people, who are falsifiers in their disbelief of him, would have doubted even more intensely had he not been unlettered. But since he is neither a reader nor a writer, there is no basis for their doubt."

Furthermore, other prophets (peace be upon them) were not unlettered, yet belief in them and what they brought was mandatory because they were confirmed by the Wise [God] through miracles. Suppose he were a reader and a writer; why would they not believe in him in the same way they believed in Moses and Jesus (peace be upon them)? Moreover, the books revealed to them were not miracles, whereas this [Quran] is a miracle. Thus, they are falsifiers for not believing in him while he is unlettered, and they would be falsifiers even if they did not believe in him while he was not unlettered.

If you ask: What is the benefit of His saying, {with your right hand}? I say: Mentioning the "right hand"—the limb with which one performs the act of writing—is an added illustration of the negation of his being a writer. Do you not see that if you were to say in the affirmative, "I saw the Prince write this book with his right hand," it is a stronger confirmation that he personally performed the writing? Likewise, it is for the negation.

{Rather, it is distinct verses in the breasts of those who have been given knowledge} These are two characteristics of the Quran: that its verses are clear in their miraculous nature, and that it is preserved in the breasts, recited by the majority of the Ummah from memory. This is unlike other books, which were not miracles and were only read from manuscripts. From this comes the description of this Ummah: "Their gospels are in their breasts."

{And none reject Our verses except the wrongdoers} Those who are deeply entrenched in injustice and arrogance.

{And they say, "Why are signs not sent down to him from his Lord?" Say, "The signs are only with Allah, and I am only a clear warner." Is it not sufficient for them that We revealed to you the Book which is recited to them? Indeed in that is a mercy and a reminder for a people who believe. Say, "Sufficient is Allah as a Witness between me and you. He knows what is in the heavens and the earth." And those who believe in falsehood and disbelieve in Allah—it is they who are the losers.}