Surah 10. Yunus, Ayah 2

This connects with the end of the preceding surah, and particularly with the sentence, "There has come unto you [O mankind] an Apostle from among yourselves" ( 9:128 ; see also note [2] on 50:2 ).

Lit., "they have precedence (qadam) of truthfulness (sidq)": the latter term denoting a concord between what a person actually conceives in his mind or feels and what he expresses by word, deed or attitude - in other words, complete sincerity.

Lit., "He is indeed an obvious enchanter (sahir)" - thus implying that the "man from among yourselves" (i.e., Muhammad) did not really receive any revelation from God, but merely deluded his followers by means of his spellbinding eloquence (which is the meaning of sihr in this context): an accusation levelled by unbelievers of all times not merely against Muhammad but - as the Qur'an frequently states - against most of the earlier prophets as well. The term "those who deny the truth" refers, in this context, specifically to people who a priori reject the notion of divine revelation and, thus, of prophethood.

Is it not still more wonderful that the inspired man should be one of ourselves? The Arabs had known Muhammad in other relations and conditions, and when the mighty Message came through his mouth-the message of Wisdom and Power, such as no man could speak as from himself, least of all a man not instructed in human learning,-they could only in their wonder attribute it to magic and sorcery. They failed to understand that magic and sorcery were projections of their own mind, while here was solid, enduring Truth from Allah!

Allah's Message was and is not all smooth and agreeable. The first thing is to convince us of our wrong-doing, and warn us of our danger. If we have Faith, we then learn what a high rank we obtain in the sight of Allah. According to another view the word "qadama" here refers to the fact that the acts of a person precede him to his Lord. The word sidq qualifies these acts with sincerity and genuineness.