from the like of this Qur'an, so does the Qur'an have a 'like' such that it can be said: 'Produce a surah of the like thereof'?

It is said: He did not mean by it: 'Produce a surah of the like thereof' in composition and meanings by which it is distinguished from all other speech. Rather, He only meant: 'Produce a surah of the like thereof' in clarity, because God sent down the Qur'an in a clear Arabic tongue, so the speech of the Arabs undoubtedly has a 'like' in the sense of Arabic language. But as for the meaning by which the Qur'an is distinguished from all other speech of created beings, it has no like in that respect, nor equal, nor match.

God—majestic be His praise—only presented as proof against them for His Prophet—peace and blessings of God be upon him—that which He presented as proof for him against them from the Qur'an (1), when the helplessness of the people became manifest in producing a surah of the like thereof in clarity, since the Qur'an was a clear expression like their clear expression, and speech sent down in their language. Thus, He—majestic be His praise—said to them: And if you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down to Our servant from the Qur'an as being from Me, then produce a surah from your speech which is like it in Arabic, since you are Arabs, and it is a clear expression equal to your clear expression, and speech similar to your speech. So He—majestic be His praise—did not burden them to produce a surah from a language other than the language that is equal to the language in which the Qur'an was sent down, lest they be able to say: "You have burdened us with something that, if we were capable of it, we would have produced it, but we are unable to produce it because we are not among the speakers of the language you burdened us to produce it in, so You have no proof against us through this (2). For even if we are unable to produce its like from other than our languages because we are not speakers of it (3), among mankind there are many people who are not speakers of our language who are able to produce its like in the language You burdened us to produce it in." But He—majestic be His praise—said to them: "Produce a surah like it," because the like of it among languages is your language (4), and you—if Muḥammad invented it and forged it, when you gather together and cooperate with one another to produce the like of a surah from it in your language and your clear expression—