commanded those addressed by this verse in its beginning to believe in what was sent down to Muḥammad—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—for He—exalted be His mention—said: "And believe in what I have sent down, confirming that which is with you." And it is understood that what Allah sent down during the era of Muḥammad—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—is the Qur'an, not Muḥammad, because Muḥammad—may the blessings of God be upon him—is a messenger sent, not a Revelation sent down, and that which was sent down is the Book. Then He prohibited them from being the first to disbelieve in that which He commanded them to believe in at the beginning of the verse (1); nor was there an explicit mention of Muḥammad—Peace and blessings of God be upon him—in this verse, such that a pronoun referring back to him would be returned in His statement: "And be not the first to disbelieve in it"—even though it is not impossible in speech for a pronoun to refer to a name that was not explicitly mentioned in the speech (2).

Likewise, there is no sense in the statement of whoever claims that the pronoun in "in it" refers to "what" (mā) in His statement: "that which is with you." For that, even if it is plausible according to the surface wording (3), is far from what the apparent recitation and Revelation indicate, due to what we described earlier: that what was commanded to be believed in at the beginning of the verse is the Qur'an. Thus, it is likewise necessary that what is prohibited from being disbelieved in at the end of it is the Qur'an (4). As for having that which is commanded to be believed in be different from that which is prohibited from being disbelieved in, within a single speech and a single verse, that is contrary to what is most well-known and apparent in speech, alongside the remoteness of its meaning in Interpretation. (5)

819- Ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Salama narrated to us, from Ibn Isḥāq, from Muḥammad