196وَإِنَّهُ لَفي زُبُرِ الأَوَّلينَMuhammad AsadAnd, verily, [the essence of] this [revelation] is indeed found in the ancient books of divine wisdom [as well].1Lit., "in the scriptures (zubur, sing. zabur) of the ancients" (see surah 21, note 101). This interpretation of the above verse - advanced among others by Zamakhshari and Baydawi (and, according to the former, attributed to Imam Abu Hanifah as well) - is in full consonance with the oft-repeated Qur'anic doctrine that the basic teachings revealed to Muhammad are in their purport (ma'ani) identical with those preached by the earlier prophets. Another, more popular interpretation is, "... this [Qur'an] has been mentioned [or "foretold") in the earlier scriptures" (see in this connection note 33 on 2:42 and - with particular reference to a prediction made by Jesus - note 6 on 61:6).