The Quran

Preface

قُل أَرَأَيتُم إِن كانَ مِن عِندِ اللَّهِ وَكَفَرتُم بِهِ وَشَهِدَ شاهِدٌ مِن بَني إِسرائيلَ عَلىٰ مِثلِهِ فَآمَنَ وَاستَكبَرتُم ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ لا يَهدِي القَومَ الظّالِمينَ

Yusuf Ali

Say: “See ye?¹ If (this teaching) be from God, and ye reject it, and a witness from among the Children of Israel testifies to its similarity² (with earlier scripture), and has believed while ye are arrogant, (how unjust ye are!) truly, God guides not a people unjust.”

Another side of the argument is now presented, You pagan Arabs! You are puffed up with pride, though you are an ignorant nation. Among Israel there are men who understand the previous scriptures, and who find the Qur-ān and its Preacher a true confirmation of the previous scriptures. They accept Islam as a fulfillment of the revelation of Moses himself! (See Deut 18:18-19). And yet you hold back, though the Qur-ān has come in your own language, in order to help you to understand. How unjust and how shameful! In that case, with what face can you seek guidance from God?'
There were learned Jews (and Christians) who saw in the Prophet the Messenger of God foreshadowed in previous Revelations, and accepted Islam. As this is a Meccan Sūra we need not construe this as a reference to 'Abd God ibn Salam, whose conversion was in Medīna only two years before the Prophet’s death, unless we accept this particular verse to be so late in date. The sincere Jews were in a position to understand how this Revelation fitted in with all they had learnt about Revelation.