The Quran

Preface

يا أَهلَ الكِتابِ قَد جاءَكُم رَسولُنا يُبَيِّنُ لَكُم عَلىٰ فَترَةٍ مِنَ الرُّسُلِ أَن تَقولوا ما جاءَنا مِن بَشيرٍ وَلا نَذيرٍ ۖ فَقَد جاءَكُم بَشيرٌ وَنَذيرٌ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلىٰ كُلِّ شَيءٍ قَديرٌ

Yusuf Ali

O People of the Book! Now hath come unto you, making (things) clear unto you, Our Messenger, after the break¹ in (the series of) our messengers, lest ye should say: “There came unto us no bringer of glad tidings and no warner (from evil)”: But now hath come unto you a bringer of glad tidings and a warner (from evil). And God hath power over all things.

The six hundred years (in round figures) between Christ and Muḥammad were truly the dark ages of the world. Religion was corrupted; the standard of morals fell low; many false systems and heresies, arose; and there was a break in the succession of prophets until the advent of Muḥammad.