Quran — Page 391

NOW [as for thee, O Muhammad,] thou wert not present on the sunset slope [of Mount Sinai] when We imposed the Law upon Moses, nor wert thou among those who witnessed [his times]:

nay, but [between them and thee] We brought into being [many] generations, and long was their span of life. And neither didst thou dwell among the people of Madyan, conveying Our messages unto them: nay, but We have [always] been sending [Our message-bearers unto man].

And neither wert thou present on the slope of Mount Sinai when We called out [to Moses]: but [thou, too, art sent] as an act of thy Sustainer’s grace, to warn people to whom no warner has come before thee, so that they might bethink themselves [of Us];

and [We have sent thee] lest they say [on Judg­ment Day], when disaster befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought, “O our Sus­tainer, if only Thou had sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed Thy messages, and would have been among those who believe!”

And yet, now that the truth has come unto them from Us, they say, “Why has he not been vouch­safed the like of what Moses was vouchsafed?” But did they not also, before this, deny the truth of what Moses was vouchsafed? [For] they do say, “Two examples of delusion, [seemingly] supporting each other!” And they add, “Behold, we refuse to accept either of them as true!”

Say: “Produce, then, [another] revelation from God which would offer better guidance than either of these two [and] I shall follow it, if you speak the truth!”

And since they cannot respond to this thy challenge, know that they are following only their own likes and dislikes: and who could be more astray than he who follows [but] his own likes and dislikes without any guidance from God? Verily, God does not grace with His guidance peo­ple who are given to evildoing!