Tafseer of The Prostration · As-Sajda · 32:3
Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Muhammad], that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
And His words (Or do they say: "He has invented it"?): the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: The polytheists (mushrikīn) toward Allah say: Muḥammad has invented this Book out of himself, and you declare it to be a lie. This "or" (am) here functions as an affirmative assertion. We have explained in more than one place in our book that the Arabs, when they insert something by way of a question in the midst of a discourse part of which has already preceded, introduce the question with "am" (or). Some have claimed that the meaning of this is: "and they say," and they held that "am" here has the meaning of the wāw (and), or the meaning of "bal" (rather, but) in a place such as this. Then the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, declares them to be liars and says: It is not as you claim and say, namely that Muḥammad has invented it; rather it is the truth and the sincere message from your Lord, O Muḥammad, which He has sent down to you, so that you might warn a people of the might and the overpowering force of Allah, that it should descend upon them on account of their disbelief in Him. (To whom no warner has come before you): He says: To this people to whom your Lord has sent you, O Muḥammad — and they are his own people from the Quraysh — no warner has come before you who warned them of the might of Allah on account of their disbelief. And His words (so that they might perhaps follow the right guidance): He says: so that they might clearly perceive the way of the truth, recognize it, and believe in it.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning the explanation of this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda (so that you might warn a people to whom no warner has come before you, so that they might perhaps follow the right guidance), he said: They were an unlettered community, to whom no warner had come before Muḥammad ﷺ.
