Transliteration:( Wa laqad na'lamu annahum yaqooloona innamaa yu'allimuhoo bashar; lisaanul lazee yulhidoona ilaihi a'ja miyyunw wa haaza lisaanun 'Arabiyyum mubeen )
103. And indeed, We know that they say, 'It is only a man who teaches him [235].' The tongue of the one they hint at is foreign, while this is a clear Arabic tongue [236].'
[235] Reason for its Revelation:
Hazrat Ubaid bin Muslima says there were two non-Arab slaves, Yasaar and Jabeer, who worked with iron. Occasionally, the Holy Prophet ﷺ would speak with them or listen to their conversation. The polytheists falsely accused the Prophet ﷺ of learning the Qur’an from these individuals. This verse was revealed to refute their baseless claim. The word 'man' here refers to those two non-Arab slaves.
From this we learn that the disbelievers had no consistency in their accusations. Sometimes they called the Qur’an magic, sometimes poetry, and at other times fabrication. This reflects their lack of confidence and inner contradiction.
[236] How can non-Arab slaves, whose tongue is foreign, produce the eloquent Arabic of the Holy Qur’an, when the most gifted Arab poets and orators were completely incapable of doing so?
From this, we also understand that the Holy Qur’an is the name of both its text and its meanings. Hence, a mere translation of the Qur’an cannot be called the Qur’an itself.
103. And indeed We know that they (polytheists and pagans) say: “It is only a human being who teaches him.” The tongue of the man they refer to is foreign, while this (the Qur’an) is (in) a clear Arabic tongue.
Allah tells us about the idolators’ lies, allegations, and slander when they claimed that this Qur’an which Muhammad had recited for them, was actually taught to him by a human. They referred to a foreign (i.e., non-Arab) man who lived among them as the servant of some of the clans of Quraysh and who used to sell goods by As-Safa. Maybe the Messenger of Allah used to sit with him sometimes and talk to him a little, but he was a foreigner who did not know much Arabic, only enough simple phrases to answer questions when he had to. So in refutation of their claims of fabrication, Allah said:
(The tongue of the man they refer to is foreign, while this (the Qur’an) is a (in) clear Arabic tongue.) meaning, how could it be that this Qur’an with its eloquent style and perfect meanings, which is more perfect than any Book revealed to any previously sent Prophet, have been learnt from a foreigner who hardly speaks the language No one with the slightest amount of common sense would say such a thing.
(16:103) Surely We know well that they say about you: “It is only a human being who teaches him,”[107] (notwithstanding) that he whom they maliciously hint at is of foreign tongue, while this (Qur’an) is plain Arabic speech.
107. In this connection, traditions mention the names of several persons, one of whom is Jabar. According to the disbelievers of Makkah he taught the Prophet (peace be upon him). However, one thing particularly noteworthy about all these persons is that they were non Arab slaves. Whosoever he might be, the fact that he used to recite the Torah and the Gospel and had an acquaintance with the Prophet (peace be upon him). This gave an opportunity to the disbelievers for spreading this false report that it was the particular slave who was the real author of the Holy Quran, but Muhammad (peace be upon him) presented it as the Word of God. This not only shows that his opponents were very impudent in spreading false accusations against the Prophet (peace be upon him) but also that, in general, people are not just in judging the worth of their contemporaries. They were ill treating like this that great personality who has had no parallel in history. Nevertheless, these people who had become blind in their opposition, preferred to attribute the authorship of the matchless Arabic Quran to a non Arab slave who had a smattering of the Torah and the Gospel. Instead of accepting the claim of the Prophet (peace be upon him), who was an embodiment of truth, they attributed its authorship to an insignificant foreign slave.
[715]- Having seen the Prophet (ﷺ) speaking with a foreign man on occasion, the Quraysh accused him of repeating the man's words.
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