supposed divine opinion the varying events of each day; but it needed some
authority to justify it.
This is found in the verse:
And we have parcelled out the Qur'an into sections, that thou mightest recite
it unto men by slow degrees, and we have sent it down piecemeal.1
Sura Al-Isra' (xvii) 107.
In Sura At-Tur (lii) the charge of forgery is met and the supernatural nature
of the Qur'an is asserted:
Will they say, 'He hath forged it himself?' Nay, rather is it they that
believe not.
Let them produce a discourse like it, if they speak the truth. 33-4.
Have they such a knowledge of the secret things that they can write them down?
41.
Verily, there is a punishment for the evil-doers. 47.
Sura Al-Haqqah (lxix), which belongs to the first Meccan period, contains one
of the strongest denials of forgery to be found in the Qur'an:
It needs not that I swear by what ye see, and by what ye see not,
This verily is the word of an Apostle worthy of all honour,
And that it is not the word of a poet;2
How little do ye believe!