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سُورَةُ النَّحۡلِ · 16:103
MeccanRevelation order ٧٠Juzʾ ١٤Page ٢٧٩

وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّهُمْ يَقُولُونَ إِنَّمَا يُعَلِّمُهُۥ بَشَرٌۭ ۗ لِّسَانُ ٱلَّذِى يُلْحِدُونَ إِلَيْهِ أَعْجَمِىٌّۭ وَهَٰذَا لِسَانٌ عَرَبِىٌّۭ مُّبِينٌ

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Saheeh International · EN

And We certainly know that they say, "It is only a human being who teaches the Prophet." The tongue of the one they refer to is foreign, and this Qur'an is [in] a clear Arabic language.

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Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 103 of Sūrat An-Nahl (The Bee), the 70th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Meccan period and sits within Juzʾ 14. Meccan verses tend to address faith, the oneness of God, and the hereafter.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Meccan
Order revealed
70 of 114
Surah
An-Nahl (16)
Occasion of revelation · Al-Wahidi

(And We know well that they say: Only a man teacheth him. The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish�) [16:103]. Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki> Abu �Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Hamdan al-Zahid> �Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn �Abd al-�Aziz> Abu Hisham al-Rifa�i> Ibn Fudayl> Husayn> �Abd Allah ibn Muslim who said: �We owned two Christian youths from the people of �Ayn Tamr, one called Yasar and the other Jabr. Their trade was making swords but they also could read the Scriptures in their own tongue. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, used to pass by them and listen to their reading. As a result, the idolaters used to say: �He is being taught by them!� To give them the lie, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (The speech of him at whom they falsely hint is outlandish, and this is clear Arabic speech)�.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

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 (103) The Idolators' Claim that the Qur'an was taught by a Human, and the Refutation of their Claim Allah tells us about the idolators' lies, allegations, and slander when they claimed that this Qur'an which Muhammad ﷺ 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 ﷺ 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…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

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And now — what do you think?

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Provenance

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