[2:23-24] And if you are in doubt concerning what We have revealed to Our servant, then bring a sūra like it; and call your witnesses besides God if you are truthful. * And if you do not and you will not, then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men, and stones, prepared for disbelievers.
He covered the eyes of outsiders so that they did not see His beloved (ṣ) and they wandered in the wadis of conjectures because they had lost the light of solicitude. The Messenger's bringing signs to them and making miracles appear only increased their doubts and suspicions. This is the way of those who have turned away from the Real (s). The illumination of proofs only increases their blindness to the truth. God Most High said, 'But signs and warners do not avail a folk who will not believe' [10:101]. In order to bring them to admit the proof, He informed them of their inability to compete with the miracle He gave them in the QurÌān, which conquered humankind from the first to the last. He made them acknowledge that even if they were to make common cause amongst themselves and strengthen themselves with others like them, and exert their utmost efforts and stratagems, they would not be able to bring a sura like any sura of the QurÌān. He said, 'If you do not' and then stated that they definitely did not have the capacity to do that and would not do it, for He said, 'and you will not'. This was as if He said, 'Look at yourselves and be wary of the idolatry which will bring you the punishment (ʿuqūba) of the fire, whose difficulty (ṣuʿūba) is such that its fuel is men and stones. If stones, with all their hardness, cannot withstand this fire, how can men with their weakness bear it? When the hearts of the believers became terribly concerned from hearing mention of the fire, He strengthened them and said, 'prepared for disbelievers'. In that is good news for the believers. This is the way of the Real (s). When He causes fear in His enemies, he brings glad tidings to His friends.
Just as the deception of the disbelievers vanishes in encountering the miracles of the prophets (ʿa), similarly the claims of the confused disappear at the appearance of the lights of the truthful. The mark of the one who makes false claims is the return of driving cries (rujūʿ al-zajr) to the heart. The mark of the one with truthful intent is the occurrence of the subjugation (wuqūʿ al-qahr) of the heart. It is a rare individual who can distinguish between the two.