When the Unseen, the Eternal, the divine Essence, caused the Day-star of
Muhammad to rise above the horizon of knowledge, among the cavils which
the Jewish divines raised against Him was that after Moses no Prophet
should be sent of God. Yea, mention hath been made in the scriptures of a
Soul Who must needs be made manifest and Who will advance the Faith, and
promote the interests of the people, of Moses, so that the Law of the
Mosaic Dispensation may encompass the whole earth. Thus hath the King of
eternal glory referred in His Book to the words uttered by those wanderers
in the vale of remoteness and error: "'The hand of God,' say the Jews, 'is
chained up.' Chained up be their own hands! And for that which they have
said, they were accursed. Nay, outstretched are both His hands!"(99) "The
hand of God is above their hands."(100)

Although the commentators of the Qur'an have related in divers manners the
circumstances attending the revelation of this verse, yet thou shouldst
endeavour to apprehend the purpose thereof. He saith: How false is that
which the Jews have imagined! How can the hand of Him Who is the King in
truth, Who caused the countenance of Moses to be made manifest, and
conferred upon Him the robe of Prophethood--how can the hand of such a One
be chained and fettered? How can He be conceived as powerless to raise up
yet another Messenger after Moses? Behold the absurdity of their saying;
how far it hath strayed from the path of knowledge and understanding!
Observe how in this day also, all these people have occupied themselves
with such foolish absurdities. For over a thousand years they have been
reciting this verse, and unwittingly pronouncing their censure against the
Jews, utterly unaware that they themselves, openly and privily, are
voicing the sentiments and belief of the Jewish people! Thou art surely
aware of their idle contention, that all Revelation is ended, that the
portals of Divine mercy are closed, that from the day-springs of eternal
holiness no sun shall rise again, that the Ocean of everlasting bounty is
forever stilled, and that out of the Tabernacle of ancient glory the
Messengers of God have ceased to be made manifest. Such is the measure of
the understanding of these small-minded, contemptible people. These people
have imagined that the flow of God's all-encompassing grace and plenteous
mercies, the cessation of which no mind can contemplate, has been halted.
From every side they have