All the people whom the Prophets and Messengers had been sent to had said this very same thing.

(… قُلْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَادِرٌ عَلَىٰ أَن يُنَزِّلَ آيَةً… ) (…Say, “Indeed, Allah is Able to send down a sign …): Here, they are addressing the Prophet (saws), for they want him to produce a tangible miracle like those given to the previous Messengers. These miracles were miracles which were temporal and witnessed, thus those who witnessed them believed in them. Furthermore, they were for specific periods of time which have passed and ended.

For example, Prophet Moses (PBUH) brought the miracle of the staff. Whoever had seen this staff splitting open the sea and striking the stone to make water come out of it, would believe in it as a miracle. Prophet Noah (PBUH) had his ark as his miracle. Prophet Soleh (PBUH) could give life to the dead, cure the blind and the leper and cure the sick, with Allah’s permission. All of these were miracles which could be witnessed. So, with the intention of misleading people, they also wanted the Prophet Muhammad (saws) to come with miracles such as these. However, since the Prophet (saws) was the seal of the Prophets, his miracle was the Words of Allah (swt), as this was a miracle which would be everlasting till Allah (swt) inherited the earth and everyone on it.

But in addition to this, the Prophet (saws) also had many tangible miracles which could be witnessed, such as the Isra’ and Mi’raj (Night Journey and Ascension), water gushing out of his noble fingers, making food increase and the prostration of the tree in front of him. But albeit all these miracles, they do not know and are ignorant of the fact that Allah is All-Capable of sending down miracles, and that there is no miracle greater and more eloquent than the Holy Quran.