Mirza Kazim Beg, to whose researches we are indebted for a copy of this Sura in the original Arabic, does not believe in its genuineness. He looks upon it as a feeble imitation of the Qur'an, invented by a fanatical Shi'ah, after religious quarrels had absorbed the attention of the 'Ulama of the two rival sects. He says that there is no authentic tradition about it, that no author in the earlier centuries mentions it, and that the name al-Nurain—the two lights—in connexion with Muhammad and 'Ali was not heard of until the seventh century of the Hijra. He admits that it is quite possible that unimportant changes may have been made in the early recensions, but declines to believe that a whole Sura was discarded. Even assuming that 'Uthman did not wish that anything favourable to 'Ali should appear, it was not necessary to omit a whole Sura. The omission of a few phrases would have served his purpose just as well. He considers the whole chapter, with the exception of the words and expressions favourable to 'Ali and his family, to be simply a compilation from various parts of the Qur'an. Some words and phrases have been altered, some borrowed literally, and the result of the whole is that the style is very inferior to that of the Qur'an itself. This statement he supports by a comparison of expressions used in this Sura which are either exactly the same, or very similar to phrases found in the Qur'an.¹

M. Garcin de Tassy, in a foot-note to Mirza Kazim Beg's article, expresses the great joy he feels at the discovery of this unknown Sura,¹ and he evidently considers that it is not to be lightly set aside. He thinks that there is nothing improbable in the idea that it was recited by Muhammad and that it formed part of 'Ali's copy; but he does not consider himself bound to uphold its authenticity, while on the other hand he declines to say that it is a forgery. He very properly sets aside Kazim Beg's argument with reference to the difference in style, and to the similarity of expressions in it and in the Qur'an, for, as he points out, in the Qur'an itself the repetitions of similar words and phrases in the various Suras are innumerable.²

On the whole, the weight of evidence seems to be against the Shi'ah claim. 'Ali and his followers were a powerful body during the Khalifate of 'Uthman; they must have known very well whatever the Prophet had said about 'Ali; and it is not easy to believe that, powerful as they were, they would have allowed 'Uthman to suppress all such passages. Then when 'Ali became Khalifa he could, if he had so willed, have produced his copy of the Qur'an. The passions raised by civil war were already so strong, that it is not likely that such an action as that would have so increased them as to lead to still further danger to the Khalifate. The fact is that the cult of 'Ali, a most curious and interesting phase of religious thought, is of very much later growth; and when it developed it needed all the support that these supposed revelations could give it.