The Sealed Book Delivered to the Unlettered

Another prophecy appears in Isaiah 29:11-18. Part of it is quoted here; the meaning is quite obvious and straightforward, needing no interpretation or explanation. It says: "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, 'Read this,' and he says, 'I am not learned.'" Quite obvious — the book is delivered to a man who is unlettered, illiterate, and he is told, "Read," and he responds by saying, "I cannot read." These are the exact words that were given by Jibrīl (peace be upon him) to Muhammad (peace be upon him), in his first encounter with waḥy, with revelation.

The Bible here speaks of the major events in the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Pretty much all of the major events that happened in his life are in the Bible: the first revelation, Hijrah, Ghazwat Badr, and Fatḥ Makkah. These are the major events in the life of Muhammad (peace be upon him), and they are all in the Bible. Again, the verse is: "And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, 'Read this, I pray thee,' and he says, 'I am not learned.'"

Now, the first verses revealed in the Qur'an were these. Read, in the name of your Lord who created — created man from a clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Bounteous, who teaches by the pen, teaches man that which he knew not. What is even more interesting: if one goes back to the original, which is in Hebrew, the word "read" is qara. So if one goes back to the original Hebrew, it is the exact same word as the Arabic qaraʾa, and it is spelled in English the way it is spelled in this book — Q A R A — and it is pronounced "kra." The author of the book says: "Is it not amazing? Is it not an amazing coincidence that the Hebrew text used not only a word with the same meaning, but the exact same word itself?"