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.