Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 163

(Ayah 163) ➊ {اِنَّاۤ اَوْحَيْنَاۤ اِلَيْكَ …… :} This is the real answer to their objection and demand that you should have a book sent down from the sky all at once like the Torah, meaning that in revelation and the call to truth, the matter of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) is not different from other prophets. From Noah (peace be upon him) to all the prophets and messengers, each was given separate miracles, and except for the Torah, no one was given a book all at once. Then, when the fact that a book was not sent down to them all at once does not cast doubt on their Messengership, why should it be an objection to your (peace be upon him) Messengership? Even before Noah (peace be upon him), there were many prophets, but the first of the resolute and law-bearing prophets was Noah (peace be upon him), and he is the prophet upon whose people punishment was sent, and the admonition against polytheism also began with Noah (peace be upon him), that is why his name is mentioned first. (Qurtubi, Kabir) The original meaning of revelation is "to make something understood through a hidden means," and {’’ اِيْحَاءٌ ‘‘} (from the af'al verb form) also comes in the meaning of inspiration. See also Surah Ash-Shura (51).

➋ {وَ اٰتَيْنَا دَاوٗدَ زَبُوْرًا}: That is, you accept the Psalms as the book of Allah, even though it was not revealed to David (peace be upon him) in the form of tablets like the Torah, so why do you deny that the Noble Qur'an is revealed from Allah? (Kabir) The present Psalms contain one hundred and fifty chapters, in which prayers, admonitions, and parables are mentioned; rulings of lawful and unlawful are not mentioned.

163. 1 It is narrated from Ibn Abbas ؓ that some people said that Allah did not reveal anything to any human except Musa ؑ, and thus they also denied the revelation and Messengership of the Prophet ﷺ. Upon this, this verse was revealed (Ibn Kathir), in which the aforementioned statement is refuted and the Messengership of Muhammad is affirmed.

163. (O Muhammad ﷺ!) We have revealed to you as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. We also revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, his descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and We gave David the Psalms [217].

[216] There are two meanings of this. One is that the method of revelation to youﷺ was the same as it was for other prophets. And this method, listen to it from the words of Sayyidah Aishaؓ:
1. Sayyidah Aishaؓ says that the first revelation that began to come to you was through pure dreams. Whatever dreams you saw while sleeping would become as clear as the morning light. Then youﷺ began to like solitude and started staying alone in the Cave of Hira, spending several nights there continuously in worship. When your provisions would run out, you would return to Sayyidah Khadijahؓ and take more provisions. Youﷺ were in this state in the Cave of Hira when an angel came to you, who said «’اقرأ». Youﷺ said, "I am not literate." (For further details, see Surah Al-‘Alaq)
2.
Different Methods of Revelation:

Sayyidah Aishaؓ says that Harith bin Hisham asked youﷺ, "O Messenger of Allahﷺ! How does revelation come to you?" Youﷺ replied, "Sometimes it comes to me like the ringing of a bell, and this type of revelation is very hard on me. Then, when I remember what the angel has said, it ceases. And sometimes the angel comes to me in the form of a man, talks to me, and I remember what he says." Sayyidah Aishaؓ says that I saw that when revelation would descend upon youﷺ on a very cold day, then when it ceased, sweat would be pouring from yourﷺ forehead.
[بخاری، باب کیف کان بدء الوحی الی رسول اللہﷺ]
The second meaning is that the contents of the revelation sent to you are the same as those that were revealed to the previous prophets. That is, even if someone today studies the Torah and the Gospel with deep attention, in which there have been alterations and many additional contents have been included, still there are countless places where a learned person cannot help but feel that the source of all these divine books is the same.

[217] The Jews accept the Psalms as divine revelation, even though it was not revealed all at once like the tablets of the Torah. Here, the mention of the Psalms is especially for the Jews, that if you accept it as divine revelation despite it being revealed all at once, then what prevents you from accepting the Quran as divine revelation? This is, in fact, the answer to the aforementioned demand of the Jews.