31 Preface وَقالوا لَولا نُزِّلَ هٰذَا القُرآنُ عَلىٰ رَجُلٍ مِنَ القَريَتَينِ عَظيمٍAli Quli QaraiAnd they said, ‘Why was not this Qurʾān sent down to some great man from the two cities?’1 That is, Makkah and Madinah, which were the two major towns of Arabia at that time.