Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith was a man of the Quraysh counted among its "devils" and the most scornful mocker of the Qur'an. Educated in al-Hirah, he drew listeners away from the Prophet ﷺ with tales of the Persian kings, claimed he could produce revelation like it, and with Uqbah ibn Abi Mu'ayt fetched trick questions from the Jews of Yathrib. More than eight verses are said to concern him, including those quoting people who called the Qur'an "tales of the ancients." Captured at Badr in 2 AH, he was one of the two prisoners executed on the road back to Madinah.
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“Who does more injustice than the one who says, "I can reveal as Allah reveals"?”
Identified in the lecture as a reference to al-Nadr ibn al-Harith, who claimed he could reveal stories as Allah reveals.
وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُنَا قَالُوا۟ قَدْ سَمِعْنَا لَوْ نَشَآءُ لَقُلْنَا مِثْلَ هَـٰذَآ ۙ إِنْ هَـٰذَآ إِلَّآ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ
“Whenever Our Revelations are recited to them, they challenge [you], "We have already heard [the recitation]. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This [Quran] is nothing but ancient fables!" And [remember] when they prayed, "O Allah! If this is indeed the Truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or overcome us with a painful Punishment." But Allah would never Punish them while you [O Prophet] were in their midst. Nor would He ever Punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.”
Allah directly quotes al-Nadr ibn al-Harith's mockery of the Qur'an.
وَإِذْ قَالُوا۟ ٱللَّهُمَّ إِن كَانَ هَـٰذَا هُوَ ٱلْحَقَّ مِنْ عِندِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةًۭ مِّنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ أَوِ ٱئْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ
“Whenever Our Revelations are recited to them, they challenge [you], "We have already heard [the recitation]. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This [Quran] is nothing but ancient fables!" And [remember] when they prayed, "O Allah! If this is indeed the Truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or overcome us with a painful Punishment." But Allah would never Punish them while you [O Prophet] were in their midst. Nor would He ever Punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.”
Allah directly quotes al-Nadr ibn al-Harith's challenge-prayer.
وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَأَنتَ فِيهِمْ ۚ وَمَا كَانَ ٱللَّهُ مُعَذِّبَهُمْ وَهُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ
“Whenever Our Revelations are recited to them, they challenge [you], "We have already heard [the recitation]. If we wanted, we could have easily produced something similar. This [Quran] is nothing but ancient fables!" And [remember] when they prayed, "O Allah! If this is indeed the Truth from You, then rain down stones upon us from the sky or overcome us with a painful Punishment." But Allah would never Punish them while you [O Prophet] were in their midst. Nor would He ever Punish them if they prayed for forgiveness.”
This ayah preserves al-Nadr ibn al-Harith's own words, per classical tafsir (e.g. Ibn Kathir) -- daring Allah to rain down stones on him if the Qur'an were true.