When the people rejected each contemporary prophet in turn, saying ‘You are a human being like us,’ the real reason was not that they considered it necessary for the prophet to be superhuman. The real reason was the difference they observed between previous prophets and the contemporary prophet. The fact is that the past prophets were also, in their time, just like the contemporary prophet. But subsequently their followers weaved a halo of magical stories around them, so that their personalities were given a dramatic colour which they did not initially possess. Now the communities had before them on the one hand prophets, supposedly capable of performing certain tricks and feats and, on the other, a prophet of realistic calibre. In this comparison the previous prophets became perfect examples. When communities viewed the matter by these standards, they found the contemporary prophet a lesser man than the charismatic prophets of the past. So they rejected him with contempt. The prophets told their addressees that they could only exercise patience in answer to their objections, i.e. they wanted guidance at a superhuman level, while God had given them (the prophets) the capacity to give guidance only at a human level. The prophets said, ‘Under these circumstances, what can we do except tolerate your persecution and entrust the whole matter to God?’