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THE
MIRACULOUSNESS OF THE QURAN
While
we have an eternal
miracle like the Qur’an,
I feel no need for any
other proof.
While we have an
evidence of truth like
the Qur’an
I feel no difficulty
in silencing those who
deny.
In
the name of God, the
Merciful, the
Compassionate.
Say:
‘If man and jinn
banded together to
produce the like of
this Qur’an, they
would never produce
its like, not though
they backed one
another.’ (al-Isra’,
17.88).
The
Eloquence of the Quran
This
is the eloquence of the Qur’an
to the degree of
miraculousness. Its
eloquence originates in the
beauty of its words, order
and composition, its textual
beauty and perfection, the
originality and uniqueness
of its styles, the
superiority, excellence and
clarity of its explanations,
the power and truth of its
meanings, and the purity and
fluency of its language. It
is an eloquence so
extraordinary that it has
been challenging for
fourteen centuries the
greatest literary geniuses,
the most wonderful orators,
and the most profound
scholars among mankind to
compete with it, to produce
a like of it, or the like of
even one of its suras.
Although it forcefully
challenges them to compete
with it, those geniuses who,
in their self-pride and
self-confidence, see
themselves as high as to
touch the heavens, have not
been able to open their
mouths to compete with it
and have humbled themselves
before it.
I
will now point out the
miraculousness of the Qur’an’s
eloquence in two ways:
The
Quran's challenging all to
produce even a like of one
of its chapters
The
Quran’s eloquence is
miraculous. For the people
of Arabia were mostly
unlettered at that time, and
therefore preserved in oral
poetry their tribal pride,
history and proverbs which
would serve them for good
morals. They attached much
importance to eloquence, and
any meaningful, unique
expression was memorized for
its poetical form and
eloquence and handed down
through successive
generations. Eloquence and
fluency were in such great
demand that an eloquent
literary man of a tribe was
treated like the national
hero of that tribe. They
were most proud of him.
Those intelligent people,
who would govern a
considerable portion of the
world after the advent of
Islam, were further advanced
in eloquence than other
nations. Eloquence was so
esteemed in their view that
two tribes would sometimes
go to war with each other
because of a saying of a
literary man and then be
reconciled by the words of
another. They even inscribed
in gold the odes of seven
poets and hung them on the
wall of the Ka'ba. These
seven odes were called the
Seven Hanging Poems.
At
a time when eloquence was in
such demand, the Quran of
miraculous explanation was
revealed. Just as God
Almighty had previously
endowed the Prophets Moses
and Jesus, upon them be
peace, with the miracles
that were foremost in the
kind of the acts in the
highest demand in their
times (Moses with the staff
and white hand because in
his time sorcery was in most
demand, and Jesus with
raising the dead and healing
certain illnesses since in
his time healing was most
favored) so too He made
eloquence the most notable
aspect of the Quran,
which is the chief miracle
of the Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and
blessings. When the Quran
was revealed, it challenged
first the literary men of
the Arabian Peninsula,
saying: If you are in doubt
concerning what We have sent
down on Our servant, then
produce a sura of its
like. It challenged them,
put down their intellectual
pretensions and, by
continuing, If you do not
[produce a sura of its like]
and you will not at all,
then fear the Fire, whose
fuel is men and stones,
prepared for unbelievers,
humbled them.
Those
self-conceited people were
unable to argue with the Quran
in words. Although this was
the easy and safe course for
them to obstruct and falsify
its message, they chose to
fight against it with the
sword, which was the
perilous and most difficult
course. If those intelligent
people skilled in diplomacy
had been able to argue with
the Quran in words, they
would not have chosen the
perilous, difficult course
or risked losing their
property and lives. Since
they could not argue with it
in words, they were
compelled to argue with
their swords.
Question
How
do we know that nobody has
ever been able to dispute
with the Qur’an, and
that such a challenge is
not possible at all?
Answer
Had
it been possible to
challenge the Quran,
somebody would certainly
have attempted to do it.
Actually, such a challenge
was directly needed by the
opponents of the Quran,
since, first of all, they
felt their religion, life
and properties in danger;
they would all have thought
themselves saved by any kind
of challenge. So, had it
ever been possible to
challenge the Quran, they
would certainly have tried
it, and there were lots of
unbelievers and hypocrites
ready to advertise it
widely, just as they spread
all kinds of malicious
propaganda against Islam. If
they had succeeded with any
kind of challenge, their
success would have been
recorded with exaggeration
in the books of history. Now
all the books of history are
out in the open; none of
them contains anything other
than a few non-sensical
lines of Musaylima al-Kadhdhab
(the Liar), a false claimant
to Prophethood. They never
dared any challenge,
although the Wise Quran
challenged them continuously
for twenty-three years in a
way that provoked and
annoyed them:
Come
on, and produce a like
of this Quran by
means of an unlettered
man like Muhammad, the
Trustworthy! If you can
not do that, let it not
be an unlettered man,
but the most
knowledgeable and one
well-versed in writing.
If you cannot do that
either, let it not be
one person, but gather
all your learned and
eloquent ones to help
each other; also invoke
the aid of your gods and
goddesses upon whom you
rely. This too you
cannot do; make use of
all the books of the
highest eloquence that
have ever been written,
and let all the
unbelievers to come
until Doomsday make use
of your experiences in
their attempt. Still you
have not been able to
score any success, try
to produce the like of
only ten chapters of the
Quran, not of the
whole of it. If you see
that you are unable to
match any ten chapters
of the Quran truly
and in all respects,
then make a composition
from baseless stories
and imaginative tales to
match only the metrical
verse and eloquence of
the Quran. Even this
you cannot do, so bring
about the equal of only
one chapter. If you are
still unsuccessful, let
it not be a long one;
suffice it to produce
the like of any short
one! Otherwise, your
religion, your lives and
properties, and your
families will be at
stake both in this world
and in the Hereafter!
With
these eight alternatives,
the Quran has challenged
and silenced men and jinn,
not for twenty-three years,
but for fourteen centuries.
Nevertheless, those
unbelievers who lived in the
early days of Islam, instead
of preferring the easiest
way, that is, open
challenge, chose the most
dreadful way-to wage war,
endangering their lives and
properties and their
families because challenging
the Quran was absolutely
impossible. Otherwise no man
of wisdom, especially those
of the Arabian peninsula of
that time and especially
those intelligent men of the
Quraysh, would have had
recourse to this most
difficult way, if any
literary man among them had
been able to bring about the
equal of a single chapter of
the Quran and thereby
save them from the attacks
of the Quran.
In
summary, as the famous Jahiz
put it, since challenge by
words was impossible, they
had to resort to struggle by
the sword.
Question
Some
scholars of discernment
have maintained that not
a chapter of the Qur’an,
nor a verse, nor a
sentence, nor even a
word of it is ever
possible to be disputed;
nor has anyone ever been
able to do this. This
judgment sounds
exaggerated, and is too
hard to accept. For
there are many words
produced by men, which
have some resemblance to
the Qur’an. So, how do
you interpret this
judgment?
Answer
There
are two schools of
opinion concerning the
miraculousness of the
Qur’an:
According
to the prevailing opinion,
the eloquence of the Quran
and the virtues in its
meaning are beyond human
capacity.
The
other opinion is that
although it is within human
capacity to challenge and
compete with a chapter of
the Quran, God Almighty
prevented it as a miracle of
Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings. For example,
if a Prophet told a man, who
is normally able to stand
up, ‘You will not be able
to stand up’, and the man
could not then stand up, it
would be considered a
miracle of the Prophet. This
school is called the school
of ‘Sarfa’, from the
viewpoint of which the
All-Mighty prevented men and
jinn from producing even a
chapter of the Quran. If
He had not, men and jinn
might have put up a
challenge against one
chapter. So, according to
this view, the scholars who
maintain that even a word of
the Quran cannot be
challenged are right in
their opinion. For,
prevented by the All-Mighty
on account of the
miraculousness of the Quran,
they could not even open
their mouths to offer a
challenge; even if they had,
they could not have uttered
a word because God was
preventing it.
In
the view of the scholars
belonging to the first
school, there is, however, a
subtle point that the words
and verses of the Quran
are all interrelated.
Sometimes it occurs that a
word is related to ten other
occurances, thus bearing ten
relationships and providing
ten instances of eloquence.
In another book of mine
entitled Isharat al-I’jaz
(The Signs of Miraculousness),
which is a key to the
interpretation of the Quran,
I showed some examples in
this regard drawn from some
passages of Sura al-Fatiha
(the Opening Chapter) and
from the initial verses of Sura
al-Baqara.
In
a well-ornamented palace,
for example, to place a gem
that is of the greatest
importance in the decorative
pattern, in the most
suitable location on the
wall is possible only after
knowing the whole design.
Likewise, to place the pupil
of the eye in its correct
location entails knowing all
the function of the body and
its complex organization, as
well as its relationship
with the function of the
eye. In just the same way
the foremost among men of
exact science and profound
truth have demonstrated
numerous relationships
between the words of the Quran
and the manifold
relationship each word has
with some other verses and
expressions. The scholars
who have studied the
mysteries of letters have
gone even further, and
proved that each letter of
the Quran bears many
inner meanings the
explanation of which might
cover pages. Since the Quran
is the Word of the Creator
of everything, each of its
words may function as the
core or heart of an ideal
body around it made of
hidden meanings, or as the
seed of such an ideal tree.
Thus, there might be among
the words of men some
similar to those of the Quran,
but to place them properly
taking into consideration of
all such relationships as
exist between the Quranic
words calls for an
all-comprehending knowledge.
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