(A) The Eloquence Of The Qur’ān
ThelanguageoftheQur'ānisofsuchhighstandardthatnobodycould
meetitschallenge.ArabsofthetimeoftheProphetwereproudoftheir
languagesinceitwasaveryrichandsophisticatedone.Poetsandelo-
quentspeakerswerealmostidolsoftheirtribes.Poemswerelearnedand
readoneveryoccasion, andyearlycompetitions wereheldforthebest
piecesofpoetryinaplacecalledSuqUkadh.Thuslanguageandliterat-
ure was the best art the Arabs had mastered very well.
The Qur'āncame anditsmiracle,to the Arabs'surprise, wasitslan-
guageandstyle.TheQur'ānwasthechallenge;Godaskedthemtopro-
duce a similar Qur'ān:
“Say:Ifthewholeof mankindandjinngatheredtogethertoproduce
thelikeofthisQur'ān,theycouldnotproducethelikeofit,evenifthey
helped each other.” (17:89)
Thenthechallengewasreducedtotenchapters(surahs),toshowthem
their weakness:
“Dotheysaythat`Hehasforgedit'?Say:Then youbringtensurahs
likeit,forgedandcall(toyouraid)whomsoeveryoucan—otherthan
God— if you speak the truth.” (11:14)
Again the Arabs could not answer the challenge of the Qur'ān.The
challengewasthenreducedtoone surahonly.Onesurahmaybe only
one line. Still the proud eloquent Arabs could not face the challenge:“
Dotheysay`Heforgedit'?Say:Thenbringonesurahlikeitandcall
toyouraidanyoneyoucan—otherthanGod—ifyouspeakthetruth.”
(10:39)
You can seethe logical reasoningandrational approach toconvince
theArabsofitsmiraculousquality.Asurahmaybeonlyonelinebutthe
Arabs(andnon-Arabstoo)couldnotsucceedintheir attemptstomeet
the standing challenge.
Thebeauty ofthe Qur'ān,thestrength ofitsconviction,itslogicand
simplicity,anditsdepth andwisdom wasfarabovewhat theArabsor