Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Chapter Three: The Qur'an

1. The Preliminary Details

THE REVELATION OF THE QUR'AN

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet of Islam from the beginning of his mission to the end of his life, that is from the 27th Rajab in the 40th year of his lifeupto the 28th Safar (or 12thRabi'u 'l-Awwal ) 11 A.H. - a total span of 22 years 5 months 1 day (or 15 days). The first revelation was the first five verses ofsurah Iqra ' which begins with the words "Read". And the last verse connected with theshari'ah was: "This day have I perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion" (5:4) revealed inGhadir Khumm .

NAME

The only proper name of the final Book of Allah is al-Qur'an (القرآن ) which means the Recital', 'the Recited'. For example, Allah says: "The month ofRamadan, that in which was sent down the Qur'an". (2:185). There are some other adjectives used in the Qur'an which throw light on some particular excellence or quality of the Book. For example:

(a) Al-Furqan (الفرقان ): that which distinguishes truth from falsehood; distinction: "Blessed is He who sent down the Distinction upon His servant…" (25:1)

(b) Al-Kitab (الكتاب ): the Book: "This is theBook, there is no doubt in it. (2:2)

(c)Adh-Dhikr (الذكر ): the Reminder: "VerilyWe have sent down the Reminder and most certainly We are its protectors". (15:9)

(d) An-Nur (النور ): the Light: "…andWe have sent down to you a manifest Light". (4:175)

But these words are not exclusively reserved for the Qur'an. It should also be noted that the word "al-Mushaf " is not found in the Qur'an, although the Muslims have been using it for the Book since a long time.

SURAH & AYAH

The Qur'an is divided intosurahs . Unto the last century, many cities had a wall around them for defense purposes; that wall was calledsûr . Asûrah thus is a part of the Qur'an complete in itself. In English, it is usually translated as 'chapter'. Thesûrah contains 'âyât (plural of ayah= sign) usually translated as 'verses'. It is not a good translation because "verse" is associated with poetry while the Qur'an is not poetry. However, I will use this word because it is now commonly understood. An 'ayah is not necessarily a complete sentence.

Sometimes one completesurah , sometimes one or more 'ayat were revealed, according to the need. The occasion or event connected with the revelation of a certain verse has some bearing on the understanding of its meaning and implications, but the verse is not confined to that event in its application.

There are 114surahs in the Qur'an; the longest of them is al-Baqarah with 286 'ayat ' and covering about 1/12 of the volume; and the shortest is al-Kawthar with four 'ayat ', which may be written in one line. As for the 'ayat ', there are 6236 'ayat , as described in al-Mu'jam al-Ihsa'i by Dr. MahmudRuhani . The Muslims have divided the Qur'an into 30 equal parts (juz ' in Arabic andpara in Urdu), to enable the readers to recite the whole Book once in a monthspecially during the holy Ramadan.

They have also divided thesurahs into various sections of 'ayat '- these sections are calledruku ', oneruku contains 7 to 12ayat . For example,surah al-Fatihah (the 1stsurah ) has 7ayat , all grouped in oneruku ; the 2ndsurah has 286ayat divided into 40ruku's .

MAKKI & MADANI

Surahs and 'ayat ' are calledMakki orMadani according to the period of revelation; that is, thesurahs and 'ayat ' revealed beforeHijrah are calledMakki Madani (revealed in Medina). The following 20surahs are accepted asMadani ; 2,3,4,5,8,9,24,32,47,48,49,58,59,60,62,63,65,66,76,and 110. There is a difference about the following 21surahs as whether they were revealed at Mecca or Medina: 10,13,22,25,36,57,61,64,83,89,90,92,97,98,99,100,102,107,112,113and 114. The remaining 73surahs areMakki .

There is a marked difference between theMakki andMadani surahs . For example:

1.the Makki surahs , mostly, describe the matters of basic faith: refutation of p-agonistic beliefs, evidence of the oneness of Allah, His Attributes, proof of the resurrection on the Day of Judgment,prophethood of the Holy Prophet and of previous prophets, building good character, removal of the rust of evil from the hearts of people etc.

Madani surahs deal, mostly, with the code of life, rules ofshari'ah like prayers, fast,zakat ,khums , jihad, hajj, family affairs, social behavior, etc.

2.Makki 'ayat ' andsurahs are, mostly, short;Madani 'ayat ' andsurahs are, mostly, long. For example: 28thpart (juz ') is mostlyMadani and it has 137 'ayat ', while 29th and 30th parts (mostlyMakki ) have 431 and 570 'ayat ' respectively.

3.In Makki surahs , whenever the audience has been addressed, mostly the words "O People" or "O Children of Adam" have been used; whereas inMadani surahs , mostly, the words "O you who believe" have been used.

4.All thesurahs in which one is ordered to (or recommended to) dosajdah were revealed atMakka - thus emphasizing the worship of One and Only Allah.

2. Writing & Collection of the Qur'an

The Qur'an was committed to writing from the very beginning. There are at least 52 verses in which the Qur'an is called "al-Kitab " (the written thing; the book). In the beginning, at the time of revelations, the Holy Prophet used to repeat the wordings recited by Gabriel, lest he forgot something. Allah assured him that there was no need to worry:

Move not thy tongue with it {the Qur'an} to make haste therewith. Surely on usis its collection and its recital. (75:16-17) Thus, Allah Himself was responsible to collect and promulgate this Book. In another ayah, Allah says: "And it is a Book of exalted power. No falsehood can approach it from before or behind it". (41:41-42)

SCRIBES: Some companions were specially entrusted to write down thesurahs and 'ayat ' revealed to the Holy Prophet. Some of them were 'Ali binAbi Talib ,Ubayy binKa'b , Abdullah binRawahah , Khalid binSa'id bin al-As, and in later periodZayd binThabit among others. As soon as a revelation was received, the Holy Prophet dictated it to one or more of the above-mentioned scribes.

POSITION OF AYAT: At the time of dictation the Holy Prophet himself used to fix the position of that ayah orayat in thesurahs . The Qur'an even before its revelation, was arranged as a Book in the "Preserved Tablet لوح) محفوظ ); but the events during the ministry of the Holy Prophet necessitated revelation ofayat in a different order. But the Holy Prophet knew the original arrangement of the "Preserved Tablet" and directed the revealedayat to be written accordingly. It is for the reason that we findMadani 'ayat ' inMakki surahs and vice versa.

MEMORIZING THE QUR'AN: The Holy Prophet used to stress the importance and reward of committing the Qur'an to memory. And hundreds of people responded to this prophetic enjoinment. As the eagerness of the people for memorizing the Holy Book increased, the Holy Prophet selected four principal instructors who learnt the Qur'an under his personal guidance and then trained the others, who in their turn, used to teach it to still others. Those four were:

1.'Abdullah binMas'ud .

2.Salim Mawla Abi Hudhayfah .

3.Ma'adh binJabal .

4.Ubayy binKa'b .

The number of people who had memorized the whole Qur'an during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet was so great that in the battle ofYamamah , fought just six months after the death of the Holy Prophet, 700 (or 500)Huffaz (those who had committed the Qur'an to memory) were killed in one day only. A Set Arrangement: All this memorizing presupposes a set arrangement of theAyat , if not of thesurahs . Also, the Holy Prophet said that Gabriel used to recite before him the whole Qur'an in the month of Ramadan. Many companions used to recite the whole Qur'an once in a month and especially in the month of Ramadan.

The following are among those who had the whole Qur'an in writing with them during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet: 'Ali binAbi Talib ,Sa'd binUbayd binNu'man ,Ab-Darda ',Ma'adh binJabal ,Ubayd binKa'b ,Ubayd binMu'awiyah binZayd , Abdullah binMas'ud ,Zayd binThabit and Abu Musa al-Ash'ari .

There are numerous traditions of the Holy Prophet which prove that the Qur'an was already a written Book. For example: "I am leaving behind among you two precious things… the Book of Allah… and my Descendants who are my family members…"

Also, when the Holy Prophet, a few days before his death, wanted to write something for the continued guidance of the Muslims,Umar ibn al-Khattab opposed it and said "إن الرجل ليهجر حسبنا كتاب الله " the man (i.e. the Holy Prophet) is in delirium; the Book of Allah is enough for us". These words at least prove that the Book of Allah was readily available at the time of the Holy Prophet.

3. Collection of the Qur'an

The above-mentioned facts prove that at least thesurahs had their definite forms, during the lifetime of the Holy Prophet. But what was the arrangement of thesurahs in those days? It appears from various narratives that the variousreciters and teachers of the Qur'an had arranged thesurahs in their own ways, but the arrangement of theayat within thesurahs was fixed.

Thus, 'Abdullah binMas'ud andUbayd binKa'b both are recorded to have arranged thesurahs in the ways quite differentform the arrangement ofZayd binThabit .

Imam 'Ali binAbi Talib (A.S) had arranged the Qur'an just after the death of the Holy Prophet, in the order in which it had been revealed. This, i9n itself, proves that the arrangement of thesurahs andayat at that time was different from the order of revelation and 'Ali binAbi Talib wanted to record the sequence of revelation for the benefit of the Muslims. However, the companions continued to follow their own various arrangements until 'Uthman binAffan , the third caliph, forced the Muslims to follow the arrangement commonly in use atMadina and forbade other arrangements.

But difference in arrangement had not meant difference insurahs orayat . Thus the authenticity of the Holy Qur'an is unparalleled in the history of Divine revelations.

This authenticity is universally accepted and admired even by those who do not follow the religion of the Qur'an.Basanta Coomar Bose writes: "So there has been no opportunity for any forgery of pious fraud in the Koran, which distinguishes it from all other important religious works of ancient times…it is exceedingly strange that this illiterate person should have composed the best book in the language".

LauraVeccia Vaglieri writes: "On the whole we find in it a collection of wisdom which can be adopted by the most intelligent of men, the greatest of philosophers and the most skilful of politicians… but there is another proof of the Divinity of the Qur'an; it is the fact that it has been preserved intact through the ages since the time of its Revelation till the present day… Read and reread by the Muslim world this book does not rouse in the faithful any weariness; it rather, through repetition, is more loved day. It gives rise to a profound feeling of awe and respect in the one who reads it or listens to it… it was, therefore, neither by means of violence of arms, nor through the pressure of obtrusive missionaries, that caused the great and rapid diffusion of Islam, but, above all, through the fact that this Book presented by the Muslims to the vanquished with the liberty to accept it reject it, was the Book of God, the Word of Truth, the greatest Miracle Muhammad could show to those in doubt and to those who remained stubborn".

4. MoreAbout Authenticity

Shaykh AbuJa'far as-Saduq (d. 381 AH) writes in hisI'tiqadatu 'l-Imamiyyah :

"It is our belief that the Qur'an which Allah revealed to His Prophet Muhammad is what is presently in book form. And it is that which is in the hands of people, and is not greater in extent than that". Again he says alluding to the false propaganda of the enemies: "And he who asserts that we say that it is greater in extent than this (the present text) is a liar". Then he mentions some proofs to show that Qur'an is the unaltered word of Allah. He says that the following groups of traditions and revelations clearly show that the Qur'an is unaltered:

1. The traditions which describe the reward (thawab ) of reciting individualsurahs of the Qur'an. (If thesurahs were not finalized and given permanency in the lifetime of the Holy Prophet, neither he nor his true successors, i.e., the Imams, could have described thethawab of everysurah separately).

2. The traditions which describe thethawab of reciting the whole Qur'an. (If the Qur'an were not final and complete, the Holy Prophet or the Imams could not have described thatthawab in those terms).

3. The rule that aftersurah Fatiha , twosurahs may be recited in the supererogatory prayers (nawafil ), but not in obligatory prayer. (This rule shows that thesurahs of the Qur'an had been authenticated by the Holy Prophet and the Imams).

4. The traditions which forbid the recitation of the whole Qur'an in one night and in less than 3 days. (This phrase 'the whole Qur'an' shows that what is in our hands is the whole Qur'an).

Even more important perhaps from present day's way of thinking, are the manuscripts of the Qur'an dating back to the family members and companions of the Holy Prophet. There is the copy of the Qur'an which was used by the thirdKhalifa ; there are the Qur'ans written by Imam 'Ali binAbi Talib , ImamHasan bin Ali, Imam 'Aliar-Rida (in the museum of Mashhad, Iran) and by ImamZaynu'l 'Abidin (in the library of Rampur, India). And all of them have the same text, same arrangement ofayat andsurahs , as we have today. This proof, apart from all other proofs, is enough to show that the Qur'an has reached us in the same form in which it was left by the Holy Prophet (s.a.w ).

Marginal References:

Before closing this subject, one thing should be mentioned here. It appears from many traditions that many companions of the Holy Prophet (including Imam 'Ali binAbi Talib and Abdullah binMas'ud ) had written marginal references in their personal copies of the Qur'an. This would have been of much help to a reader in understanding the Divine text. But those marginal references were not part of the text. Perhaps, it was for this reason that even Imam Ali binAbi Talib (a.s ) did not write those marginal notes in any of the copies made by him which are in our hands.

Sometimes you will come across a tradition that a certain 'ayah was in such a way in the Qur'an of, let us say, Abdullah binMas'ud . For example, there is the ayah:

O Messenger, proclaim the (message) which has been sent to thee from thy Lord; and if thou didst not, thou wouldst not have proclaimed His Message…( 5:71).

You will find in some traditions that in the Qur'an of Abdullah binMas'ud , this ayah was written as follows:

O Messenger, proclaim the (message) which has been sent to thee from thy Lord that Ali is the Leader of the Believers; and if thou didst not… But you need not be confused by it. Abdullah binMas'ud had written that phrase (given above in italics) to make the ayah's meaning clear by pointing out its object and occasion atKhumm . Those wording were not the part of the ayah.

It should also be recalled that all the revelations sent to the Holy prophet were not part of the Qur'an. Revelations could be either Qur'an orhadith qudsi orhadith . In fact, if all the revelations were to be collected, it would be three times bigger than the Qur'an. But all those revelations were not sent as the Qur'an. Therefore even if we hear that a certain phrase was revealed to the Holy Prophet, it should not be assumed that it was part of the Qur'an.

Letters and Vowels Counted: The extent of care devoted by the Muslims to safeguard the Qur'an from any possible alteration may be seen from the fact that they have not only counted theayat andruku ', but every single letter of the alphabet and every single sign of vowel has been meticulously counted and recorded. For example, we know that there are 48872ألف and 11428 ب and so on. We also know that the Qur'an has 53243fathah (َ ) and 1258shaddah (ّ ).

5. The Qur'an: A Miracle Performer

It has been described earlier that Allah has sent the Qur'an as a miracle. The Qur'an is a miracle of language and style; it is a miracle of prophecies; it is a miracle of scientific revelations; and it is a miracle of the best code of life. Not only a miracle: it is a miracle-performer: it accomplished the miracle of transforming an extremely ignorant and unlettered people into the guardians of knowledge and learning.

Hartwig Hirschfeld , Ph.D. M.R.AS., writes: "We must not be surprised to find the Qur'an the fountain-head of the science. Every subject connected with heaven or earth, human life, commerce and various trades is occasionally touched upon, and this gave rise to the production of numerous monographs forming commentaries on parts of the Holy Book.

In this way the Qur'an was responsible for great discussions, and to it was indirectly due the marvelous development of all branches of science in the Muslim world… this again not only affected the Arabs but also induced Jewish philosophers to treat metaphysical and religious questions after Arabs' methods. Finally, the way in which Christian scholasticism was fertilized by Arabian theosophy need not be further discussed.

"Spiritual activity once aroused within Islamic bounds was not confined to theological speculations alone. Acquaintance with the philosophical, mathematical, astronomical and medical writings of the Greeks led to the pursuance of these studies. In the descriptive revelations Muhammad repeatedly calls attention to the movement of the heavenly bodies, as parts of the miracles of Allah forced into the service of man and therefore not to be worshipped.

How successfully Moslem people of all races pursued the study of astronomy is shown by the fact that for centuries they were its principal supporters. Even now many Arabic names of stars and technical terms are in use. Medieval astronomers in Europe were pupils of the Arabs… In the same manner the Qur'an gave an impetus to medical studies and recommended the contemplation and study of Nature in general".

Stanislas Guyard writes: "During the Middle Ages, the history of Mohammedanism is the history of civilization itself. Thanks to the Muslims, Greek science and philosophy were rescues from neglect and came to awaken the West and give rise to the great intellectual movement which terminated in the renovation of Bacon… In the seventh century of our era, the Old World was in agony. The Arabian conquests infused into it a new blood… Mohammad gavethem (Arabs) the Qur'an which was the starting point of a new culture".

Dr. A.Bertherand writes: "To seek knowledge is a duty for every Muslim man and woman. Seek knowledge even though itbe in China. The savants are the heirs of the Prophets. These profound words of the great reformer are an indisputable contradiction to those who seek and exert themselves in putting the responsibility of the intellectual degradation of Muslims upon the spirit of the Qur'an. Let them read and meditate upon this great Book and they will find in it,

at every passage, a constant attack upon idolatry and materialism; they will read that the Prophet incessantly called the attention and the meditation of his people to the splendid marvels, to the mysterious phenomenon of creation. The incredulous, skeptical and unbelieving may convince themselves that the importance of this Book and its doctrine was not to throw back, eventually, the intellectual and moral faculties of a whole people. On the contrary, those who have followed its counsels have been, as we have described in the course of this study, the creators of a civilization which is astounding unto this day".

This contribution is quite apart from the religious subjectswhich were initiated because of the Qur'an; and the development of literature and the codifi8cation of grammar and other allied subjects which were founded because of the Qur'an. In fact, all Islamic subjects, all subjects connected with Arabic literature and all subjects related to philosophy etc. came to the Arabs and the Muslims through the Holy Book of Allah, which is called the Qur'an.

Qur'anic miracle; language, prophecies, being free from discrepancies, science, and ethics.

MiracleOf Language

The language of Qur'an is of such highest standard that it is a miracle in itself, and nobody could meet its challenge. The difference between all other miracles and the Qur'an is that other miracles of other prophets and even of our Prophet were for those only who had witnessed them. For others they are mere news which may be believed or suspected according to the trend of the minds of the hearers. But the Qur'an is in our hands, a book complete in itself; it claims and brings the proof within itself. And its miracles are being unfolded every day.

Arabs in the time of the Prophet were proud of their language. They were proud of it, since Arabic language is very rich and sophisticated one. Poets and eloquent speakers were almost idols of their tribes. Poems were learned and read on every occasion, and yearly competitions were held for the best pieces of poetry in a place calledSuq Ukaz . Thus literature was the best art the Arabs had mastered very well. The Qur'an came and its miracle, to their surprise, was its language and style. The Qur'an was the challenge; God asked them to produce a similar Qur'an.

Say: If the whole of mankind andJinns gathered together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other. (17:88).The whole of mankind to cooperate to produce just one book! But it was extended even to theJinns !! And backing up each other!!! Still they could not bring its equal!!!

Then the challenge was reduced to tensurahs , to show them their weakness and helplessness: Do they say 'He has forged it? 'Say, 'Bring you, then, tensurahs like unto it forged, and call (to your aid) whomsoever you can, other than God!If you speak the truth"(11:13).

They could not meet even that challenge, and it was reduced at last to onesurah only:

Do they say 'He forged it? Say, Bring then asurah like unto it and call to your aid anyone you can, besides God, if you speak the truth" (10:38) Onesurah may be only one line. Still the proud eloquent Arabs could not face the challenge. You can see the logical reasoning and rational approach to convince the Arabs of its miraculous quality. Asurah may be only one line but the Arabs (and non-Arabs too) could not succeed in their attempts to meet the standing challenge. The beauty of the Qur'an, the strength of its conviction, its logic and simplicity, and its depth and wisdom are far above what the Arabs or non-Arabs know or conceive. When the Qur'an was read, the idolaters used to close their ears; some used to make noise, whistling and chanting, in order not to hear the Qur'an; lest they be 'bewitched'. The nonbelievers could not give any reasonable explanation to this irresistible beauty and power of the Qur'an. However, they had to find some excuse to put people off and to justify their enmity.

They invented lies and said, "The Qur'an is not but poetry or magic". That was the excuse they could find for their utter failure and helplessness! God refuted this allegation in this ayah: "Therefore continue to remind, for by the grace of your Lord you are no soothsayer, nor are you one possessed". (52:29)

We also know that Arabs waged war upon war to silence the Holy Prophet. But the easiest way would have been to produce a shortsurah (like al-Kawthar ) of equal standard and the claim of the Prophet would have been refuted. No sane person would use sword when a few words could serve his purpose in a more effective way. But the Arabs preferred war and by doing so they practically acknowledged that they could not produce the like of the Qur'an.

Not that they did not try to produce its equal. There is a shortsurah (al-Qari'ah ) describing the Day of Judgment the openingayat of which are: القارعة ما القارعة وما أدراك ما القارعة. يوم يكون الناس كالفراش المبثوث وتكون الجبال كالعهن المنقوش .

"The great calamity! What is the great calamity? And what should make thee know what the great calamity is? The day when mankind will be like moths scattered about; and the mountains will be like carded wool…" (101:1-5) A pagan Arabs tried to reply it and produced these sentences:

الفيل ما الفيل وما أدراك ما الفيل, له حسم ثقيل وذنب قصير وخرطوم طويل "Theelephant, and what is the elephant? And what should make thee know whatis the elephant ? It has a heavy body and short tail and long trunk". Needless to say that all he earned in gratitude from his fellows was ridicule.

Likewise, in the days of ImamJa'far As- Sadiq (a.s .),Ibn Abi'l Awja , AbuShakir ad-Daysani , 'Abdu'l Malik al-Basri andIbnu'l -Muqaffa ' planned to write the reply of the Qur'an. They decided to write the reply of one-fourth of the Book each. The time and place of their next meeting: during the hajj next year in the precincts of theKa'bah .

When they gathered together next year,Ibn Abi'l-'Awja said: "Since we dispersed (last year), I have been pondering upon the verse, 'And when they despaired of him, they retired whispering' (12:80); and I found myself unable to write something comparable to its eloquence and meaning; I was too engrossed in this verse to look at the others".

'Abu'l-Malik said that the same happened to him about the verse, "O you people! A parable is set forth, solisten you unto it! Verily, those whom you call upon besides Allah can never create (even) a fly, even though they all gather together for it; and should the fly carry awayany thing from them, they cannot take it back from it; (how) weak the invoker and the invoked!"(22:73); and he could not compose anything like it. AbuShakir said: "Since I left you (last year), I am pondering on the verse, 'Had there been in them {the heavens and the earth} gods except Allah, they both had been in disorder' (21:22); and have been unable to writeits like".

Ibnu'l-Muqaffa ' said: O people! This Qur'an is not from man's speech, I too since leaving you had been thinking about the verse, "and it was said, 'O earth! Swallow down thy water, and O sky! Withhold: and the water was made to subside, and the matter was ended; and it [the Ark] rested on the (mountain) Judi; and the word went forth: "Away with those who do wrong"(11:44). The fact is I could not fathom its beauty and could not produce equal to it.

They were thus engrossed in this secret talk when ImamJa'far as-Sadiq (a.s .) passed by them and read the following ayah: قل لئن اجتمعت الانس والجن على ان ياتوا بمثل هذا القرآن لا يأتون بمثله ولو كان بعضهم لبعض ظهيرا "Say, if the whole of mankind andJinns gathered together to produce the likeness of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they were helpers of each other" (17:88)

This challenge and the prophecy that they could never bring its equal is the most prominent feature of the miracle of the Qur'an. It is admitted even by non-Muslims.

F.F. Arbuthnot writes: "From the literary point of view, the Koran is regarded as a specimen of the purest Arabic, written in half poetry and half prose. It has been said that in some cases grammarians have adopted their rules to agree with certain phrases and expressions used in it, and that, though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded".

J. ChristyWilson, writes: "Much of the Koran is in a sort of rhymed cadence that resembles poetry but may still be termed prose. From the point of view of literature, it is considered supreme in Arabic and has no doubt in influences the language to an even greater extent than King Jamesversion of the Bible has influenced English. Being thus the absolute model for literary style and diction, as well as the authoritative pronouncement of Allah, it is considered the one great miracle of Mohammed; in fact he repeatedly challenged his adversaries to produce anything like it". H.A.R.Gibb, writes: "Well then, if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not) then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding evidential miracle".

Harry Gaylord Dorman writes: "It (Qur'an) is a literal revelation of God, dictated to Muhammad by Prophet of God. Its miraculous quality resides partly in its style, so perfect and lofty that neither men nor Jinn could produce a single chapter to compare with its briefest chapter, and partly in its content of teachings, prophecies about the future, and amazingly accurate information such as the illiterate Muhammad could never have gathered of his own accord".

And Paul Casanova wrote: "Whenever Muhammad was asked a miracle, as a proof of the authenticity of his mission, he quoted the composition of the Qur'an and its incomparable excellence as proof of its Divine origin. And, in fact, even for those who are non-Muslims nothing is more marvelous than its language which with such a prehensile plenitude and a grasping sonority with its simple audition ravished with admiration those primitive peoples so fond of eloquence. The ampleness of its syllables with a grandiose cadence and with a remarkable rhythmhave been of much moment in the conversion of the most hostile and most skeptic".