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Preservation and Literary Challenge of the Qur’ān



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Nelo Angelo

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1432 years...and the challenge has still not been matched..

The following is a great article I feel we all should be aware of and come to a realisation of. I wanted to highlight this here due to a realisation from my discusssion on here in certain topics that there is a common perception that the Qur'an is a book like any other book of religion. Its not a surprising discovery, but it is a very big misconception. I came across this in a translation of the Holy Quran by the 'The Qur'an Project' which can be obtained for free at www.quranproject.org. Which has extensive information on the background to the Qur'an (the history of each chapter) as well as commentary and a lot of other topics such as the Qur'an and Science and this article here.

I hope this can clear up the misconception people have of the Qur'an and just check it out for themselves. Thank You. (Footnotes give references which can be found at the bottom)

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Preservation and Literary Challenge of the Qur’ān

Memorization

‘In the ancient times, when writing was scarcely used, memory and oral transmission was exercised and strengthened to a degree now almost unknown.’[1] relates Michael Zwettler. It was in to this 'oral' society that Prophet Muhammad was born. During its revelation, which spanned twenty three years, not only did the Prophet teach the Qur’ān, he memorized it entirely himself as did many of his Companions amongst them; Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, Ali, Ibn Masud, Abu Hurairah, Abdullah bin Abbas, Abdullah bin Amr bin al-As, Aisha, Hafsa, and Umm Salama. The Angel Gabriel would spend every night in the month of Ramadhan with the Prophet, on a yearly basis, to refresh his Qur’ānic memory.

The lives of Muslims revolved solely around the Qur’ān; they would memorize it, teach it, recite portions from it every day for their obligatory Prayers – and many would stand a third of the night in prayer reciting from it. There existed so many memorizers of the Qur’ān, that it was considered strange to find a family without someone amongst them who had not memorized the Qur’ān entirely.

As time progressed, literally thousands of schools were opened devoted specifically to the teaching of the Qur’ān to children for the purpose of memorization. The teachers in these schools would have unbroken Tazkiya’s [authoritative chains of learning] going back to the Prophet himself through his many Companions – and this system exists even today.

Indeed, we live in a world where there are millions of memorizers of the Qur’ān, scattered in every city and country spanning the whole globe. These memorizers range from ages 6 and up; males, females, Arabs, non-Arabs, blacks, whites, Orientals, rich and poor.

There does not exist a single book, secular or religious, which has as many memorizers of it, as the Qur’ān. In reality, if one considers the ‘greatest’ writings of the world; Old and New Testament, Aristotle, Plato, Shakespeare, Orwell, Marx, Dickens, Machiavelli, Sun Tzu etc.– one may ask, how many people have memorized them? Seldom do we find a single individual.

Hypothetically, if we were to lose all the books of the world, by throwing them into the sea for instance, the only book we could resurrect entirely word-for-word would be the Qur’ān – and, amazingly, it could be done simultaneously in every country of the world within twenty-four hours.

Kenneth Cragg writes, “This phenomenon of Qur’ānic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian thing, nor as a historical document out of a distant past. The fact of Hifdh (Qur’ānic Memorization) has made the Qur’ān a present possession through all the lapse of Muslim time and given it a human currency in every generation never allowing its relegation to a bare authority for reference alone.”[2]

Written Text

The entire Qur’ān was in writing at the time of revelation from the Prophet’s dictation by some of his literate companions, the most prominent of them being Zayd ibn Thabit.[3] Others among his noble scribes were Ubayy ibn Ka’b, Ibn Mas’ud, Mu’awiyah ibn Abu Sufyan, Khalid ibn Waleed and Zubayr ibn Awwam.[4] The verses were recorded on leather, parchment, scapulae (shoulder bones of animals) and the stalks of date palms.[5]

The codification of the Qur’ān (i.e. into a ‘single book form’) was done soon after the Battle of Yamamah (11AH/633CE), after the Prophet’s death and during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr. Many companions became martyrs in that battle, and it was feared that unless a written copy of the entire revelation was produced, large parts of the Qur’ān might be lost with the death of those who had memorized it. Therefore, at the suggestion of Umar to collect the Qur’ān in the form of writing, Zayd ibn Thabit was requested by Abu Bakr to head a committee which would gather together the scattered recordings of the Qur’ān and prepare a mushaf - loose sheets which bore the entire revelation on them.[6] To safeguard the compilation from errors, the committee accepted only material which had been written down in the presence of the Prophet himself, and which could be verified by at least two reliable witnesses who had actually heard the Prophet recite the passage in question[7]. Once completed and unanimously approved of by the Prophet’s Companions, these sheets were kept with the Caliph Abu Bakr (d. 13AH/634CE), then passed on to the Caliph Umar (13-23AH/634-644CE), and then Umar’s daughter and the Prophet’s widow, Hafsa.[8]

The third Caliph Uthman (23AH-35AH/644-656CE) requested Hafsa to send him the manuscript of the Qur’ān which was in her safekeeping, and ordered the production of several bounded copies of it (masaahif, sing. mushaf). This task was entrusted to the Companions Zayd ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Az-Zubair, Sa’eed ibn As-’As, and Abdur-Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham.[9] Upon completion (in 25AH/646CE), Uthman returned the original manuscript to Hafsa and sent the copies to the major Islāmic provinces.

A number of non-Muslim scholars who have studied the issue of the compilation and preservation of the Qur’ān have also stated its authenticity. John Burton, at the end of his substantial work on the Qur’ān’s compilation, states that the Qur’ān as we have it today is:

“…the text which has come down to us in the form in which it was organized and approved by the Prophet…. What we have today in our hands is the mushaf of Muhammad.”[10]

Kenneth Cragg describes the transmission of the Qur’ān from the time of revelation to today as occurring in “an unbroken living sequence of devotion.”[11] Schwally concurs that:
“As far as the various pieces of revelation are concerned, we may be confident that their text has been generally transmitted exactly as it was found in the Prophet’s legacy.” [12]

The historical credibility of the Qur’ān is further established by the fact that one of the copies sent out by the Caliph Uthman is still in existence today. It lies in the Museum of the City of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Central Asia.[13] According to Memory of the World Program, UNESCO, an arm of the United Nations, ‘it is the definitive version, known as the Mushaf of Uthman.”[14]

This manuscript, held by the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan, is the earliest existent written version of the Qur’ān. It is the definitive version, known as the Mushaf of Uthman.[15]


A facsimile of the mushaf in Tashkent is available at the Columbia University Library in the United States of America and the Topkapi Museum, Turkey.
A copy of the mushaf sent to Syria (duplicated before a fire in 1310AH/1892CE destroyed the Jaami’ Masjid where it was housed) also exists in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul,[16] and an early manuscript on gazelle parchment exists in Dar al-Kutub as-Sultaniyyah in Egypt.


This manuscript held at the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul can be dated back to the late 1st century Hijri.


This Qur’ānic manuscript is housed at the al-Hussein mosque in Cairo and is amongst the oldest of all the manuscripts, and is either Uthmanic or an exact copy from the original.

More ancient manuscripts from all periods of Islāmic history, found in the Library of Congress in Washington, the Chester Beatty Museum in Dublin (Ireland) and the London Museum, have been compared with those in Tashkent, Turkey and Egypt, with results confirming that there have not been any changes in the text from its original time of writing and is proof that the text of the Qur’ān we have in circulation today is identical with that of the time of the Prophet and his companions.

The Institute for Koranforschung, for example, in the University of Munich (Germany), collected over 42,000 complete or incomplete ancient copies of the Qur’ān. After around fifty years of research, they reported that there was no variance between the various copies, except the occasional mistakes of the copyist which could easily be ascertained. This Institute was unfortunately destroyed by bombs during WWII.[17]

Thus, due to the efforts of the early companions, with God’s assistance, the Qur’ān as we have it today is recited in the same manner as it was revealed. This makes it the only religious scripture that is still completely retained and understood in its original language. Indeed, as Sir William Muir states, “There is probably no other book in the world which has remained twelve centuries (now fourteen) with so pure a text.”[18]

The evidence above confirms God’s promise in the Qur’ān:
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’ān and indeed, We will be its guardian.”
Qur’ān 15:9​

The Qur’ān has been preserved in both oral and written form in a way no other book has, with each form providing a check and balance for the authenticity of the other.[19]

Explanation of Qur’ān’s Inimitability

State of the Prophet Muhammad:
* He was an ordinary human being.
* He was illiterate. He could neither read nor write.
* He was more than forty years old when he received the first revelation. Until then he was not known to be an orator, poet, or a man of letters; he was just a merchant. He did not compose a single poem or deliver even one sermon before he was chosen to be a prophet.
* He brought a book attributing it to God, and all Arabs of his time were in agreement it was inimitable.

How do we know it is from God?

William Shakespeare, who was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, is often used as an example of unique literature. The argument posed is that if Shakespeare expressed his poetry and prose in a unique manner - and he is a human being - then surely no matter how unique the Qur’ān is, it must also be from a human being. However there are some problems with the above argument. It does not take into account the nature of the Qur’ān’s uniqueness and it doesn’t understand the uniqueness of literary geniuses such as Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare composed poetry and prose that received an unparalleled aesthetic reception, the literary form he expressed his works in was not unique. In many instances Shakespeare used the common Iambic Pentameter (The Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word "pentameter" simply means that there are five feet in the line.)

However in the case of the Qur’ān, its language is in an entirely unknown and unmatched literary form. The structural features of the Qur’ānic discourse render it unique and not the subjective appreciation of its literary and linguistic makeup.

With this in mind there are two approaches that can show that there are greater reasons to believe that the Qur’ān is from the divine and a miraculous text. The first approach is rational deduction and the second is the philosophy of miracles.

Rational Deduction

Rational deduction is the thinking process where logical conclusions are drawn from a universally accepted statement or provable premises. This process is also called rational inference or logical deduction. In the context of the Qur’ān’s uniqueness the universally accepted statement supported by eastern and western scholarship is: “The Qur’ān was not successfully imitated by the Arabs at the time of revelation”

From this statement the following logical conclusions can be drawn:
1. The Qur’ān could not have come from an Arab as the Arabs, at the time of revelation, were linguists par excellence and they failed to challenge the Qur’ān. They had even admitted that the Qur’ān could have not come from a human being – the accusation being that the Prophet was a magician or was being taught by some Jinn.

2. The Qur’ān could not have come from a Non-Arab as the language in the Qur’ān is Arabic, and the knowledge of the Arabic language is a pre-requisite to successfully challenge the Qur’ān.

3. The Qur’ān could not have come from the Prophet Muhammad due to the following reasons:
a. The Prophet Muhammad was an Arab himself and all the Arabs failed to challenge the Qur’ān.
b. The Arab linguists at the time of revelation never accused the Prophet of being the author of the Qur’ān.
c. The Prophet Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, his close companions were tortured and killed, yet the Qur’ān’s literary character remains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in the Qur’ān expresses the turmoil and emotions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is almost a psychological and physiological impossibility to go through what the Prophet went through and yet none of the emotions are expressed in the literary character of the Qur’ān.
d. The Qur’ān is a known literary masterpiece yet its verses were at many times revealed for specific circumstances and events that occurred. However, without revision or deletion they are literary masterpieces. All literary masterpieces have undergone revision and deletion to ensure literary perfection, however the Qur’ān was revealed instantaneously.
e. All types of human expression can be imitated if the blueprint of that expression exists. For example artwork can be imitated even though some art is thought to be extraordinary or amazingly unique. But in the case of the Qur’ān we have the blueprint - the Qur’ān itself - yet no one has been able to imitate its unique literary form.

4. The Qur’ān could not have come from another being such as a Jinn or Spirit because the basis of their existence is the Qur’ān and revelation itself. Their existence is based upon revelation and not empirical evidence. Therefore if someone claims that the source of the Qur’ān to be another being then they would have to prove its existence and in this case proving revelation. In the case of using the Qur’ān as the revelation to establish Jinns existence then that would mean the whole rational deduction exercise would not be required in the first place, as the Qur’ān would already have been established as a divine text, because to believe in Jinns existence would mean belief in the Qur’ān in the first place.

5. The Qur’ān can only have come from the Divine as it is the only logical explanation as all other explanations have been discarded because they do not explain the uniqueness of the Qur’ān in a comprehensive and coherent manner.

Philosophy of Miracles

The word miracle is derived from the Latin word ‘miraculum’ meaning "something wonderful.” A miracle is commonly defined as a violation of a natural law (lex naturalis); however this is an incoherent definition. This incoherence is due our understanding of natural laws, as the Philosopher Bilynskyj observes “…so long as natural laws are conceived of as universal inductive generalisations the notion of violation of a nature law is incoherent.” Natural laws are inductive generalizations of patterns we observe in the universe. If the definition of a miracle is a violation of a natural law, in other words a violation of the patterns we observe in the universe, then an obvious conceptual problem occurs. The problem is: why can’t we take this perceived violation of the pattern as part of the pattern?

Therefore the more coherent description of a miracle is not a ‘violation’ but an ‘impossibility’. The Philosopher William Lane Craig rejects the definition of a miracle as a “violation of a natural law” and replaces it with the coherent definition of “events which lie outside the productive capacity of nature.” What this means is that miracles are acts of impossibilities concerning causal or logical connections.

What makes the Qur’ān a miracle, is that it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. The productive capacity of nature, concerning the Arabic language, is that any grammatically sound expression of the Arabic language will always fall within the known Arabic literary forms of Prose and Poetry.

The Qur’ān is a miracle as its literary form cannot be explained via the productive capacity of the Arabic language, because all the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet the Qur’ān’s literary form has not been imitated. The Arabs who were known to have been Arab linguists par excellence failed to successfully challenge the Qur’ān. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot who was a notable British Orientalist and translator states: “…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.”

The implication of this is that there is no link between the Qur’ān and the Arabic language; however this seems impossible because the Qur’ān is made up of the Arabic language! On the other hand, all the combinations of Arabic words and letters have been used to try and imitate the Qur’ān. Therefore, it can only be concluded that a supernatural explanation is the only coherent explanation for this impossible Arabic literary form – the Qur’ān. When we look at the productive nature of the Arabic language to find an answer for the unique literary form of the Qur’ān, we find no link between it and the divine text, thus making it an impossibility requiring supernatural explanation. So it logically follows that if the Qur’ān is a literary event that lies outside the productive capacity of the Arabic language, then, by definition, it is a miracle.

The Qur’ān is a literary and linguistic miracle. It has challenged those who doubt its divine authorship, and history has shown that it indeed is a miracle as there can be no natural explanation to comprehensively explain its unmatched unique expression. Professor Bruce Lawrence correctly asserts, “As tangible signs, Qur’ānic verse are expressive of an inexhaustible truth, they signify meaning layered with meaning, light upon light, miracle after miracle.” [20]

Revelation Related to Contemporary Events

The fact that specific passages of the Holy Qur’ān were revealed at the same time as the events they describe is not particularly surprising. What is extraordinary to note, however, is the content.

Anybody who reads the Qur’ān for the first time may be struck not only by what the revelation contains, but also by that which is absent. For example, the Prophet Muhammad outlived his first love and first wife, the woman with whom he spent twenty-five years of his youth, Khadijah. She died after two long, painful years during which the Makkan pagans ostracized, persecuted, and starved Prophet Muhammad and his followers. Twenty-five years of love, support, caring, and kindness - gone. His first wife, so beloved that he remained faithful to her throughout their marriage and throughout his youth - gone. The first person to believe in his prophethood, the wife who bore all but one of his eight children - gone. So devoted was she that she exhausted her wealth and sacrificed her tribal relationships in support of him. After which, she was gone.

Musicians croon over their lost loves; artists immortalize their infatuations in marble and on canvas, photographers fill albums with glossy memorials and poets pour their hearts onto paper with the ink of liquid lamentation. Yet despite what a person might expect, nowhere does the Qur’ān mention the name Khadijah. Not once. The wives of Pharaoh, Noah, and Lot are alluded to, but Khadijah is not even given passing mention. Compounding the peculiarity is the startling fact that the only woman the Qur’ān mentions by name is Mary, an Israelite and the mother of Jesus. And she is mentioned in glowing terms. As a matter of fact, a whole surah bears her name [surah 19].

Many orientalists claim that the Qur’ān is not revelation but was the product of the Prophet Muhammad’s mind. One could question if this could be the product of the mind of a man when he excluded the women who filled his life and memory from the revelation he claimed, in favor of an Israelite woman and the mother of an Israelite prophet, this drives recklessly against the flow of reasonable expectation.

During the Prophet Muhammad’s life, he saw every one of his four sons die. All but one of his four daughters pre-deceased him. His favored uncle, Hamzah, was killed in battle and mutilated in a horrific manner. The Prophet Muhammad and his followers were regularly insulted, humiliated, beaten, and on occasion murdered. On one occasion the offal of a slaughtered camel was dumped on the Prophet’s back while he was prostrate in prayer. The sheer weight of this offal reportedly pinned him to the ground until his daughter uncovered him. Now, camels smell bad enough while they’re living. Try to imagine the smell of their decomposing guts in the tropical sun. Then try to imagine being buried in the tangled mass of their slimy offense, rivulets of rotting camel juice running down exposed arms, cheeks and, oh yes, behind the ears. A refreshing massage-head shower is a couple thousand calendar pages away, with soap not yet registered in the patent office. Such events must have tortured Prophet Muhammad’s memory. Yet they are described nowhere in the Qur’ān.

So the Qur’ān is remarkable in that its content does not reflect the mind of the messenger. In fact, in some cases the Qur’ān does the exact opposite, and corrects Prophet Muhammad’s errors in judgment. For example, many passages defined issues with which Prophet Muhammad and his companions were immediately concerned, or delivered lessons regarding contemporaneous events. Such passages are legion. However, instead of affirming Prophet Muhammad’s judgment, the Qur’ān not only admonishes certain of the believers, but even corrects Prophet Muhammad on occasion. Surah 80 admonishes Prophet Muhammad for having frowned and turned his back on a blind Muslim who, in seeking guidance, interrupted a conversation to which Prophet Muhammad mistakenly assigned priority. The error in judgment was understandable, but it was an error nonetheless. And according to the Holy Qur’ān, it was an error deserving of correction.

On other occasions, revelation admonished Prophet Muhammad for forbidding himself the use of honey [after being deceived into believing it gave his breath a bad odour - 66:1], for directing his adopted son to keep his marriage when divorce was preferable, and for praying for forgiveness of the Hypocrites [Muslims-in-name-only who were denied the mercy of Allah due to their obstinate rebellion]. The admonishment for his error of judgment with regard to his adopted son, Zaid, and his unhappy marriage to Zainab, was of such extreme embarrassment that Prophet Muhammad’s wife, A’ishah, later commented to the effect that, “Were Prophet Muhammad to have concealed anything from the revelation, he would have concealed this verse.”

In one case Prophet Muhammad was corrected for being vengeful, in another for being lenient. Although such errors of judgment were rare, they highlight his humanity. Equally important, they reveal his sincerity, for Prophet Muhammad’s errors required correction by the One Whom Prophet Muhammad represented, lest they be misperceived as bearing God’s approval. However, unlike a false prophet, who would have concealed his shortcomings, Prophet Muhammad conveyed revelation that immortalized his mistakes, and Allah’s admonition thereof. So here is a man who claimed every letter of revelation was from God, including the passages that corrected his own errors and instructed him to repent. Weird. If, that is, we imagine the Qur’ān to have been authored by a false prophet. False prophets are either liars or deluded, and both types attempt to build confidence in their followers by portraying themselves as perfect.[21]

Initially, the Makkan disbelievers said Muhammad is the author of the Qur’ān. God responded to them:
“ Or do they say, "He has made it up?” Rather, they do not believe. Then let them produce a statement like it, if they should be truthful. Or were they created by nothing, or were they the creators [of themselves]?”
Qur’ān 52:33-35​

First, God challenged them to produce ten chapters like the Qur’ān:
“Or do they say, "He invented it?” Say, "Then bring ten sūrahs like it that have been invented and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides God, if you should be truthful. And if they do not respond to you - then know that the Qur’ān was revealed with the knowledge of God and that there is no deity except Him. Then, would you [not] be Muslims?”
Qur’ān 11:13-14​

But, when they were unable to meet the challenge of ten chapters, God reduced it to a single chapter:
“And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down [i.e., the Qur’ān] upon Our Servant [i.e Prophet Muhammad], then produce a sūrah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses[i.e supporters] other than God, if you should be truthful. But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.”
Qur’ān 2:23-24​

Finally, God foretold their eternal failure to meet the divine challenge:
Say, “If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur’ān, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants.”
Qur’ān 17:88​

The Prophet said, “Every Prophet was given ‘signs’ because of which people believed in him. Indeed, I have been given the Divine Revelation that God has revealed to me. So, I hope to have the most followers of all the prophets on the Day of Resurrection.” [22]

The physical miracles performed by the prophets were time-specific, valid only for those who witnessed them, whereas the like of the continuing miracle of our Prophet, the Noble Qur’ān, was not granted to any other prophet. Its linguistic superiority, style, clarity of message, strength of argument, quality of rhetoric, and the human inability to match even its shortest chapter till the end of time grant it an exquisite uniqueness. Those who witnessed the revelation and those who came after, all can drink from its fountain of wisdom. That is why the Prophet of Mercy hoped he would have the most followers out of all the prophets, and prophesized that he would at a time when Muslims were few, but then they began to embrace Islām in floods. Thus, this prophecy came true.

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[1] Zwettler, Michael –The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry, p. 14.

[2] Cragg, Kenneth - The Mind of the Qur’ān, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973, p.26.

[3] Suyuti, Jalal al-Din - Al-Itqan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’ān, Beirut: Maktab al-Thiqaafiyya, 1973, Vol.1, p.41 & 99.

[4] al-’Asqalani, Ibn Hajar - Al-Isabah fee Taymeez as-Sahabah, and in Azami, M.M. Kuttab al-Nabi – list 48 persons who used to write for the Prophet (saw).

[5] al-Muhasabi, al-Harith - Kitab Fahm al-Sunan, cited in Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi ‘Uloom al-Qur’ān, Vol.1, p.58.

[6] Bukhari, Vol.6, hadith no. 201 & 509 and vol.9, hadith no.301.

[7] al-’Asqalani, Ibn Hajar - Fath al-Bari, vol.9, p.10-11.

[8] Bukhari, vol.6, hadith no.201.

[9] Bukhari, vol.4, hadith no.709 and vol.6, hadith no.507.

[10] Burton, John - The Collection of the Qur’ān, Cambridge University Press, 1977, p.239-40.

[11] Cragg, Kenneth - The Mind of the Qur’ān, London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973, p.26.

[12] Geschichte des Qorans, Schwally - Leipzig: Dieterich’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung,1909-38, Vol.2, p.120.

[13] al-Nur, Yusuf Ibrahi - Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.117; Makhdum, Isma’il - Tarikh al-Mushaf al-Uthmani fi Tashqand, Tashkent: Al-Idara al-Diniya, 1971, p.22ff.

[14] http://www.unesco.org - I. Mendelsohn, “The Columbia University Copy Of The Samarqand Kufic Qur’ān,” The Moslem World, 1940, p. 357-358. A. Jeffery & I. Mendelsohn, “The Orthography Of The Samarqand Qur’ān Codex,” Journal Of The American Oriental Society, 1942, Volume 62, pp. 175-195.

[15] Image courtesy of Memory of the World Register, UNESCO.

[16] al-Nur, Yusuf Ibrahim - Ma’ al-Masaahif, Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1st ed., 1993, p.113.

[17] Hamidullah, Mohammed - Muhammad Rasullullah, Lahore: Idara-e-Islāmiat, n.d., p.179.

[18] Sir William Muir, Life of Mohamet, London, 1894, Vol.1, Introduction.

[19] Source - http://www.islāmreligion.com/articles/18/

[20] www.theinimitablequran.com

[21] Edited from, The First and Final Commandment, Dr. Laurence B. Brown.


[22] Bukhari[/QUOTE]
 
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Solar

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It is also to be noted there is now way he could've known at that point in time the gaseous nature of the universe post-creation, the collapsing of stars, the water cycle, detailed accounts of human pro-creation and the fact man will one day go into space. Owing to such a life, his wealth and his companions, this couldn't have been meticulously forged or planned either.

19 is my favorite number

EDIT: Also the website "theinimitablequran.com" is very good if anyone is interested in further readings
 
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Nelo Angelo

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Thats pretty amazing about the mathematical compostion of the Qur'an. The author did a lot of hard work and research on that aMasha'Allah. Its amazing the number 19 carries so much significance. Thanks for that info bro :)

I was watching this show yesterday called the Wonders of the Universe, episode named Stardust. I gotta say it is pretty amazing how the death of a star gives us so many crucial elements from hydrogen to iron to ensure our survival. The remaining elements are from the death of bigger stars, supernovas, and rare elements come forth from them. What amazed me the most from this fact, is that when the professor explained how iron was the core element within that star, and when the stars final energy is used up to form this through the process of nuclear fusion, the star implodes. And its from the stardust that these elements have come to this earth and the other planets, which are more rich in a certain element compared to others. But the earth is abundant in the first 26 of the 92 that is found in the universe. Those 26 that have been here since time immemorial has made it possible for us humans to basically survive. Alhamdulillah (praise be to Allah). Immediately this info made me understand the importance and significance of the chapter of the Qur'an (57) named Al-Hadeed, which is Iron. The 25th verse says:

"We sent aforetime our apostles with Clear Signs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance (of Right and Wrong), that men may stand forth in justice; and We sent down Iron, in which is (material for) mighty war, as well as many benefits for mankind, that Allah may test who it is that will help, Unseen, Him and His apostles: For Allah is Full of Strength, Exalted in Might (and able to enforce His Will)."
[Chapter 57 (Al Hadeed - Iron) Verse 25]

I was always intrigued to why Allah mentioned specifically the element Iron and not the others before it as they too are crucial for our survival. But I understood, as it is because of the last nuclear fusion within the star that iron is formed and the star implodes and stardust comes down to us with these elements. This has happend for billions of years. The core of the Earth and its outer layers contain Iron but this too came from the supernovas and metorites before the Earth was fully formed so to speak. This is why Allah mentions Iron as being sent down both in the literal form and the fact that it is He who sends us forth all these vital components for our survival. As the verse mentions how it has many benefits for mankind as on its own it does of course, but it is because of this the star implodes releasing the layers of elements within it to be scattered. I don't know a lot about this, and many of you may already be aware of this and know it in much more deatail. So I may have made errors and I'll apologise in advance as this is not something I know a lot about. But what it has done has strengthened my faith in the Qur'an. This peice of information could not have been known in the 7th Century as it has been discovered in the 20th century. As I've mentioned in a previous post, Allah teaches in the Qur'an that mankind should become intellectuals and challenges men of understanding so they can come closer to the knowledge of the Creator, and this is just one of many topics Allah makes us look more into. Subhanallah (Glory be to Allah). Thats all I can say.

If anyone wants to look more into this heres a clip Quran Miracle:Iron sent down from space - Quran Project - View Product Details

Also there are more scientific info as brother ★ has listed a few. If you wish to know more you can view this here Quran Project - View Document [ go to page 706 for the scientific info]



 
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Nelo Angelo

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My apologies for the double post but I saw this video on youtube by an emphatic speaker of Islam, Khalid Yasin, a revert, who sheds some very important information and fact about the amazingness of the preservation of the Qur'an.
[video=youtube;NzdhxGu4bi4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzdhxGu4bi4&feature=related[/video]
I just wanted to share it as Brother Khalid expresses it in such a powerful fashion and the fact of the preservation is a phenomena that cannot be matched and this is what Allah had promised.
 

Solar

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The author of that aformentioned website also published a related article sometime ago. The article is here but I did paste everything


"Three Lines the Changed the World:
The Inimitability of the Shortest Chapter in the Qur’an

By Hamza Andreas Tzortzis
hamza.tzortzis@theinimitablequran.com
Draft 0.3
[To be updated with references etc]

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

Inna aAtayna kal kawthar
Fasalli li rabbika wanhar
Inna shani-aka huwal abtar

Verily We have given to you the abundance
So pray to your Lord and sacrifice
Indeed your enemy is the one who is cut off


Chapter al-Kawthar (The Abundance) is the smallest chapter in the Qur’an consisting of only three lines. From a linguistic, literary, theological, rational and ideological point of view this chapter has the utmost significance. Being the smallest chapter in the Qur’an it is often cited by those who are involved in some form of polemic. This is due to the famous challenge of the Qur’an. The Qur’an states:

“If you (mankind) are in doubt concerning what We revealed to Our servant, than bring a chapter like it….” Qur’an 2:23

Muslim and non-Muslim exegetes have commented that these verses, and other verses similar to it, are an open challenge to humanity to try and match the literary and linguistic feature/nature of the divine text. It is not surprising that this chapter is often quoted and its significance highlighted by those propagating the Islamic way of life.

This chapter is used as a proof of the Islamic creed. If someone can meet the challenge the text cannot be from the Divine. However if the challenge can not be met, even though there are a finite set of literary and linguistic ‘tools’ at their disposal; then the question of authorship has great implications.

The Qur’an was revealed approximately 1400 years ago and for this amount of time the challenge has remained. This however does not mean that no one has attempted to match the literary and linguistic style/feature/nature of the text. Throughout the centuries thinkers, poets, theologians and literary critics have attempted to challenge the Qur’an. Some of these challengers include Musaylamah, Ibn Al-Mukaffa‘, Abu'l-'Ala Al-Marri, Yahya b. Al-Hakam al-Ghazal, Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad, Ibn al-Rawandi, Bassar bin Burd, Sahib Ibn 'Abbad, Abu'l - 'Atahiya and the contemporary Christian Missionaries who developed the ‘True Furqan’.

Without going into an analysis of why Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have agreed that those who have attempted to challenge the Qur’an have failed, the summary below should suffice:

Even though the challengers have had the same set of ‘tools’, which are the 29 letters, finite grammatical rules and the blue print of the challenge – which is the Qur’an itself; they have failed to:

Replicate the Qur’ans literary form
Match the unique linguistic genre of the Qur’an
Select and arrange words like that of the Qur’an.
Select and arrange particles like that of the Qur’an.
Match the Qur’ans phonetic superiority.
Equal the frequency of rhetorical devices
Match the level of informativity
Equal the Qur’ans conciseness and flexibility

For example if we take Musaylamah’s attempt to challenge the Qur’an,

The elephant.
What is the elephant?
And who shall tell you what is the elephant?
He has a ropy tail and a long trunk.
This is a [mere] trifle of our Lord's creations.

it can be clearly seen, with reference to the Arabic original, that the style of his speech is in the kahin style of rhymed prose. It lacks informativity and the words and phrases that have been used can be replaced with words that will express greater meaning and produce more eloquent discourse. In other words from a literary and stylistics point of view, this challenge fails.

In light of the above what makes the Qur’an, or in this case, what makes the shortest chapter in the Qur’an inimitable? To start, below is a summary of chapter al-Kawthar’s literary and linguistic features:

Unique Literary Form
Unique Linguistic Genre
Abundance of rhetorical devices/features:
- Emphasis
- Multiple Meaning
- Iltifaat – Grammatical shift
- Word order and Arrangement
- Ellipsis
- Conceptual Relatedness (Intertextuality)
- Intensification
- Choice of words & Particles
- Phonetics
- Semantically Orientated Repetition
- Intimacy
- Exaggeration
- Rebuke and contempt
- Conciseness
- Flexibility
- Prophesy/Factual

Unique Literary Form

This chapter like all the other chapters in the Qur’an can only be described as a unique literary form. This means that this chapter can not be explained as any of the known literary forms of the Arabic language.

The Arabic language can be categorised into ‘Prose’ and ‘Poetry’. Arabic Prose being further grouped into rhymed prose (saj’) and continuous speech (mursal). Arabic poetry differs from Arabic Prose as it ends with a rhyme and is distinguished by its metrical rhythmical patterns which are called the ‘al-Bihar.’ There are 16 al-Bihar which all Arabic poetry, pre and post Islamic, are based upon.

This chapter is unique as its internal rhythm can not be described as any of the al-Bihar and its end rhyme and literary bonds differ from any Arabic prose. Therefore its literary form is unlike any known literary forms of the Arabic language.

For more information please see :: The Inimitable Qur'an ::

Unique Linguistic Genre

Like all other chapters in the Qur’an, chapter al-Kawthar marry’s together rhetorical and cohesive elements in every sentence. This is a unique use of the Arabic language as Arabic texts mostly employ cohesive elements in every sentence. Below is an analysis of this chapter in light of the above:

This chapter can be split into two sentences:

[1] Verily We have given to you the abundance so pray to your Lord and sacrifice

[2] Indeed your enemy is the one who is cut off

In the first sentence the rhetorical aspects are (these will be explained later):

Emphasis/Intensification
Choice of Word & Particle
Rhythm and Sound
Iltifaat (grammatical shift)
Multiple meaning
Conceptual Relatedness (intertextuality)

The cohesive device used in this sentence is the ‘fa’ particle (which is causative) and links the structure ‘Verily We have given to you the abundance’ with the structure ‘pray to your Lord and sacrifice’.

In the second sentence the rhetorical aspects are:

Choice of Word and Particle
Rhythm and Sound
Semantically Orientated Repetition
Confinement/exclusivity
Rebuke and Contempt
Prophesy/Factual
Word order and Arrangement

The cohesive device used in this sentence is what is known as ‘Zero’ cohesion. This is a form of cohesion where a cohesive particle like waw (and) or fa’ (so) is not used. The cohesive element is easily understood via the readers’ linguistic intuition. The whole structure relates to the preceding sentence, if it was not apparent then a cohesive particle would have to be used. The way the Qur’an achieves cohesion in this sentence can also be seen as a rhetorical feature, not using a cohesive particle in this case creates conciseness in language; any needless or repetitive lexical items are removed. If the relationship between one sentence and another can be understood without the use of additional words or particles then they should not be used, as this achieves brevity and eloquent discourse. This is similar to the chapter al-Ihklas (Sincerity).

For more information please see http://www.theinimitablequran.com/UniqueGenre.html

Abundance of Rhetorical Devices/Features

This chapter like all the other chapters in the Qur’an has an abundance of rhetorical features and devices. According to Abu Musa, Abdul Raof and others the Qur’an has a greater use of rhetorical devices and features than any other text; past or present. Below are some examples of how chapter al-Kawthar achieves this ‘sea of rhetoric’. What is meant by rhetoric here is what is known in the Arabic tradition as ‘balagha’, this encompasses the use of language to please and persuade; expression in the best verbal forms, eloquence and interrelation between style, structure and meaning. The list below is not exhaustive but sheds some light into this chapter’s unique use of language.

Emphasis & Choice of Pronoun

إِنَّا

[Verily, We] This structure is emphatic (harf al-tawkid); also the plural is used to indicate power, certainty, ability, greater quantity or sometimes to stress the status and greatness (li-ta’zim al-mutakallim aw ihtimaman bi-dhikr rabbika wa ta’ziman). This is an apt choice of pronoun as its persuasive force can not be matched by any other pronoun. The effect is “The creator, who has power to do anything has indeed given you….”

Word Choice

أَعْطَيْن

[A’Tayn] This term as been used instead of ‘Aataaina’ because of a subtle difference. The difference as defined by Ibn Manzoor in his Lisan al-‘Arab differs conceptually. The Qur’anic choice indicates ‘to hand over with one’s own hand’ whereas the non Qur’anic selection does not provide this meaning. This choice of word is apt as it strengthens the sentence emphasizing the surety of giving, ability, greatness, power and intimacy (to console and strengthen the Prophet).

According to Naishapuri this term also indicates the extra notion of ownership with it.

The verb has also been used in the past tense which indicates that is has already happened and makes it definitive. This further accentuates the meaning of surety, power and greatness. This also expresses certainty of a promise, in this case the Prophet will have al-Kawthar.

Word Choice

الْكَوْثَرَ

[al-Kawthar] The root stem for this word are the letters kaaf, tha and ra (=kathara). This signifies plentiful, multitude, overflowing, rich, unstinting and unending. Other derivations of this root include:

Katha-ratun: Multitude
Katheerun: Much, many, numerous
Ak’tharu: More numerous (emphasis)
Kath-thara: To multiply
Takathur: Act of multiplying
Is-thak-thara: To wish for much

Al-Qurtubi states that the Arabs used ‘Kawthar’ to denote anything which is great in quantity or value. This word can not be replaced with another, as its meaning can not be matched equally with any other Arabic word. Ibn Abbas mentioned that the al-Kawthar includes all types of good. (Ibn Abbas Tanwir al-Miqbas: this is of doubtful origin. However this is also the opinion of Sa‘id Ibn Jubayr, ‘Ikramah, Qatadah and Mujahid.)

Word Arrangement

The placement of al-Kawthar is an attribute; plentiful/abundance. However this word has been placed at the end of the verse with no word after to be attributed to it, as al-Qurtubi points out, this indicates that the Prophet has been given an abundance of everything. The Scholars state that if God had bestowed one thing in great multitude then that would have been mentioned, however due to giving the Prophet an abundance of everything nothing is mentioned to indicate everything or many things. Also within the science of eloquence and rhetoric mentioning all the things would be superfluous and not a good use of language.

Multiple Meaning

The word al-Kawthar has been given multiple meanings by the scholars. These meanings include:

That river of paradise from which rivers flow.
The fountain on the Day of Judgement from which the Prophet will quench the thirst of his people.
His prophethood.
The Qur’an, no other divine book is as comprehensive as the Qur’an.
The way of life called Islam.
The multitude of his companions, no other prophet had that many companions
Elevated status. No one is more researched, more mentioned and more praised than the prophet Muhammad.
It is multitude of goodness.

Grammatical Shift: Iltifaat

إِنَّا …ِرَبِّكَ ْ

[…to your Lord]. Iltifaat is a unique rhetorical and stylistic device employed by the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the only text to have the highest frequency of grammatical shifts and related rhetorical features. In this Surah, there is a change from the first person plural [We in innaa] to the second person […your Lord]. This change is not an abrupt shift; it is calculated and highlights the intimate relationship between God and the Prophet. The use of ‘We’ as described above is used to emphasize the majesty, power and ability of God whereas ‘Your Lord’ is used to indicate and emphasize intimacy, closeness and love; this is an apt use as the preceding concepts are about prayer, sacrifice and worship. [So to your Lord pray and sacrifice]. Furthermore, the purpose of this chapter is also to console the Prophet, using intimate language enhances the psycholinguistic effect.

For more information please see Hamza Andreas Tzortzis: The Dynamic Style of the Qur'an: Grammatical Shifts

Conceptual Relatedness (intertextuality)

فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ

[So to your Lord pray and sacrifice]

The ‘fa’ (so) particle is sababi (causative) this indicates a recommendation to the Prophet to be thankful for the abundance he has been given. This conceptually relates to tawhid (oneness of God). The Oneness of God is the central theme in the Qur’an which permeates every chapter. The Arabs at the time of revelation would worship, pray and sacrifice to other ‘deities’ rather than God. Therefore this statement is not only a logical and rational concept i.e. to be thankful as a result of being the beneficiary of abundant good, rather it is to show the difference to the polytheists who would offer worship and sacrifice to idols. This relates to a major theme in the Qur’an, the oneness of God.

There are other verses that related to this particular verse, these include:

Say: "Verily, my Salah, my sacrifice, my living, and my dying are for Allah, the Lord of all that exists. He has no partner. And of this I have been commanded, and I am the first of the Muslims.'' Qur'an 6:162-163

And do not eat from what Allah's Name has not been pronounced over, indeed that is Fisq (transgression). Qur'an 6:121

It can be clearly seen that chapter al-Kawthar conceptually relates to other verses and chapters within the Qur’an. This feature from a linguistics point of view is called thematic intertextuality.

Word Choice

وَانْحَرْ

[Wanhar] The word ‘wanhar’ is from the root na, ha and ra (= nahara) which means to sacrifice an animal by cutting or piercing the jugular vein. The word ‘wanhar’ also has the meaning of standing facing Qibla for Salah (prayer). It also means raising hands while reciting Takbir (God is the Greatest).

This word is the most apt word for the meaning of sacrifice as it has multi layered meanings which are most appropriate for the ideas and concepts that are trying to be delivered in this structure. Surely it is only out of God’s Greatness that al-Kawthar is given to the Prophet and it should be received with thanks and sacrifice, which are manifested in Islam via sacrificing animals, prayer and recitation of Gods names (dhikr).

If anyone was to scan the Arabic language for a word that has such expression they would not be able to find one.

Emphasis and Choice of Particle

إِنَّ

[Inna] ‘Indeed’ is used to emphasize and accentuate that it is the enemies of the Prophet that are cut off. The effect is ‘you enemies are certainly the ones you are cut off’.

Semantically Orientated Repetition & Rhythm

إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الْأَبْتَرُ

The repetition of the second person (ka = ‘you’ x 3) is singling out/focusing/making exclusive the Prophet as the target of the speaker. The emphasis (iqrar) is a stylistic move to fortify and strengthen the Prophet. The consistent use of the second person establishes continuity in the verse and generates rhythm. Moreover, there is a juxtaposition between the iltifaat of the speaker (al-mutakallim = God) with the fixity/repetition of ka in the second person (mukhatab = Prophet).

Rebuke and Contempt

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ

[It is your enemy that is cut off]

The use of the word ‘abtar’ (cut off) is most suitable as it was a word used by the enemies of the Prophet against him. This structure indicates that in reality the enemies of the Prophet are the ones who are cut off i.e. have acquired great loss. This is accentuated by the preceding two verses which are an intense, emphatic and exaggerated use of language to show that all good has been given to the Prophet. The contrast between the persuasive preceding structures and the use of the word ‘abtar’ gives the word more power and intensity.

Word Arrangement

إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ

[abtar] This chapter uses the insult the enemies of the Prophet used to enhance the communicative effect. This word in the Arabic tradition means `Leave him, for indeed he is a man who is cut off having no descendants. So when he dies he will not be remembered.'

This return of insult is not merely done as a form of ‘tit for tat’ rather it is eloquently arranged as the last word used in the chapter to stress the meaning. The effect is, that it is they who are really cut off as the word ‘abtar’ is placed right at the end of the chapter to allude to this fact. There are no words after ‘abtar’ just like no remembrance and no offspring to continue someone’s lineage (Note: This is a linguistic indication and not a fact).

Choice of Particle: Confinement/Exclusivity

هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ

[…that is cut off]. The alif lam (a and l) after the ‘huwa’ denotes confinement and exclusivity (designates a specific person or thing i.e. the enemies of the Prophet). For the context of this chapter, the definite article (al-) may designate either definition (li ’l-ta’rif) i.e. refer to a specific person/thing or it may designate ‘familiarity’ (li ’l-‘ahd). The effect here is that the enemies specifically and not the Prophet who are really cut off. Such minutiae changes the power of the structure, which is a great use of language.

Rhythm and Sound

The Qur’an has been described as an “inimitable symphony” whose rhythm moves men to tears and ecstasy. The Qur’an not only selects the most apt words and phrases, but also achieves a unique sound within a unique literary form. This chapter has the following verse end rhyme:

Kawthar
…nhar
…tar

What is noticeable about the rhyme in this chapter is that the end rhyme of the last two verses resonate the sound of the word ‘al-kawthar’, what is meant here is as if the sound of the word ‘al-kawthar’ is extended to support the overall theme that the Prophet has really been given an abundance. It is as though the word ‘al-kawthar’ has been exaggerated and phonetically elongated to further highlight its meaning and enhance the overall persuasive power of the structure. Please also see ‘Semantically Orientated Repetition & Rhythm’ above.

For more information please see Hamza Andreas Tzortzis: The Qur'an and Sound

Prophesy/Factual

An interesting observation of the chapter is that it also is factual and accurate. At the time when this chapter was revealed the Prophet was in one of the lowest points in his life. His enemies were the ones who seemed to have prosperity and power. However, the reality soon changed. The Prophet turned out to be the most successful Prophet both as a man delivering a message and as a statesman. His enemies eventually lost their power.

However the Qur’an used the word ‘abtar’ here, this describes the Prophet gaining power and success but it should also indicate something more specific for it to be appreciated as a factual description and a form of prophesy.

There are major opinions of the reason for this revelation. The first opinion is that Al-`As bin Wa'il would say, whenever the Prophet would be mentioned (in his presence), `Leave him, for indeed he is a man who is cut off having no descendants. So when he dies he will not be remembered.' Therefore this chapter was revealed to console the Prophet.

The other opinion is that Abu Lahab, another leading member of the Quraish, exlaimed `Muhammad has been cut off (i.e., from progeny) tonight.' when the Prophet’s son passed away.

What makes this chapter a prophesy and factual is the events that took place after this revelation.

With regards to Abu Lahab he died of a form of plague and was not buried by his sons until one the leading tribe leaders noticed how his body was rotting. His sons eventual placed the remains of the body on a wall and threw stones on it. Abu Lahab had lost power, honour and dignity.

‘As bin Wa’il faced similar humiliation. His sons had converted to Islam thus becoming his enemies, as he was an active enemy of Islam. Furthermore his sons did not take any inheritance from him. So in reality his lineage was broken.

This is Prophetic and factual.

Please read the exegesis and the historical background of this chapter to find out more details.

Conclusion

This chapter is truly unique and inimitable.

This chapter has less than 15 words yet briefly analysing this chapter more than 15 rhetorical devices and related features have been found. These features are not just mediocre attempts to please and persuade, rather they are sublime features that if removed or altered will distort the impact and communicative effect of the text.

Not one feature or any words can be changed or improved upon.

It doesn’t stop there. In addition to the above this chapter is structured within its own literary form and linguistic genre.

How can a human being create a unique literary form and linguistic genre, select the most apt words placed in the most perfect arrangement, produce a unique rhythm and semantically orientated sounds, provide factual prophetic information in concise eloquent expression with an abundance of rhetorical devices, in less than 15 words?

It was no wonder that those best placed to challenge the Qur’an failed.

This article intends to provoke further questions and sufficiently stimulate the reader to research further, particularly the question of authorship of the Qur’an. At the heart of that question lies only a limited set of possible answers. The Qur'an can only have come from an Arab, a non-Arab, the Prophet - if you believe he had a mastery of Arabic better than the Arabs of his time - or, as Muslims suggest, the Creator, which only counts as a possible source if you believe in its existence (that is of course a subject unto itself but an important pre-requisite).

From the above evidence the Qur’an is acknowledged to be written with the utmost beauty and purity of Language. It is incontestably the standard of the Arabic tongue, inimitable by any human pen, and because it still exists today, it insists on as a permanent miracle sufficient to convince the world of its divine origin. If the Qur’an was written by Muhammad, why were not Arab scholars and linguists able to rival the Qur’an?"
 

Nelo Angelo

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Subhanallah. It is indeed no wonder those best placed could not meet the challenge, and as the Qu'ran says,
"Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support." [17:88]

Another chapter, again just 3 verses long is Surah 'Asr (slightly longer in word count to Al Kauthar) carries so much significance and a world of meaning in just 3 verses.

"This Surah is a matchless specimen of comprehensivness and brevity. A whole world of meaning has been compressed into its few brief words, which istoo vast in content to be fully expressed even in a book. In it, in a clear and plain way it has been stated what is the way to true success for man and what is the way to ruin and destruction for him. Imam Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on Him) has rightly said that if the people only considered this Surah (chapter) well, it alone would suffice them for their guidance. How important this Surah was in the sight of the Companions can be judged from the traditions from the tradition cited from Abdullah bin Hisn ad Darami Abu Madinah, according to which whenever any two of them met (companions of the Prophet) they would not part company until they had recited Surah Al-'Asr to each other." (Tabarani)

[Al-Qur'an: Chapter 103: Al-'Asr (Time)]

1. By (the Token of) Time (through the ages),
2. Verily Man is in loss,
3. Except such as have Faith, and do righteous deeds, and (join together) in the mutual teaching of Truth, and of Patience and Constancy."
 
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