The Holy Quran presents the glimpses of the unmatched eloquence

Compiled By: Syed Ali Shahbaz
The Holy Quran presents the glimpses of the unmatched eloquence and timeless wisdom of God's Last and Most Comprehensive Code for the guidance of all human societies, the holy Qur'an, whose challenge to bring even a semblance to some of its lines, stands unchallenged till this day.
When Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) started reciting the Words of God to the people as per the gradual revelation of the Surahs of the holy Qur'an, the ignorant Arabs who were proud of their mastery of the intricacies of the Arabic language, were amazed by these ayahs, but at the same time tried to deny it as the Revealed Words of God. In answer to their lack of faith and to their prejudice, the holy Qur'an termed urging them to open up their minds in order to get rid of their idolatrous ways challenged them to bring a page or even a few lines, matching the dynamism of the words of the holy Qur'an. Abu Jahl, the notorious enemy of the Prophet, even threatened to kill him if he continues to preach the message of Islam. Thus, many of the hardcore infidels told the people not to listen to the words of the Prophet, and would create noises to prevent the people from hearing to the recitation of the holy Qur'an. And even those who listened were told that these words were nothing but magic, and that the poetries of the Arabs of Jahiliyya were far more superior. So, in response to such allegations, God revealed to the Prophet to challenge the people to bring a likeness of at least some lines of the holy Qur'an, if they can, and made it clear that even if all mankind and the Jinn would get together to produce something like the holy Qur'an, they will never succeed.
The infidel Arab poets tried to compose couplets to answer the eloquence of the holy Qur'an, but failed. Musailama the Liar of Najd tried to mock the Prophet by calling himself a prophet as well. He tried to compose some verses on the style of Surah al-Feel of the holy Qur'an, but whatever he produced was erratic and lacking any literary eloquence, let alone wisdom. In response to such tricks by the Arab charlatans, the holy Qur'an said in ayahs 50 and 51 of Surah Ankabout: “They say, ‘Why has not some sign been sent down to him from His Lord?’ Say, ‘The signs are only with Allah, and I am only a manifest warner.”
“Does it not suffice them that We have sent down to you the Book which is recited to them? There is indeed a mercy and admonition in that for a people who have faith.”
Shaikh Tabarsi, the author of the monumental exegesis of the holy Qur'an, Tafsir al-Qur'an, says that these ayahs explicitly declare that the holy Qur'an is the manifest and greatest miracle in front of which all miracles fade away. In fact, it is the living miracle for all time. Thus in view of these facts, the holy Qur'an in ayah 88 of Surah Isra, says: “Say, ‘Should all humans and jinn rally to bring the like of this Qur’ān, they will not bring the like of it, even if they assisted one another.”
Since none could match the holy Qur'an, God reduced the magnitude of the challenge from the whole book to at 10 Surahs, by saying in ayah 13 of Surah Houd: “Do they say, ‘He has fabricated it?’ Say, ‘Then bring ten sūrahs like it, fabricated, and invoke whomever you can, besides Allah, should you be truthful.”
Since the Arab infidels failed to respond, God says in ayah 23 of Surah Baqarah to bring at least one Surah to rival the dynamism of the holy Qur'an by saying in ayah 23 of Surah Baqarah: “And if you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a sūrah like it, and invoke your helpers besides Allah, should you be truthful.”
The Arab literati, whether ancient of present, have admitted the inability of the human mind to produce only a slight resemblance to the holy Qur'an. Recently, a company called American online” tried to ridicule the holy Qur'an by distorting its ayahs and forging on the Internet, what it called surahs. However, none were deceived and the forgery was clear to all. According to Islamologists and even non-Muslims, the supposed Surahs are outright fabrication and a clumsy joke, rather than any logical challenge to the holy Qur'an. These challenges were not just empty words with no one caring to prove them wrong. The Prophet's call to monotheism, to the abolition of idolatry in all its forms, and to the equality of slaves and their masters threatened the whole socio-economic framework of the Arab society in general, and the position of the Quraish tribe in particular. Mecca, the trading center of Arabia, as well as its spiritual center, desperately wanted to stop the spread of Islam. Yet all that the Prophet’s opponents had to do to crush the movement was to make up a single surah like any one of those which the Prophet and his followers were reciting to the people. The Quraish and their allies could not produce a mere three lines of poetry or flowing prose similar to the shortest surah of the holy Qur'an. Hence, there can be no doubt about the inimitability of the unrivalled literary style of the Qur'an, and the eternal miracle it is, as is evident by the timeless eloquence of its ayahs and their universal wisdom.