Suppose you bumped into someone today and he told you that he was flying around yesterday for half an hour and that it was miraculous; which must mean that he had a special relationship with God – (the creator of the universe and its physical laws and thus able to remove those laws that we are bound by) and that he was therefore a messenger. Suppose he told you that he brings you a message from God; that you must believe whatever he tells you about what happens to you after death, and he informs you what your purpose in this life is and that you must follow the rules he brought for you because he receives his guidance from God. But you then challenged him and asked him to fly in front of you to prove it but he couldn’t – would you believe him? Or would you want to see that miraculous act in front of you so that you would be sure he was speaking the truth?
There is a claim to a miracle that we can witness today- and that is the miracle of the Quran. The Quran lays a claim that it is the speech of God revealed to Muhammed:
“Al- Rahman (The All- Merciful) , Taught the Quran” (Chapter Rahman, ayah 1-2)
“Should you have any doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, present one chapter comparable to it and call all your supporters, besides God, if your claim is true.” (Chapter 2 , ayah 23)
The proof of its miracle is in its challenge to the people to bring something like it and their inability to do so -for if it is from a human being then it surely can be replicated by a human being:
“And this Qur'ân is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which was before it [i.e. the Taurat (Torah), and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.], and a full explanation of the Book (i.e. laws and orders, etc, decreed for mankind) - wherein there is no doubt from the Lord of the 'Alamin (mankind, jinns,and all that exists).
Or do they say: "He (Muhammad(P)) has forged it?" Say: "Bring then a sûrah (chapter) like unto it, and call upon whomsoever you can, besides Allah, if you are truthful!" [Qur'ân 10:37-38]
What is the miracle?
In a nutshell: Arabic literature (like other languages) has its different structures : poetry and prose that have their different compositions or designs. If one design of expression is tried to squeeze and fit into another style then it will stand out. The Quran has its own unique style which cannot be imitated.
To explain further, (using the English language as an example):
Poems can be broken down and its structure analysed in terms of line, stanza, rythym and rhyme. These can be combined to form different types of poems such as sonnets, villanelle and haiku to name a few. There will be uses of devices within the poem to strike the listener such as the use of enjambment (where the meaning runs over the line), onomatope (where the sound of the word describes the meaning like ‘roar’) and dissonance (the use of contrasting or harsh sounds).
Prose will also have its various styles such as when writing a text message, an email or an essay.
Now if we look at an example of a Shakespearean sonnet:
Shakespearean sonnet is generally written in iambic pentameter, in which there are 10 syllables in each line. The rhythm of the lines must be as below:
“From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauty’s rose might never die.
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heir might bear his memory:
But thou, contracted to thine own bright eyes,
Feed’st thy light’s flame with self-substantial fuel,
Making a famine where abundance lies,
Thyself thy foe, to thy sweet self too cruel.
Thou that art now the world’s fresh ornament
And only herald to the gaudy spring,
Within thine own bud buriest thy content
And, tender churl, mak’st waste in niggarding.
Pity the world, or else this glutton be,
To eat the world’s due, by the grave and thee…”
The rhyme scheme of the Shakespearian sonnet is abab–cdcd–efef–gg, which is difficult to follow. Hence, only Shakespeare is known to have done it.
However, that is not to say that if challenged you could not imitate this structure.
Similarly, before Shakespear- Edmund Spenser was the first poet who modified the Petrarch’s form (the italian sonnet), and introduced a new rhyme scheme as follows. The rhyme scheme in this sonnet is abab–bcbc–cdcd–ee, which is specific to Spenser, and such types of sonnets are called Spenserian sonnets:
“What guile is this, that those her golden tresses
She doth attire under a net of gold;
And with sly skill so cunningly them dresses,
That which is gold or hair, may scarce be told?
Is it that men’s frail eyes, which gaze too bold,
She may entangle in that golden snare;
And being caught may craftily enfold
Their weaker hearts, which are not yet well aware?
Take heed therefore, mine eyes, how ye do stare
Henceforth too rashly on that guileful net,
In which if ever ye entrapped are,
Out of her bands ye by no means shall get.
Folly it were for any being free,
To covet fetters, though they golden be.”
All that we examined here was the rhyming patterns in the structure- we did not even consider any language devices used that enrichen the experience and conveys the author’s intended meaning.
Now going back to the Arabic language; there too is a whole series of different poetic forms that exist. The celebrated poets in pre-islamic Arabia would be honoured with their poetry being hung on the walls of the Ka’abah (the House of God which was the center of pilgrimage from all over Arabia). These poems are known as the “mu'allaqat” (literally- ‘the hung’) and are still studied in schools and universities in Arabic lessons- as Shakespeare is studied in English lessons. The quranic style does not fit the structure of any of the styles of prose or poetry. When the learned Arabs heard it- they said it was unlike anything they heard before. It came with its own unique style, and the challenge is to recreate that style using the same devices that give it its unique structure. There have been books by various scholars written analysing the various aspects of the language of the quran- however one example of the features is included below:
* Surah al-Anbiyaa, verse 46: “And if a breath of the torment of your Lord touches them…”
ولئن مسّتهم نفحة من عذاب ربك
“Here, we shall .... demonstrate the word-order in the parts of a sentence as a whole. For example: But if a breath of your Sustainer’s punishment touches them. In this sentence, it wants to point out the terribleness of the punishment by showing the severity of the least amount. That is to say, it expresses littleness or fewness, and all the parts of the sentence also look to this littleness or fewness, and reinforce it.
“Thus, the words, ‘But if’ signify doubt, and doubt looks to littleness or fewness.
“The word ‘touches’ means to touch lightly and expresses a small amount.
“And just as the word ‘a breath’ is merely a whiff, so too is it in the singular form. Grammatically it is a masdar al-marra and signifies once. Also the tanwin indicating indefiniteness in ‘a breathe’ expresses littleness or fewness and means it is so insignificant that it can scarcely be known.
“The word ‘of’ signifies division or a part; it means a bit and indicates paucity.
“The word ‘punishment’ points to a light sort of punishment in relation to chastisement (nakal) or penalty (i’qab), and suggests a small amount.
“And by alluding to compassion and being used in place of Subduer, All-Compelling, or Avenger, the word ‘Sustainer’ indicates littleness or fewness. It says, if the small amount of punishment suggested in all this paucity has such an effect, you can compare how dreadful Divine chastisement would be. How much then do the small parts of this sentence look to one another and assist one another. How each reinforces the aim of the whole. This example looks to the words and aim in one degree.”
We have heard of humans forming words that sound like the meaning like “croak” and “roar” (onomatopoeia) - but here we have a whole sentence that uses the meaning of each word to reinforce the aim of the sentence! If it was difficult for poets to imitate the Shakespearean rhyming code in his sonnets (although still reproducible) then the difficulty to recreate sentences like this where one must consider all the words that exist with similar meanings before choosing any- will be appreciated!
It may be asked though, do you have to know Arabic to know it’s a miracle? The answer is no because there is a difference between appreciating or experiencing the miracle and rationally concluding its existence.
Appreciating a miracle
Any miracle will challenge the people to reproduce an act like it- in order to prove to them that it is beyond their capability and therefore that it is not humanly possible. Naturally then, those who are proficient or have some skill in the act are going to be the ones who can take up the challenge and prove it or disprove it as a miraculous act. They will therefore be able to appreciate it directly themselves for they have attempted to meet the challenge- and the more of a specialist in that field they are then the more they will be able to appreciate it!
However this does not mean that if you did not directly sense it yourself that you could not appreciate its existence! In this case, again we would study the reality and evaluate whether the challenge had been met.
It is incorrect to say that the miracle is only for those who are specialists, for the miracle is there for anyone to witness. It is only if you think about and study it that you will conclude it is a miracle. This is the same for any miracle (a layman for instance may not be able to appreciate the tricks involved in magic: that is why the magicians who saw Musa's miracle knew straight away that his act of turning the staff into a snake was no trick and submitted to God straight away infuriating the pharaoh). Following on from this, if the miracle best resembles the known arts of its age, in which there are many specialists in that particular field the miracle would be quickly believed and firmly established as evidence for the messengers claim. So Musa being given the miracle of the staff turning to a snake would have been acknowledged by the magicians prevalent in society; Jesus curing the lepers and making the blind see would have challenged the doctors who were prevalent in their skills of medicine. Likewise, Muhammad bringing a new and unique form of speech would have challenged the many poets prevalent amongst the Arabs who were glorified for their command of the language: thereby acknowledges the existence of a miracle once the challenge is not met amongst the many specialists in society.
Why language as a medium for the miracle ?
Language enables the communication of ideas. In the case of a messenger bringing a message, it enables the message itself to be preserved for future generations after the messenger has departed. A miracle of language therefore allows the message it carries to be kept pure from tampering and corruption for all of time. There is no need for future messengers to confirm the message from God - as long as humans can still use language to communicate!)
Contrast this with a miracle in a different form- that would mean that the message that a prophet brings would only be confirmed whilst the miracle and prophet exist- possibly a few generations who may be able to confirm through multiple independent witnesses the original witnessing of the miracle. However any message could still be corrupted by those future generations because what is witnessed and transmitted is the knowledge of the existence of a miracle but the message itself is a separate entity. Hence there would be a need for recurring prophets to correct the misguided transmission of any message amongst the people.
(Analogy: magicians and layman- layman fooled easily and cannot indifference between illusion and miracle. Magician able to tell it’s a miracle as expert in the field. Splitting the sea- everyone can see- so why not a simple miracle that everyone can see? It is for all times and it protects the message itself- it has to have a thoughtful aspect to it- as the message is an idea/thought- there is only one god worthy of worship and t follow his guidance.)
