The Quran—The Miracle Given to the Prophet

THE QURAN—THE MIRACLE GIVEN TO THE PROPHET communication medium. The rhetorical language was also very much in vogue before the Quran, but for the first time in literary history, the Quran introduced a factual rather than rhetorical style. The most famous topics for literary treatment had previously been military and romantic exploits. The Quran, on the contrary, featured a much broader spectrum, including matters of ethical, legal, scientific, psychological, economic, political and historical significance within its scope. In ancient times, parables were a popular mode of expression. Here too, the Quran trod new ground, adopting a more direct method of saying things. The reasoning employed in the Quran was also considerably different from that used in pre-Quranic times. Whereas purely theoretical, analogical proof was all the world had known before this, the Quran introduced empirical, scientific reasoning. And to crown all its achievements, the Quran expressed all this in a refined literary style, which proved imperishable in times to come. There was an ancient Arab saying that “the sweetest poem was the one with the most lies.” The Quran changed this introducing a new mode of “articulate speech” (55:4) based on real facts rather than hypothetical fables. Now Arabic followed the Quran’s lead. Pre-Islamic Arabic literature was collected and compiled with the preservation and understanding of the language of the Quran in mind. Great departments of learning, facilitating knowledge of the Quran and explaining its orders and prohibitions,