CHAPTER TWO The Quran — The Prophet’s Miracle

The Quran put the same idea in the poignantly succinct words: ‘Every soul shall taste death’ (3:185). Killing and plundering presented a major problem in ancient Arabia. Certain phrases had been coined to express the idea that only killing could put an end to killing, and these were considered highly eloquent in pre-Islamic days. ‘To kill some is to give life to the whole,’ one of them went. ‘Kill more, so that there should be less killing,’ and ‘Killing puts an end to killing,’ were some other examples. The Quran expressed the idea in these words: ‘In retaliation there is life for you, O men of understanding.’ (2: 179). In pre-Quranic days, poetry held an important place in Arabic, as in other languages of the world. Poetical expression of ideas was given pride of place in the literary arena. The Quran, however, left this beaten track, and used prose instead of poetry. This in itself is proof that the Quran came from God, for in the 7th century AD who, save God – who knows the future just as He knows the past – could know that prose rather than poetry should be chosen as the medium for divine scripture that was to last for all time. The Quran was addressed to future generations, and soon poetry was going to become less important as a mass medium of communication. 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 a rhetorical style. The most famous topics for literary treatment had previously been military and romantic exploits. The Quran, on the contrary, featured a much wider spectrum, including matters of ethical, legal, scientific, psychological, economic, political and historic 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 method of reasoning employed in the Quran was also considerably different from that used in pre-Quranic times. Whereas purely theoretical, analogical proof was all that the world had known prior to 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 verifiable facts rather than on hypothetical fables. Now Arabic followed the Quran’s lead. Pre-lslamic Arabic literature was collected and compiled, keeping the preservation and understanding of the language of the Quran in mind. Great departments of learning, facilitating understanding of the Quran and explaining its orders and prohibitions came into existence. The learning of Arabic grammar, syntax and etymology, Islamic theology and traditions, as well as Quranic studies, were all aimed at helping us to understand the