The Islamic Personality by Sheikh Taqīuddīn An-Nabahānī

The Qur’ān is the expression revealed to our master Muhammad  with what indicates its meanings. So the Qur’ān is the wording (lafz) and meaning (ma'na) together. The meaning alone is not called the Qur’ān and the wording cannot possibly have any meaning because the basis of composing expressions is to indicate a specific meaning. This is why the Qur’ān has been described as a description of its wording. Thus, Allah  said about it that it is in Arabic when He  said:

And He  said

And He  said

Arabic is the depiction of the Qur’āns’ words and not a description of its meanings, because its meanings are human meanings and not Arabic meanings. It is for the humankind and not for the Arabs only. As for His  saying:

It means that it is a wisdom translated into the language of the Arabs and not that it is an Arabic wisdom. Here the word 'Arabic' is a description of wording and nothing else. It’s (i.e The Qurans’) wording are not to be described except in Arabic. It has no other designation other than Arabic, whether literally or metaphorically. That is why it is not correct to say that the writing of some of its meanings in another language is Qur’ān. The Arabic language of the Qur’ān is indisputable; its wordings are only in Arabic. The Qur’ān is the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad . Even though there are other miracles of the Prophet  which took place at his  hands different to that of the Qur’ān, as mentioned in the Qur’ān itself and the Sahih works of the Sunnah, the he  did not challenge the people with, the challenge was only by the Qur’ān. That is why we say that the Qur’ān was the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad  with which his Messengership has been proven ever since the Qur’ān was revealed until the Day of Judgement. The Qur’ān rendered the Arabs incapable of bringing something like it, and it challenged them to bring something like it. He  said in His challenge to them:

And He  said:

His  challenge to them reached a point where He  told them that they will not be able to bring something like it. He  said:

So those challenged by the Qur’ān were unable to being something like the Qur’ān, their inibility to meet this challenge has been proven via recurrent reports (mutawatir) and history has no knowledge of and nor has anybody narrated a report that they (the Arabs) did bring something like it.

This challenge is not specific to those who were addressed; rather it is an open challenge until the day of Judgement because the consideration is for the generality of the wording (lafz) and not the specificity of the cause (sabab). So the Qur’ān challenges the whole of mankind since it was revealed and until the Day of Judgement to bring something like it that is why the Qur’ān is not a miracle for the Arabs who lived in the days of the Messenger  only, and nor is it only for the Arabs, rather it is a miracle for the whole of mankind, In this regard there is no difference between one tribe and another because his  address is to the whole of mankind. He  said:

And because the verses of the challenge are general ('amma), they say:

It includes the whole of mankind, and because the Qur’ān informs us of the inibility of mankind and jinn, He  said:

The Arab's inibility to produce something similar to this Qur’ān, and all the people's inibility to bring something similar to it is a matter intrinsic to the Qur’ān itself. The Arabs, when they would listen to the Qur’ān, they would approach it and they were taken by the magic of its eloquence, even al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, who had heard the Prophet  reciting the Qur’ān, said to the people:

This despite the fact that al-Walid did not believe and persisted with his kufr. So the aspects of the miracle relate to the nature of the Qur’ān itself because those who have heard it and those who will hear it until the Day of Judgement are baffled and bewildered by the power of its eloquence by just simply listening to it, even if it is just one sentence:

And thus an ayah or ayāt of the Qur’ān would be recited. Its words, style and purpose completely captivates and seizes the emotions of the man.

The miracle of the Qur’ān is clearest in its fluency, purity and eloquence of an astonishing level. This is indicated in the miracilous style of the Qur’ān. Its style has clarity (Wuduh), intensity (Quwwah) and beauty (Jamal) that man cannot match. Style (uslub) is the arrangement of meanings in assorted words or it is the manner of expression to highlight meanings with lingusitic expressions, and the clarity of the style comes from the projection of the meanings intended to be expressed in the phrase with which they are expressed:

The intensity (Quwwah) of the style is represented by the choice of words compatible to the meaning they give. Thus, the delicate meaning is expressed with the delicate word, and the emotive meaning is expressed with the emotive word and the loathed meaning is expressed with the loathed word and so on and so forth...

As for the beauty of the uslub (style) this is to be found in the choice of the most pure and best phrases fitting with the meaning they conveyed and with the words and meanings, which accompany them in the expressions

The one who examines the Qur’ān will find a lofty elevation in which the style of the Qur’ān is characterised in terms of its clarity, intensity and beauty. Listen to this clarity, intensity and beauty:

The Qur’ān is a special genre (tiraz) of expression. Its arrangement of words (nazm) does not follow the standard method of metrical and rythmic poetry (As-shi'r al-mawzun al-muqaffa), nor is it according to the method of free prose (An-nathm al-mursal), nor is it on the method of an-nathr al-muzdawij (has dual resemblance to rhymed and free prose) or an-nathr al-masjooh (rhymed prose). It is a unique style, which the Arabs had never come across before. The Arabs, due to the extraordinary effect that the Qur’ān had on them did not know from what aspect did the Qur’ān reach this wondrous nature (i'jaz). So they started to say, as has been mentioned in the Qur’ān:

And they began to say that these were the words of a poet and that he is a soothsayer. That is why Allah  replied to them when he  said:

The fact that the Qur’ān is of a special genre and a unique structure is clear in every respect. So you will find the Qur’ān saying:

And it says

However these verses are not peotry, but rather a type of prose which is unique. When you find the Qur’ān saying this type of prose

It also lengthens the passage and style in prose in its saying:

You will find it creative in rhymed prose, thus it will speak in rhymed prose. So it says:

You will find it superior in izdiwaj (prose with successive but different rhyms) so it says:

You will find it lengthening the izdiwaj, so the Qur’ān states:

Whilst proceeding on a certain rhyme it will move to another type of rhyme prose. So while prooceeding in rhyme in the following:

It will abandon it in the verse immediately after it, so it says:

Then it will move from this rhyme to another type in the verse that immediatley follows it, so it says:

In this manner examine the whole Qur’ān, you will not find it adhering to anything from the well-known way of the Arabs in terms of poetry or prose in their various types, and nor does it resemble any saying from the sayings of the Arabs or any other people.

Then you will find its style is clear, intense and beautiful which renders meanings in a manner of expression which depicts the meanings in the most accurate of depictions. When the meaning is delicate you find it saying:

Using delicate words and soft, flowing sentences.

And when the meaning is forceful, one will find it saying:

Thus using grand words and strong sentences. And when the meaning is pleasant it uses pleasant words, so it says:

And when the meaning is objectionable it comes with the appropriate word for this meaning, so it says:

And it says:

The rendering of meaning had been accompanied with this manner of expression which depicts the meanings, giving attention to words which have the rhyme that moves the soul when conceiving the meanings and comprehending them. That is why it evokes in the listener who comprehends, due to the depth of its meanings and the eloquence of its expression a deep sense of awe humility until some of the eloquent Arab thinkers almost prostrated before it despite their disbelief and obstinacy.

Then, indeed the one who scrutinises the words of the Qur’ān and its sentences will find that the Qur’ān gives attention to, when placing letters together, the sounds that come out from their places of articulation. So the letters close to each other in articulation are placed close to each other in a word or sentence. And when there is a gap betwen the points of articulation, they are separated with a letter which eliminates the strangeness of the transition. And at the same time it makes a letter pleasant in articulation and light on the ears to be repeated like the chorus in music. It does not say 'kal ba'iq a-mudfiq' but 'kasayyib'. Nor does it say 'al-hu'khu'' but 'sundusu khudrin'. And when it is necessary to use letters which are placed distanced from each other in a meaning which befits it and nothing else gives that meaning like the word 'deeza', there is no point in using the word 'zalima' or 'ja'ira' in its place even though the meaning is one. In additon to this precision in usage, the letter which is in chorus is clearly found in verses with some frequency. The Verse of the Throne (ayatul kursiyy) for example has the letter lam repeated in it 23 times in a pleasant manner which has an impact on the hearing such that it makes people prick up their ears and want to hear more.

In this manner, you will find that the Qur’ān is a special genre. And you will find it reveals all of its meanings in the expression that befits it, in the words around it and the meanings with it. You will not find that missing in any of its ayat. Its miraculousness (i'jaz) is clear in its style in terms of being a special genre of speech which does not resemble any speech of human beings or vice versa, and in terms of the application of meanings in words and sentences which befit them and in terms of the effect/impression of the words on the hearing of the one who comprehends its eloquence and looks deeply into its meanings, so he becomes humble to the point of almost prostating to it. And the effect it has on the hearing of the one who does not comprehend its eloquence, the ring and sound of these words captivate him and hold him spellbound in an incapacitating manner to which the listener humbles himself by force even though he may not understand its meanings. Therefore, it is a miracle which will remain a miracle until the Final Hour.