4.3 挑战 - 《Usool At-tafseer》 | Quran Course

4.3 挑战 - 《Usool At-tafseer》 | Quran Course

这些挑战并非空洞的言辞,无人在意去证明其错误。先知穆罕默德(愿主赐福并使其平安)所倡导的一神信仰、废除一切形式的偶像崇拜、以及奴隶与主人平等的主张,威胁到了整个麦加社会的社会经济结构,尤其威胁到先知出身的古莱氏部族的统治地位。麦加既是阿拉伯的商业中心,也是其精神中心,因此极力希望阻止伊斯兰的传播。然而,先知的反对者们要扑灭这一运动,只需编写出一章与先知及其追随者向众人诵读的任何一章相类似的经文即可。古莱氏的一些演说家和诗人曾试图模仿《古兰经》,却未能成功。于是他们转而向先知提供巨额财富、让他做他们的国王,以及他们中最高贵、最美丽的女子,条件是他停止向人们传播伊斯兰。先知则以诵读《奉献》章的前十三节作答,直到他们请求他停止。古莱氏人还对皈依伊斯兰的奴隶和亲属施以酷刑,企图使他们重新信奉多神教,但这一徒劳的企图也未能得逞。随后,他们又对先知、其追随者以及他所属的哈希姆家族的成员实施经济抵制,试图以饥饿迫使他们屈服。然而这一计划最终也告失败。最后,他们策划在先知家中将他杀害,派遣来自古莱氏各个支系的武装青年动手,使谋杀的罪责由所有支系共同承担,从而使先知的家族无法复仇。

These challenges were not just empty words with no one caring to prove them wrong. Prophet Muhammad’s (r) 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 Makkan society in general, and the position of the ruling Qurayshee tribe from which the Prophet (r) came in particular. Makkah, the trading center of Arabia, as well as its spiritual center, desperately wanted to stop the spread of Islaam. Yet all that the Prophet’s opponents had to do to crush the movement was to make up a single soorah like any one of those which the Prophet (r) and his followers were reciting to the people. A number of Qurayshee orators and poets tried to imitate the Qur’aan, but they failed. They then resorted to offering him vast amounts of wealth, the position of king over them, and the most noble and beautiful of their women in exchange for his promise to stop inviting people to Islaam. He responded to them by reciting the first thirteen verses of Soorah Fussilat, until they asked him to stop.47 The Quraysh also resorted to torturing their slaves and relatives who had embraced Islaam in a vain attempt to cause them to revert to paganism. Later they organized an economic boycott against the Prophet (r), his followers and the members of his clan, Banoo Haashim, in an attempt to starve them into submission. But even this plan eventually failed. Finally, they plotted to kill him in his home by sending armed young men from each of the clans of Quraysh in order that the guilt of his murder be shared by all the clans, making revenge by the Prophet’s clan impossible

有人提出，《古兰经》的无法模仿性未必是独一无二的，因为莎士比亚、乔叟等伟大的英语诗人，以及任何语言中的伟大诗人，往往都有鲜明独特的风格，使他们有别于同时代的人。然而，比如当今某位领军诗人若深入研究莎士比亚的作品，以古旧的墨水、在古旧的纸上写下一首仿照莎士比亚风格的十四行诗，然后声称自己发现了莎士比亚遗失的一首诗，文学界即便经过仔细研究，恐怕也会接受这一说法。由此可见，即便是最伟大的诗人，其独特的风格也可以被模仿，正如著名画家也曾被模仿一样。48

It has been suggested that the inimitability of the Qur’aan is not necessarily unique, for great English poets like Shakespeare, Chaucer, or great poets in any language tend to have distinctly unique styles which set them apart from their contemporaries. However, if, for example, some leading poet of today were to make an in-depth study of Shakespeare’s writings and write a sonnet in Shakespeare’s style in old ink and on old paper, then claim that he had discovered a lost poem of Shakespeare’s, the literary world would probably accept this claim, even after careful study. Thus, even the greatest of poets could be imitated, no matter how unique his style was, just as the famous painters have been imitated.48

然而，《古兰经》的水平远高于此。历史上曾多次有人试图伪造章节，但没有一篇经得起仔细推敲。正如前文所述，在《古兰经》降示的时代，文学技艺正处于巅峰，模仿《古兰经》的动机比任何其他时期都更为强烈，然而并没有任何一次成功的尝试。

The Qur’aan, however, is way above this level, as attempts to forge chapters have been made throughout the ages, yet none has withstood close scrutiny. And, as was mentioned before, the incentive to imitate the Qur’aan was more intense during the time of its revelation when literary skills were at their peak than at any other time, yet there was no successful attempt.