The Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Being one of the most active, and extensive as well as developing languages of the world, Arabic can communicate lofty meanings to people and express the human deepest understanding by means of the most comprehensible, accurate, eloquent and elegant words. As it is the language of intellect and thinking, Almighty Allah has sent down His Book to the Holy Prophet Muhammad in Arabic language as an all-encompassing revelation for the guidance of mankind. With their precise research, linguists have proved this advantage of the Arabic language.
إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
“Indeed We have put it as an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason”[1]
History shows that the Arab nomads of the pagan ignorance, who were far away from civilization and benefits of life, were the best and in the highest position of eloquence and rhetoric among all people of the world. They would appreciate the eloquent and literary speeches (belles letters), and hang, like their idols, the elegant poems of their celebrated poets on the wall of Kaaba. From the beginning of the revelation to the Holy Prophet who used to recite the verses of the Holy Qur’an to the people, the Arab orators were much enthused and excited by the Holy Qur’an. The Arabs were also so impressed in the heart by the meaningful and appealing wording of the Holy Qur’an that they were charmed by it, and thus they not only ignored their poems but also took them off from the wall of Ka'bah.
With their charming ideas and fascinating style, the verses of the Holy Qur’an attracted all men of ideas and impressed all men of eloquence. It was, however, unpleasant for the pagan Arabs and the foes of the truth that the Holy Qur’an would reproach their way of idolatry, refuting their idols which were worshiped for a long time and to which they would make many sacrifices. Accordingly, the pagan worshipers and arrogant unbelievers began to fight against the Holy Qur’an and Holy Prophet and did all they could, to extinguish the luminescent light of the Holy Qur’an. Nonetheless, not only did they fail but also this light has become more perfect and glowing day by day.
يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِؤُوا نُورَ اللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ
“They desire to put out the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah shall perfect His light though the unbelievers should be averse”.[2]
As the Holy Qur’an represents a great and superb phenomenon as well as a most efficient guide to actualize and perfect human capacities in all his affairs, it could not have been issued but from the Divine Wisdom; for no matter how mighty the intellect of all human beings is and how far it goes high and high, it is too short to be able to accomplish such a huge mission. No faculty of human intellect can bring such laws, aphorism, and truths. This is what is meant by the Holy Qur’an the wondrous nature of expressed in the Holy Qur’an itself.
قُل لَّئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الإِنسُ وَ الْجِنُّ عَلَى أَن يَأْتُواْ بِمِثْلِ هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لاَيَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَ لَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا
“Say, ‘should all humans and jinn rally to bring the like of this Qur’an, they will not bring the like of it, even if they assisted one another’.”[3]
In what follows, two questions are to be investigated:
1. The Holy Qur’an’s challenge to bring the like of it.
2. The miraculous aspects of the Holy Qur’an.
The Holy Qur’an’s Challenge
The inimitability of the Qur’an and the revelation Allah can be proved by the fact that it has challenged all people to bring a few surahs or even one similar to those of the Holy Qur’an. The verses challenging all people to bring similar verses put forward two issues to be discussed:
1. The subject matter which is challenged and 2.The aspects of challenge.
The Holy Qur’an, on one occasion, has challenged all to bring a discourse like it.
فَلْيَأْتُوا بِحَدِيثٍ مِّثْلِهِ إِن كَانُوا صَادِقِينَ
“Let them bring a discourse like it, if they were truthful”.[4]
In another occasion, however, it challenges all to bring ten surahs similar to those of the Holy Qur’an.
قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِعَشْرِ سُوَرٍ مِّثْلِهِ مُفْتَرَيَاتٍ
“Say, ‘then bring ten surahs like it, fabricated’.”[5]
Still in another occasion it challenges them to bring one surah whether on legislation, worldview and doctrines, the stories of Prophets, news about bygone or future generations, or any other issue mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ افْتَرَاهُ قُلْ فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّثْلِهِ
“Do they say, ‘He has fabricated it?’ Say, ‘Then bring a surah like it’.”[6]
This challenge has been stated in a few verses such as:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ
“And if you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a surah like it.”[7]
This verse is followed by another:
فَإِن لَّمْ تَفْعَلُواْ وَلَن تَفْعَلُواْ فَاتَّقُواْ النَّارَ الَّتِي وَ قُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَ الْحِجَارَةُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْكَافِرِينَ
“And if you do not-and you will not- then fear the Fire whose fuel will be humans and stones, prepared for the faithless.”[8]
This is the apex of challenge where all are frustrated by a general decree and an undeniable order.
Concerning the aspects of the challenge, the Holy Qur’an has in their foremost competence challenged all human beings and Jinn while helping one another to bring a book like the Holy Qur’an. In spite of their diverse points of view, ideas and ideals, a variety of people who come together may do significant tasks. Frustrating such an approach, the Holy Qur’an intensifies the challenge and says:
قُل لَّئِنِ اجْتَمَعَتِ الإِنسُ وَالْجِنُّ عَلَى أَن يَأْتُواْ بِمِثْلِ هَذَا الْقُرْآنِ لاَ يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ ظَهِيرًا
“Say, should all humans and Jinn rally to bring the like of this Qur’an, they fail to bring the like of it, even if they assisted one another.”[9]
The pagan Arabs believed that their Gods will testify to their so-called truth on the Day of Judgment. Having, added another dimension to the challenge, the Qur’an proceeds to nullify such a so-called belief and says:
وَادْعُواْ شُهَدَاءكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“And invoke your helpers besides Allah, should you be truthful.”[10]
Why not?! Having been deeply amazed by its unique eloquence, inimitable rhetoric, charmingly expressive meanings, well-established style, nicely composition of words, and high harmony of consonants and vowels, the Arabs were astonished with the magnificence of the Holy Qur’an, acknowledging that the first verse is the same as the last in magnificence and attractiveness. Some unbelievers, nevertheless, went far against the Holy Qur’an and made all their attempts to treat Holy Prophet and Muslims violently, yet they found themselves put to shame.
How can such a challenge be true of the Jinn who do not know Arabic language? The answer is that though Jinn do not know Arabic, they are mentioned verse in order to remind us of the high magnificence of the Qur’an. For the strength of two unified groups is more than that of one. Then if a unified party of human beings and Jinn were not able to answer the challenge of the Holy Qur’an, the party of human beings alone would have a fortiori failed to do so.
After fourteen hundred years, no party could ever bring a book similar to even one aspect of the challenge. It thus becomes clear that such a book has been revealed by Almighty Allah to the heart of his pure servant.
The Aspects of the Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Whoever seeks to know the secret of the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an should refer to the Holy Qur’an itself in order for its wondrous nature to be made clear. Having sometimes refuted other aspects of such a miracle, many earlier exegetes and experts on Holy Qur’anic studies laid special emphasis on the aspect of eloquence and rhetoric as an instance of inimitability.[11]
Some others, however, have held that the Holy Qur’an is a miracle in all aspects[12] and sometimes have talked of the infinity of those aspects.[13] Still another group believe in a few aspects of the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an. Each of these groups has his own reasons to prove their theories and to criticize other views. In order to avoid prolixity we may leave those various views and proceed to study those aspects clearly emphasized by the Holy Qur’an itself.
1. Harmony and Coherence
This aspect of the Holy Qur'an is explicitly stated in Surah al-Nisa’ (4), verse 82:
أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللّهِ لَوَجَدُواْ فِيهِ اخْتِلاَفًا كَثِيرًا
“Do they not contemplate the Qur’an? Had it been from [someone] other than Allah, they would have surely found discrepancy in it.”
As regards the miraculous harmony of the Holy Qur’an, three issues must be emphasized here:
A) That all verses of the Qur’an are of perfect harmony.
B) That there is a necessary correlation that if the Holy Qur’an had been issued by human, it would have been suffering discrepancy and inconsistence.
C) That human may through meditation understand such a correlation and that kind of harmony.[14]
The first issue may be surveyed in three ways:
Firstly, we can within the frame of a logical proof demonstrate the overall harmony of all verses of the Holy Qur’an. In order, for example, to bring such a proof, we may resort to the aim of the Holy Qur’an as a revealed book and to Allah as a Wise Creator who revealed it to the Holy Prophet. That is to say, this revealed book aims in the best way at guiding human toward the ultimate happiness, and as discrepancy contradicts such an aim, Allah has revealed its verses in perfect harmony. This argument may at least show that the content of the verses is harmonious.
Secondly, we may substantiate the harmony by showing it in all verses one by one. This method, however, takes too much time, and although exegetes and masters of the Qur’anic studies have greatly dealt with it, much scrutiny is left to be done here.
Thirdly, we may deduce the harmony by means of some features of the Holy Qur’an. Based, for example, on “mathani” (ie, repeated motifs) or “ie, mutashabih” (similar) as one of the features of the verses, harmony can easily be proven and investigated. Moreover, resorting to features applied absolutely to the Holy Qur’an such as the truth and truthful, we may infer that there is no inaccurate issue in the Holy Qur’an; and as all truths are compatible with one another the overall harmony of the verses of the Holy Qur’an can also be proven.
It is worth noting that with the mere claim of inconsistency in the verses of the Holy Qur’an nobody can claim the lack of consistency. In order to establish their claim, the promoters of inconsistency are due to show some clear-cut and undeniable cases of it in the verses of the Holy Qur’an. In the past some opponents of the Holy Qur’an tried to supposedly offer a few cases of discordant verses. Qur’an exegetes, however, illustrated the harmony of those verses and the misunderstandings of the opponents.
The third issue is not need of much survey, for through meditation on human characteristics and on the verses by making and comparison between them, we can find a way to establish harmony and correlation.
The second issue is the main point of discussion to be proposed within our survey. First we had better give a hint on the meaning of two Qur'anic expressions: “tadabbur” (contemplation) and “ikhtilaf” (discrepancy).
“Tadabbur” means to contemplate the effects and consequences of something. What is meant by contemplating on the Qur'anic verses is to think about the meanings and implications of them. Should we take into consideration the foregoing point and various meanings and implications of the verses, we will straightforwardly know the origin of those many outward discrepancies. It must, however, be borne in mind that such a discrepancy is not to be taken in the corresponding denotation of the verses.
“Ikhtilaf” initially means the incompatibility of something with another by virtue of their different essences, such as being and non-being, whiteness and blackness etc... . In addition to contradiction and opposition, “ikhtilaf” may, both in the Qur'anic and common usages, amount to “difference”.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ خَلْقُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالأَرْضِ وَاخْتِلَافُ أَلْسِنَتِكُمْ وَأَلْوَانِكُمْ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِّلْعَالِمِينَ
“Among His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your languages and colors.” [15]
The denied discrepancy in the verse above may thus include the contradiction, opposition, and lack of harmony in the content of the verses, as it may include the level of rhetoric and eloquence lower than the due limit of a miracle. The range of the denied discrepancy expands and covers all these cases.
2.The Rhetoric and Eloquence of the Holy Qur’an
History shows that men of eloquence and rhetoric in Arabia occupied a position that has not been occupied by any other nations. Arabs made much more progress in expressing their ideas and opinions as is demanded by the addressees and the subject. In his I‘lam al-Wara bi A‘lam al-Huda, Tabarsi says: “When a task cannot be carried out though demanded urgently by the requirements of the situation, it shows that the doer is unable to do it. Arabs were challenged by the Holy Qur’an. In spite of their strong motive and their unique talent in eloquence, those Arabs failed to bring the like of the Holy Qur’an. Having known this, we come to conclude that such a task was beyond their ability.”[16] The inimitability of the Holy Qur’an may thus be proved for the Arabs who failed to bring an eloquent book like the Holy Qur’an, and may a fortiori be proved for the non-Arabs who could not reach Arabs in eloquence.
The following verses are a testimony to the eloquence of the Holy Qur’an:
بَلْ نَقْذِفُ بِالْحَقِّ عَلَى الْبَاطِلِ فَيَدْمَغُهُ فَإِذَا هُوَ زَاهِقٌ
“Rather We hurl the truth against falsehood, and it crashes its head, and behold, falsehood vanishes!” [17]
In this verse, the truth which is high, great, and firm is presented as some strong force to hurl itself against falsehood in order to exterminate it. In this nice analogy demonstrating the battle between the truth and falsehood, the conjunction “”Ùا which signifies the immediate consequence is used rather than”ثم“ which signifies a later consequence. It shows the immense raptorial force of the truth that defeats falsehood and annihilates it immediately.
Bearing this in mind, Sayyid Radi says: “”دمغ means that something heavy hurls dominantly against another as if the truth hurls itself against the head of falsehood in order to destroy it at once.”
خُذِ الْعَفْوَ وَأْمُرْ بِالْعُرْفِ وَأَعْرِضْ عَنِ الْجَاهِلِينَ
“Adopt [a policy of] excusing [the faults of people], bid what is right, and turn away from the ignorant.” [18]
All noble characters are gathered in this verse: “” عÙÙˆmeans to forgive and excuse the faults of people and to keep companionship with them in all affairs. “Bid what is right” enjoins us to observe the ties of relationship, to keep our tongues from telling lies and backbiting, and to close our eyes from what is forbidden to look at. “Turn away from the ignorant” enjoins resistance, suppressing ourselves, and tolerance. In spite of its few words, this verse proceeds to suggest lots of meanings and high objectives in the most precise and nice articulation. Such a style of wording is of the highest level of eloquence.
وَلَكُمْ فِي الْقِصَاصِ حَيَاةٌ يَاْ أُولِيْ الأَلْبَابِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَّقُونَ
“There is life for you in retribution, O you who possess intellects! Maybe you will be Godwary!” [19]
Having compared this verse with similar Arabic proverbs such as, “القتل انفى للقتل„ (Murder annuls murder), one may come to understand the advantage of the Qur’anic verse. That is firstly, there is no repetition of any word. Secondly, the Qur’anic wording reflects the Islamic spirit of lenity and peace very perfectly, while “murder” suggests violence and bloodshed. The Qur’anic verse establishes life in retribution as one real and true issue of human life, while the phrase “murder annuls murder” is imperfect, for only a murder as retribution may annul murder. Then there is a big difference between the Qur’anic verse and the Arabs’ sayings.
There is plenty of metaphors, allegories, conciseness and the like in the Holy Qur’an. He who is interested may refer to the related references. [20]
In short, the Holy Qur’an has reached such a high level of rhetoric that could not be attained by others, and this is one of the wonders of the Holy Qur’an.
3. The Uninstructedness of the Conveyer of the Holy Qur’an
The third aspect of the inimitability of the Qur’an emphasized by the Qur’an itself is that it has been conveyed by Muhammad the uninstructed. This issue has been stated to in a few verses.
In al-Baqara (2), verse 23, Allah says:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُواْ بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُواْ شُهَدَاءكُم مِّن دُونِ اللّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
“And if you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a surah like it [or like him] and invoke your helpers besides Allah, should you be truthful.”
This verse would corroborate the point if we read the pronoun “”ه“as “like him” rather than “like it” and couple it with “servant” in “concerning what We have sent down to our servant”. Having suggested different points of view, some exegetes of the Holy Qur’an say that the pronoun in ”مثله“ is coupled with “what” in “concerning what We have sent down to our servant”. Some others say that the pronoun ”ه is coupled with “servant”. Each group has furnished a relevant evidence. The evidences of the latter group are stronger than those of the former. For example, the words “”من(concerning”ريب“ ( (doubt) “شهداء” (helpers) which are neither used in other similar challenging verses nor in the traditions quoted for the interpretation of this verse prove that the latter theory outweighs the former.
Having laid emphasis on the uninstructedness of the Holy Prophet, this verse is about to establish the fact that such a miraculous book has been conveyed by him.
Another similar verse that proves the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an brought by the uninstructed Holy Prophet is:
وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُو مِن قَبْلِهِ مِن كِتَابٍ وَ لَا تَخُطُّهُ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذًا لَّارْتَابَ الْمُبْطِلُونَ
“You did not used to recite any scripture before it, nor did you write it with your right hand, for then the impugners would have been skeptical.” [21]
This verse vindicates the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an conveyed by an uninstructed Prophet in such a way that no room will be left for the impugners to be skeptical about it. This articulation still shows that the Holy Qur’an is a miracle regardless of the fact that it has been conveyed by the uninstructed Holy Prophet, so the unbiased people will easily embrace it as a wondrous miracle.
The Holy Qur’an, however, introduced the Holy Prophet as an uninstructed person in two different verses. In the first verse, Allah says:
فَآمِنُواْ بِاللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ النَّبِيِّ الأُمِّيِّ الَّذِي يُؤْمِنُ بِاللّهِ
“So have faith in Allah and his Apostle, the uninstructed prophet, who has faith in Allah” [22]
In the second verse, Allah says:
لَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الرَّسُولَ النَّبِيَّ الأُمِّيَّ الَّذِي يَجِدُونَهُ مَكْتُوبًا عِندَهُمْ فِي التَّوْرَاةِ وَالإِنْجِيلِ
“Those who follow the Apostle, the uninstructed Prophet, whose mention they find written with them in the Torah and the Evangel.” [23]
“امي (uninstructed) is composed of two words:”ام“ (mother) and the inflection ”يا“ (like “of” in English meaning ‘related to’). “ ”امي means “of mother” and what, when applied to somebody, is meant is that he has nothing but his knowledge, he is not educated in any school and hence he is unable to read or write.
The second verse signifies that in the Torah and the Evangel the uninstructedness of the Holy Prophet has been stated.
Now it becomes clear that to supply such high ideas and doctrines in such a book would go above the capacity of the ordinary man. What gives rise to more wonder and leaves no room for doubt is that such a great book has been conveyed by someone uninstructed, uneducated, set pen on no paper and far away from the civilized environment and culture; still the most wonderful is that he did not state even a word like that through his forty years before his prophetic mission. The doctrines stated in such Qur’anic wording and revelation have a unique style and special harmony that has made it distinguished from his other speeches very perfectly.
4. The Stories of the Holy Qur’an and the Occult Reports
Many verses of the Holy Qur’an inform us of the primitive people and past centuries as well as their laws and customs. One could never be informed of the beginning of the primitive life of man apart from a few forged so-called stories coming down from the religious leaders of the past. Having stated some of the past events, the Holy Qur’an as an eye-witness to what has been going on proceeds to expound them very clearly and sometimes gives very important details.
Concerning some of the world momentous incidents, the Holy Qur’an has disclosed some occult reports, many of which happened as exactly described in the Holy Qur’an while other are made real on their due occasions. The Holy Qur’an, nonetheless, confirms that before the revelation the Holy Prophet has been unfamiliar with those situations.
تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنبَاء الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهَا إِلَيْكَمَ اكُنتَ تَعْلَمُهَا أَنتَ وَلاَ قَوْمُكَ مِن قَبْلِ هَذَا
“These are accounts of the Unseen which We reveal to you. Neither you nor your People used to know them before this.” [24]
نَحْنُ نَقُصُّ عَلَيْكَ أَحْسَنَ الْقَصَصِ بِمَا أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ هَذَا الْقُرْآنَ وَإِن كُنتَ مِن قَبْلِهِ لَمِنَ الْغَافِلِينَ
“We will recount to you the best stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur’an, and indeed prior to it you were among those who are unaware [of it].” [25]
The Qur’an has predicted a few considerable incidents that happened without any least divergence. This is undoubtedly one of the greatest and the most tangible aspects of the inimitability of the Holy Qur’an and a decisive proof that it is a Divine Revelation. From among these verses are the following:
غُلِبَتِ الرُّومُ، فِي أَدْنَى الْأَرْضِ وَهُم مِّن بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ، فِي بِضْعِ سِنِين
“Byzantium has been vanquished in a nearby territory, but following their defeat they will be victors in a few years.”[26]
The Romans will soon be vanquished by the Iranians in the closest region between Iran and Rome within a few years in the future. After their defeat, the very Romans [Byzantium] will soon gain victory over Iran. This verse talks about the victory of Iran over Byzantium within a few years and this event occurred afterwards and this is the meaning of “a few years”. The Holy Qur’an then goes on:
لِلَّهِ لْأَمْرُ مِن قَبْلُ وَمِن بَعْدُ وَيَوْمَئِذٍ يَفْرَحُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ
“All command belongs to Allah, before and after, and on that day the believers will rejoice.” [27]
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ نَحْنُ جَمِيعٌ مُّنتَصِرٌ، سَيُهْزَمُ الْجَمْعُ وَيُوَلُّونَ الدُّبُرَ
“Do they say, ‘We are a confederate league’? The league will be routed and turn its back [to flee].” [28]
When these verses revealed, Muslims were the minority and weak but their pagan foes reached the peak of their power. The predicted instant victory of Muslims against the pagan Arabs was incredible. After they had moved to Medina, Muslims gained such great power with the aid of Allah so that in their first encounter they inflicted a smashing blow on the pagan Arabs in the battle of Badr; they even themselves did not reckon such a victory. No sooner had a few years passed following Badr than the pagan Arabs and the whole people of Mecca surrendered themselves to Islam. These occult reports of the future victory along with such certainty and clear articulation count as one of the aspects of the inimitability Qur’an.
The Holy Qur’an, at the time of Badr, recounts Abu Jahl’s word who said: “Today we will gain victory over Muhammad and his companions.” Allah, on the contrary, supported His Holy Prophet and defeated Abu Jahl and his troops.
Concerning the Battle of Badr and the conquest of Mecca, we may read the following verse:
لَقَدْ صَدَقَ اللَّهُ رَسُولَهُ الرُّؤْيَا بِالْحَقِّ لَتَدْخُلُنَّ الْمَسْجِدَ الْحَرَامَ إِن شَاء اللَّهُ آمِنِينَ مُحَلِّقِينَ رُؤُوسَكُمْ وَمُقَصِّرِينَ لَا تَخَافُونَ فَعَلِمَ مَا لَمْ تَعْلَمُوا فَجَعَلَ مِن دُونِ ذَلِكَ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا
“Certainly Allah has fulfilled His Apostle’s vision in all truth: You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, God willing, in safety, with your heads shaven and hair [or nail] cropped without any fear. So He knew what you did not know, and He assigned [you] besides that a victory near at hand.” [29]
This verse predicts that Muslims will enter the Sacred Mosque all in safety with their heads shaven and their hair or nail cropped. Also, Allah arrange besides that a victory at hand. This victory may indicate either Hudaybiyya treaty that paved the way for the conquest of Mecca in the next year or the battle of Khaybar which was very close to the Holy Prophet’s vision.
Allah again says:
وَإِذْ يَعِدُكُمُ اللّهُ إِحْدَى الطَّائِفَتِيْنِ أَنَّهَا لَكُمْ
“When Allah promised you [victory over] one of the two companies, [saying], ‘it is for you,’ you were eager that it should be the one that was unarmed.” [30]
O, our Apostle, remember the time when Allah promised you the victory over one of the two companies (the Quraysh caravan of trading or their troops) saying that it would be for you. You were much eager for the Quraysh caravan of trading, but Allah desires to confirm the truth with His words and eradicate the unbelievers.
These verses, predicting both that all Muslims will enter Mecca and will perform the rites of pilgrimage in a near future and that they will win the battle of Khaybar, are some instances of the occult reports of the Holy Qur’an which may testify the fact that the Holy Qur’an is a revealed book of Allah. It is noteworthy that nobody can predict the future at all except through revelation.
إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى، عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى
“It [the Qur’an] is just a revelation that is revealed [to him], taught by the Almighty of great powers.” [31]
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[1]. 43:3.
[2]. 61: 8.
[3]. 17: 88.
[4]. 52: 34.
[5]. 11: 13 .
[6]. 10: 38. It is possible for the pronoun “”Ù‡ in مثله“” to be coupled with either the Holy Qur’an or Holy Prophet. It is noteworthy that the pronoun “”Ù‡ in مثله“” in Arabic language can be used for both humans and things.
[7]. 2: 23.
[8]. 2: 24.
[9]. 17: 88.
[10]. 2: 23.
[11]. Al-Tafsir al-Kabir, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi, Vol. 17, P. 195.
[12]. Al-Mizan, ‘Allama Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba’i, Vol. 1, P. 60.
[13]. Mu‘tarak al-Qur’an, Jalal al-Din Abd al-Rahman al-Suyuti, Vol. 2, Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ulum, Beirut, 1408, Vol. 1 , P. 5.
[14]. The verses prior to this one refer to those weak-willed believers who escaped from the battle and suffered from some kind of hypocrisy. In following verses, Allah enjoins the Holy Prophet to turn away from them and to put his trust in Allah. Having mentioned the cause of their hypocritical treatment and their fleeing from battle, this verse explains that because they did not honestly believe in the word of Allah those weak-willed believers should be treated like that. If, nonetheless, they thought about the Holy Qur’an, they would come to this conclusion that the Holy Qur’an had come from Allah, and accordingly they would not act hypocritically. Thus, some exegetes have said that this verse is in fact coupled with an implicit verb which may come as the following: “Do they have doubt in the fact that what was mentioned is the word of Allah? Do they not contemplate the Qur'an?”
Some others are of the view that this verse is in fact an answer to the question that may come to the mind of the readers; that is, “how can we come to know that this man (the Holy Prophet) is the true apostle of Allah?” Refer, for example, to Shahab al-Din al-Alusy's al-Tafsir, Vol. 5, P. 92
Evidently, the context of this verse counts the contemplation of the weak-willed believers as a way to understand the abovementioned correlation and harmony of the Qur'anic verses.
[15]. 30: 22.
[16]. I‘lam al-Wara bi A‘lam al-Huda, P. 30 .
[17]. 21:18 .
[18]. 7:199.
[19]. 2: 179.
[20]. For example, Infaq by Suyuti, Vol. 2, P. 36; I‘jaz al-Qur'an by Baqillani, PP. 262-283; al-Tibyan fi ‘Ilm al-Bayan by Ibn Zamlakani.
[21]. 29: 48.
[22]. 7:158.
[23]. 7: 157.
[24]. 11: 49.
[25]. 12: 3.
[26]. 30: 2-4.
[27]. 30: 4.
[28]. 54: 44-45.
[29]. 48:27.
[30]. 8: 7.
[31]. 53: 4-5.