Quran is the word of God

[KanzulHuda786]

Literary Challenge
In the following verses Allah has challenged the whole of mankind to try and produce a single chapter like the Qur’an. This challenge, which has remained unmet, captivated the minds of the Arabs at the time of revelat-ion.
“If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Messenger, then produce one chapter like it, call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful.� Surah al-Baqarah (The Heifer) 2: 23.
“Or do they say: “He (Prophet Muhammad, ) has forged it (this Qur’an)?� Nay! They believe not! Let them then produce a recitation like it (the Qur’an) if they are truthful.� Surah at-Toor (The Mount) 52: 33-34.
The Qur’an was revealed over 1430 years ago and the challenge to produce something like the Qur’an has remained to this day. Throughout the centuries, thinkers, poets, theologians and literary critics have attempted to challenge the Qur’an. Some of these challengers in the past have included: Musaylamah; Ibn Al-Mukaffa; Yahya ibn Al-Hakam al-Ghazal; Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad; Bassar ibn Burd.
 Some may argue that William Shakespeare, who was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, is often used as an example of unique literature. The argument posed is that if Shakespeare expressed his poetry and prose in a unique manner – and he is a human being – then surely no matter how unique the Qur’an is, it must also be from a human being.
 However there are some problems with the above argument. It does not take into account the nature of the Qur’an’s uniqueness and it doesn’t understand the uniqueness of literary geniuses such as Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare composed poetry and prose that received an unparalleled aesthetic reception, the literary form he expressed his works in was not unique. In many instances Shakespeare used the common Iambic Pentameter (The Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word “pentameter� simply means that there are five feet in the line.) However in the case of the Qur’an, its language is in an entirely unknown and unmatched literary form. The structural features of the Qur’anic discourse render it unique and not the subjective appreciation of its literary and linguistic makeup.
In Arabic language three different modes- poetry- 16 rhythmic patterns, common speech – mursal , saj mixture of both.
Classical scholars such as al-Baqillani and al-Rummani view the Qur’an as having its own unique literary form. This view is also supported by western scholarship which can be found in the writings of famous orientalists such as Arthur J. Arberry, Professor Bruce Lawrence and D.J. Stewart.
The Arabs, who were known to have been Arabic linguists par excellence, failed to successfully challenge the Qur’an. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, who was a notable British Orientalist and translator, states: “…and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded.�
The implication of this is that there is no link between the Qur’an and the Arabic language; however this seems impossible because the Qur’an is made up of the Arabic language. On the other hand, every combination of Arabic words and letters have been used to try and imitate the Qur’an.

Rational Deduction
Rational deduction is the thinking process where logical conclusions are drawn from a universally accepted statement or provable premises. This process is also called rational inference or logical deduction.
In the context of the Qur’an’s uniqueness the universally accepted statement supported by eastern and western scholarship is:
“The Qur’an was not successfully imitated by the Arabs at the time of revelation�
1. The Qur’an could not have come from an Arab as the Arabs, at the time of revelation, were linguists par excellence, there was literally a shakespear of the arabic language in every corner and they failed to challenge the Qur’an. They had even admitted that the Qur’an could have not come from a human being. Arabs at that time fought many battles against the muslims to try and destroy in Islam when they could have got the best arab writers and academically produce a book like the quran but they knew they couldn't and had to fight wars against us. It also cannot come from an Arab in the present time as the arabic language to the mixing of differnt cultures dialects and languages in the arab countries has suffered something called language degenration which means the pure arabic language is not at thes stnadard as the time of the quran 1400 years ago, for example the word for teleophone in arabic nowadays is telephooon, which is basically elongated english words.
2. The Qur’an could not have come from the Prophet Muhammad due to the following reasons:
a. The Prophet Muhammad was an Arab himself and all the Arabs failed to challenge the Qur’an.
b. The Arabs linguists at the time of revelation never accused the Prophet of being the author of the Qur’an.
c. The Prophet Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, his close companions were tortured and killed, yet the Qur’an’s literary character remains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in the Qur’an expresses the turmoil and emotions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is almost a psychological and physiological impossibility to go through what the Prophet went through and yet none of the emotions are expressed in the literary character of the Qur’an.
d. The Qur’an is a known literary masterpiece yet its verse were at many times revealed for specific circumstances and events that occurred. However, without revision or deletion they are literary masterpieces. All literary masterpieces have undergone revision and deletion to ensure literary perfection, however the Qur’an was revealed instantaneously.
e. The hadith or narrations of the Prophet Muhammad are in a totally different style then that of the Qur’an. How can any human being express themselves orally over a 23 year period (which was the period of Qur’anic revelation) in two distinct styles? This is a psychological and physiological impossibility according to modern research.
f. All types of human expression can be imitated if the blueprint of that expression exists. For example artwork can be imitated even though some art is thought to be extraordinary or amazingly unique. But in the case of the Qur’an we have the blueprint – the Qur’an itself – yet no one has been able to imitate its unique literary form.
g. Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, did not go to any school, study from any teacher, or even learn how to read and write. He even had no interest in poetry, which was one of the most prized disciplines of his time. Yet suddenly at age forty, he began to recite this immaculate revelation
h. He himself denied it, he had a book which as an outstanding eloquence and wisdom and people used to in that culture used to make those with the best poetry to the top this is what they cherished at that time. If he wanted money, power, he would have just said yes this is from me.
i. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, himself was most deeply moved by the Book. He used to stand for hours in solitary midnight prayers reciting from the Book until his feet used to get swollen. How preposterous that one should attempt to attribute the Book to him. Has there ever been another example of somebody getting so moved by his own words

3. The Qur’an could not have come from a Non-Arab as the language in the Qur’an is Arabic, and the knowledge of the Arabic language is a pre-requisite to successfully challenge the Qur’an.
4. Some say it is from satan, this in fact is deep because it shows that people do think that it is supernatural, however it can't come from him because each time satan is mentioned in quran he is mentioned in a negative terms- he is called as an enemy to humanity, why would satan make people go towards god and away from me. Everytime a muslim recites quran he says I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed satan.
5. The Qur’an can only have come from the Divine as it is the only logical explanation as all other explanations have been discarded because they do not explain the uniqueness of the Qur’an in a comprehensive and coherent manner.

[Divine Insight]

5. The Qur’an can only have come from the Divine as it is the only logical explanation as all other explanations have been discarded because they do not explain the uniqueness of the Qur’an in a comprehensive and coherent manner.

What uniqueness?

It's clearly just an off-shoot of the original fables of the Israelites.

There's no mystery there at all.

And those original fables of the Israelites were clearly just offshoots inspired by Greek Mythology and other fables.

There's nothing surprising or mysterious about it at all. The very claim that it is somehow "unique" is a misguided fallacy to begin with.

All these ancient fables from the Middle East contain ideas and fables that have clearly been stolen from myths and tales of neighboring cultures.

There's no mystery to be solved at all.

[playhavock]

“If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Messenger, then produce one chapter like it, call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful.� Surah al-Baqarah (The Heifer) 2: 23.

I accept. I require no helper. At all. So I will not call upon anything or anyone for help. So, how long should my cchapter be? What would the phrase "produce one like it" meen in this context, after all - if I make my chapter "like" yours all I have to do is copy the whole chapter, word for word, on my own. And/or change a word, and I've compleated the "challenge"
so , what does "being like" it meen?

If I can get some actual answers to the questions I'll be happy to write a chapter and prove myself to be better then your messenger.

[Brian Of Nazareth]

I'm a bit bemused by the idea that the word of God is only viable in Arabic. Moses and Jesus didn't have to dictate in Arabic so why would a supposedly ineffable God suddenly decide to become a monoglot for Muhammed?

[Divine Insight]

“If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Messenger, then produce one chapter like it, call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful.� Surah al-Baqarah (The Heifer) 2: 23.

I accept. I require no helper. At all. So I will not call upon anything or anyone for help. So, how long should my cchapter be? What would the phrase "produce one like it" meen in this context, after all - if I make my chapter "like" yours all I have to do is copy the whole chapter, word for word, on my own. And/or change a word, and I've compleated the "challenge"
so , what does "being like" it meen?

If I can get some actual answers to the questions I'll be happy to write a chapter and prove myself to be better then your messenger.

I'm in total agreement with Playhavock.

What does it even mean to produce one chapter "like it"?

"Like it" in what way?

I can actually write BETTER fables myself. (i.e. fables that make more sense and are more self-consistent)

To write fables "like" those in the Qu'ran all I need to do is introduce absurdities and self-contradictions into my stories and my stories will be "like" those of the Qu'ran.

And if "like it" means to simply duplicate the exact same stories off the top of my head, then, no, of course I couldn't do that. But so what? I couldn't do that for the Hebrew Torah, or the Christians Bible, or even for Greek Mythology, or any other fables. I couldn't even duplicate "The Lord of the Rings" off the top of my head.

So how would that make the Qu'ran any more unique than any other stories?

So what does it even mean to produce one chapter "like it"?

What meaning does that even have?

Like it in what way?

[KanzulHuda786]

So how would that make the Qu'ran any more unique than any other stories?

So what does it even mean to produce one chapter "like it"?

What meaning does that even have?

Like it in what way?

To begin with; the Arabic language and Arab speech are divided into two branches. One of them is rhymed poetry. It is a speech with metre and rhyme, which means every line of it ends upon a definite letter, which is called the 'rhyme'. This rhymed poetry is again divided into metres or what is called as al-Bihar, literally meaning 'The Seas'. This is so called because of the way the poetry moves according to the rhythmic patterns. There are sixteen al-Bihar viz; at-Tawil, al-Bassit, al-Wafir, al-Kamil, ar-Rajs, al-Khafif, al-Hazaj, al-Muttakarib, al-Munsarih, al-Muktatab, al-Muktadarak, al-Madid, al-Mujtath, al-Ramel, al-Khabab and as-Saria'. Each one rhymes differently.

The other branch of Arabic speech is prose, that is non-metrical speech. The prose may be a rhymed prose. Rhymed prose consists of cola ending on the same rhyme throughout, or of sentences rhymed in pairs. This is called "rhymed prose" or sajc. Prose may also be straight prose (mursal). In straight prose, the speech goes on and is not divided in cola, but is continued straight through without any divisions, either of rhyme or of anything else. Prose is employed in sermons and prayers and in speeches intended to encourage or frighten the masses. One of the most famous speeches involving sajc is that of Hajjaj bin Yusuf in his first deputation in Iraq in post-Islamic and Quss bin Sa'idah in pre-Islamic times.

So, the challenge, is to produce in Arabic , three lines, that do not fall into one of these sixteen al-Bihar, that is not rhyming prose, nor like the speech of soothsayers, and not normal speech, that it should contain at least a comprehensible meaning and rhetoric, i.e. not gobbledygook. Indeed

"The Qur'an is not verse, but it is rhythmic. The rhythm of some verses resemble the regularity of sajc, and both are rhymed, while some verses have a similarity to Rajaz in its vigour and rapidity. But it was recognized by Quraysh critics to belong to neither one nor the other category." A F L Beeston, T M Johnstone, R B Serjeant and G R Smith (Editors), Arabic Literature To The End Of The Ummayad Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 34

It is interesting to know that all the pre-Islam and post-Islamic poetry collected by Louis Cheikho falls in the above sixteen metres or al-Bihar. Indeed the pagans of Mecca repeated accuse Prophet Muhammad(P) for being a forger, a soothsayer etc. The Arabs who were at the pinnacle of their poetry and prose during the time of revelation of the Qur'an could not even produce the smallest surah of its like. The Qur'an's form did not fit into any of the above mentioned categories. It was this that made the Qur'an inimitable, and left the pagan Arabs at a loss as to how they might combat it as Alqama bin cAbd al-Manaf confirmed when he addressed their leaders, the Quraysh:

Oh Quraish, a new calamity has befallen you. Mohammed was a young man the most liked among you, most truthful in speech, and most trustworthy, until, when you saw gray hairs on his temple, and he brought you his message, you said that he was a sorcerer, but he is not, for we seen such people and their spitting and their knots; you said, a diviner, but we have seen such people and their behavior, and we have heard their rhymes; you said a soothsayer, but he is not a soothsayer, for we have heard their rhymes; and you said a poet, but he is not a poet, for we have heard all kinds of poetry; you said he was possessed, but he is not for we have seen the possessed, and he shows no signs of their gasping and whispering and delirium. Oh men of Quraish, look to your affairs, for by Allah a serious thing has befallen you.

It is a well known fact that the Qur'an was revealed in seven ahruf (or seven forms) to facilitate greater understanding of it among the Arabs who had different dialects. This was also to challenge them on their own grounds to produce a surah like that of the Qur'an. The challenge became more obvious when none of the seven major tribes could imitate it even in their own dialects as no one could claim that it was difficult to imitate due to it not being in their own dialect.

What Do The Orientalists Say About The Inimitability Of The Qur'an

E H Palmer, as early as 1880, recognized the unique style of the Qur'an. But he seem to have been wavering between two thoughts. He writes in the Introduction to his translation of the Qur'an:

That the best of Arab writers has never succeeded in producing anything equal in merit to the Qur'an itself is not surprising. In the first place, they have agreed before-hand that it is unapproachable, and they have adopted its style as the perfect standard; any deviation from it therefore must of necessity be a defect. Again, with them this style is not spontaneous as with Muhammad and his contemporaries, but is as artificial as though Englishmen should still continue to follow Chaucer as their model, in spite of the changes which their language has undergone. With the Prophet, the style was natural, and the words were those in every-day ordinary life, while with the later Arabic authors the style is imitative and the ancient words are introduced as a literary embellishment. The natural consequence is that their attempts look laboured and unreal by the side of his impromptu and forcible eloquence.

The famous Arabist from University of Oxford, Hamilton Gibb was open upon about the style of the Qur'an. In his words:

...the Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self confidence Mohammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the Koran itself. Like all Arabs they were the connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well, then if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding evident miracle.

And in some other place, talking about the Prophet(P) and the Qur'an, he states:

Though, to be sure, the question of the literary merit is one not to be judged on a priori grounds but in relation to the genius of Arabic language; and no man in fifteen hundred years has ever played on that deep-toned instrument with such power, such boldness, and such range of emotional effect as Mohammad did.[9]

As a literary monument the Koran thus stands by itself, a production unique to the Arabic literature, having neither forerunners nor successors in its own idiom. Muslims of all ages are united in proclaiming the inimitability not only of its contents but also of its style..... and in forcing the High Arabic idiom into the expression of new ranges of thought the Koran develops a bold and strikingly effective rhetorical prose in which all the resources of syntactical modulation are exploited with great freedom and originality.

On the influence of the Qur'an on Arabic literature Gibb says:

The influence of the Koran on the development of Arabic Literature has been incalculable, and exerted in many directions. Its ideas, its language, its rhymes pervade all subsequent literary works in greater or lesser measure. Its specific linguistic features were not emulated, either in the chancery prose of the next century or in the later prose writings, but it was at least partly due to the flexibility imparted by the Koran to the High Arabic idiom that the former could be so rapidly developed and adjusted to the new needs of the imperial government and an expanding society.


As the Qur'an itself says:

And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith. (Qur'an 2:23-24)

[Divine Insight]

So, the challenge, is to produce in Arabic , three lines, that do not fall into one of these sixteen al-Bihar, that is not rhyming prose, nor like the speech of soothsayers, and not normal speech, that it should contain at least a comprehensible meaning and rhetoric, i.e. not gobbledygook.

Ok, I understand what you're saying now.

Still not the slightest bit impressed. For several practical reasons.

First off, they didn't have printing presses in those ancient times, almost everything was passed on in oral traditions. Using song and poetry is precisely the tool that is used in those cases. No one could ever remember very much prose. But put it into a rhyme and it's easy to remember.

So the fact that it is done in this way is not the least bit surprising.

In fact, we see this in other cultures as well. A lot of faerlylore is written as lyrical rhymes. Same is true of much of witchcraft incantations. Incantations simply easier to remember if they have a lyrical rhythmic cadence. They also are more inspirational as well, as you have suggested. But this style of oral traditions is certainly not unique to the Qu'ran.

I do a lot of songwriting and poetry myself. So I've come to realize that there are many ways to say things lyrically and still make a lucid point. It's just a matter of finding the right combinations of words, as well as being clever enough to be able to rephrase your thoughts to accommodate words that are available.

I could hardly take the challenge to do this "in Arabic" because I'm not familiar with Arabic. I'd have to learn the language very fluently and know what all words are available to use before I could even begin to embark on that task.

However, I would think that if I could do it in "any language" that would be quite sufficient. After all, it's the same basic problem no matter what language is being used.

Moreover, I'm not convinced that no one who knows Arabic couldn't do this.

You say,

As the Qur'an itself says:

And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith. (Qur'an 2:23-24)

They say, " But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot"

But that's clearly false right there! If the it has indeed been done in the original Qu'ran then clearly it's DOABLE!

And this would be true even if the Qu'ran itself was actually written by a divine being.

Even a divine being could not do it if it were not possible.

So clearly the Arabic language is sufficient for the task.

All you're telling me is that thus far no single Arab as been smart enough to do it.

I hope it doesn't sound insulting when I say that this does not surprise me in the least.

Moreover, because the Qu'ran had evolved over many years of oral traditions the original poetic flavor that it has would have been created by the contributions of many generations of story tellers, each contributing their own individual insight and cleverness to continually refine these poems.

Thus for any "single individual" to think that they are just going to sit down and single-handily come up with poetry that can match hundreds of years of oral refinements by hundreds of oral story-tellers, would indeed be a futile quest.

It would even be futile for a single individual who has no experience at doing this to try to sit down and write poems to match the poetry of someone who had been writing poetry their entire life.

So the challenge is meaningless. It's not a realistic challenge to begin with.

There are very practical secular reasons why someone should not be able to just sit down and create complex poetry to match poetry that had evolved over centuries of oral traditions with contributions by many stories-tellers along the way.

I feel confident that if I had the entire Abrabic language on a computer with words searchable in terms of meanings (i.e. a thesaurus), as well as searchable by what rhymes, I could indeed create poetry to match the guidelines used in the original Quran. I could tell the very same stories (making the same major points) and even say them in different way from the Qu'ran.

So yes, I believe that I could meet that challenge given a computer set up to provide me with the tools I need to find the words I need. And that would only be a "Fair Tool" for me to use since I'm not personally fluent in Arab.

I would definitely create poetry that meets the style required.

The only arguments that would arise at that point would be that naysayers would claim that they don't "like" my poetry or feel that it's not as "artistic" as the Qu'ran.

But that would be a very superficial subjective argument. Poetry and art are subjective.

So, no, I would not be impressed by this claim to "Divinity".

Give me the computer-assessable Arab dictionary with the tools I've mentioned above, and I'll definitely take on the challenge!

In fact, in this day and age, I can't believe that someone hasn't already done this.

It probably has already been done and religious zealots are just in denial of it.

[KanzulHuda786]

So, the challenge, is to produce in Arabic , three lines, that do not fall into one of these sixteen al-Bihar, that is not rhyming prose, nor like the speech of soothsayers, and not normal speech, that it should contain at least a comprehensible meaning and rhetoric, i.e. not gobbledygook.

Ok, I understand what you're saying now.

Still not the slightest bit impressed. For several practical reasons.

First off, they didn't have printing presses in those ancient times, almost everything was passed on in oral traditions. Using song and poetry is precisely the tool that is used in those cases. No one could ever remember very much prose. But put it into a rhyme and it's easy to remember.

So the fact that it is done in this way is not the least bit surprising.

In fact, we see this in other cultures as well. A lot of faerlylore is written as lyrical rhymes. Same is true of much of witchcraft incantations. Incantations simply easier to remember if they have a lyrical rhythmic cadence. They also are more inspirational as well, as you have suggested. But this style of oral traditions is certainly not unique to the Qu'ran.

I do a lot of songwriting and poetry myself. So I've come to realize that there are many ways to say things lyrically and still make a lucid point. It's just a matter of finding the right combinations of words, as well as being clever enough to be able to rephrase your thoughts to accommodate words that are available.

I could hardly take the challenge to do this "in Arabic" because I'm not familiar with Arabic. I'd have to learn the language very fluently and know what all words are available to use before I could even begin to embark on that task.

However, I would think that if I could do it in "any language" that would be quite sufficient. After all, it's the same basic problem no matter what language is being used.

Moreover, I'm not convinced that no one who knows Arabic couldn't do this.

You say,

As the Qur'an itself says:

And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith. (Qur'an 2:23-24)

In fact, in this day and age, I can't believe that someone hasn't already done this.

It probably has already been done and religious zealots are just in denial of it.

It is impossible for a human being to compose something like it, as it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. The productive capacity of nature, concerning the Arabic language, is that any grammatically sound expression of the Arabic language will always fall with-in the known Arabic literary forms of prose and poetry. All of the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet its literary form has not been matched linguistically. The Arabs, who were known to have been Arabic linguists par excellence, failed to successfully challenge the Qur’an. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, who was a notable British Orientalist and translator, states:

“…and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded.�[11]

The implication of this is that there is no link between the Qur’an and the Arabic language; however this seems impossible because the Qur’an is made up of the Arabic language. On the other hand, every combination of Arabic words and letters have been used to try and imitate the Qur’an. Therefore, this leaves only one conclusion; a Divine explanation is the only coherent explanation for this impossible Arabic literary form – the Qur’an. Hence, it logically follows that if the Qur’an is a literary event that lies outside the productive capacity of the Arabic language, i.e. an impossibility

What you need to understand is that this challenge is not just about the aesthetic perception an opinion, for example Shakespeare composed poetry and prose that received an unparalleled aesthetic reception, the literary form he expressed his works in was not unique. In many instances Shakespeare used the common Iambic Pentameter (The Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word “pentameter� simply means that there are five feet in the line.) However in the case of the Qur’an, its language is in an entirely unknown and unmatched literary form. The structural features of the Qur’anic discourse render it unique and not the subjective appreciation of its literary and linguistic makeup.

The inability to produce anything like the Qur’an, due to its unique literary form, is the essence of the Qur’anic miracle. The argument posed by Muslim theologians and philosophers is that if, with the finite set of Arabic linguistic tools at humanity’s disposal, there is no effective challenge, then providing a naturalistic explanation for the Qur’an’s uniqueness is incoherent and doesn’t explain its inimitability. This is because a human author is only able to produce the known literary forms in the Arabic language. The development of an entirely new literary form is beyond the scope of the natural capacity of any human author, hence a Divine entity, Allah, is the only sufficient comprehensive explanation. The evidence for this is that for over a millennia, the speech and writings of the Arabs have always fallen within the known forms and expressions of the Arabic language. However, the Qur’an breaks this natural pattern due to its uniqueness. Taha Husayn, a prominent Egyptian litterateur, in a public lecture summarised how the Qur’an achieves its own unique form:

“But you know that the Qur’an is not prose and that it is not verse either. It is rather Qur’an, and it cannot be called by any other name but this. It is not verse, and that is clear; for it does not bind itself to the bonds of verse. And it is not prose, for it is bound by bonds peculiar to itself, not found elsewhere; some of the binds are related to the endings of its verses, and some to that musical sound which is all its own.

It is therefore neither verse nor prose, but it is “a Book whose verses have been perfected and expounded, from One Who is Wise, All-Aware.� We cannot therefore say it is prose, and its text itself is not verse. It has been one of a kind, and nothing like it has ever preceded or followed it"

[Divine Insight]

It is impossible for a human being to compose something like it, as it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. The productive capacity of nature, concerning the Arabic language, is that any grammatically sound expression of the Arabic language will always fall with-in the known Arabic literary forms of prose and poetry. All of the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet its literary form has not been matched linguistically. The Arabs, who were known to have been Arabic linguists par excellence, failed to successfully challenge the Qur’an. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, who was a notable British Orientalist and translator, states:

“…and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded.�[11]

But this is totally unimpressive for the reason I've already given.

You say, "It is impossible for a human being to compose something like it, as it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language."

That's clearly false.

You claim that the Qu'ran does indeed exhibit this very property. Therefore it cannot lie outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. If it was indeed done in the Qu'ran, that it's necessarily doable.

These kind of arguments for divinity are so self-paradoxical that have no legitimate basis.

These are precisely the kind of false rumors that religious zealots make up.

The Christian Bible also proclaims that it cannot be "broken", but it's clearly as broken as it can be already. It's riddled with contradictions and self-inconsistency. But the Christians are constantly in denial of this proclaiming that the scriptures cannot be broken.

These claims of poetry made about the Qu'ran are of the same type of religious hype. All it amounts to is religious zealots being in denial of truth.

[playhavock]

It is impossible for a human being to compose something like it, as it lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language. The productive capacity of nature, concerning the Arabic language, is that any grammatically sound expression of the Arabic language will always fall with-in the known Arabic literary forms of prose and poetry. All of the possible combinations of Arabic words, letters and grammatical rules have been exhausted and yet its literary form has not been matched linguistically.

Let me ask a few questions before I run out to learn this languge.

Are you saying that it is impossible to meet the challenge because the rules of the languge make it impossible to do so?

If so, the challenge becomes totaly invalad, as a challge that can never be met due to the nature of the languge is well - invalad.

But, again "like" is vauge, if I memorise just one bit of the chapter in your languge and produce it from memory, then I've met the requirement.

If the challge is to produce something else that falls with (X) range then I have to have that range clearly defiend, just saying that it is impossible for humans to do meens that the challege is set up so that no one can do it.

So, perhaps you can explain the rules of the challege and clarify how long the chapter needs to be, what "like" meens, and what the other rules are so I can do this - if it is set up to be made to fail, then clearly it is a false challenge.