I’JAZ UL QUR’AN (THE INIMITABILITY OF QUR’AN)

Table of Contents

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….2
2. The Qur’anic challenge………………………………………………………………………………....2
3. Arabic Literary Forms…………………………………………………………………………………..3
4. Unique Literary Form of Qur’an…………………...…………………………………………………...3
5. Is Qur’an poem or prose………………………………………………………………………………...3
6. Unique genre……………………………………………………………………………………............4
7. Eloquence ……………………………………………………………………………………................4
8. View of I’jaz Ul Qur’an from Non-Muslim Scholars…………………………………………………..5
9. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...............5
10. References……………………………………………………………………………………......... ….6

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 I’JAZ UL QUR’AN (THE INIMITABILITY OF QUR’AN)

1. Introduction

‘Ijaz’ is an Arabic word translated as ‘miracle’ or ‘inimitable’, therefore, ‘Ijaz ul Qur’an’ means the
‘inimitability of Qur’an’. Inimitability of Qur’an is the belief that no human word or speech can match
Qur’an in its content or form and proving the Qur’an as solely the word of Allah ‘Aza Wa Jal given to
Prophet Muhammad (Sallalu Alaihi Wa Sallam).1

The Quran is linguistically miraculous because it is beyond the capacity of human to produce the like
of it. The Arabs, who were known to have been Arabic linguist, failed to challenge the Qur’an. Forster
Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, who was a British Orientalist and translator, said:

“…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.”2

2. The Qur’anic Challenge

Though the Arabs of previous times were very proud of their excellence in Arabic language, they failed
to defeat the Qur’ani challenge, as Allaj ‘Aza Wa Jal says:
“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” (2:23)
“Or do they say he fabricated the message? Nay, they have no faith. Let them produce a recital like
it, if they speak the truth.” (52:33-34)

Scholars of Qur’an say that it these verses are a challenge to humankind. Though, these verses were
also present at the time of Prophet Muhammad (Sallalhu ‘Alaihi Wa Sallam), people of Arab tried to
fulfil the challenge and came with such a poetry:

Al-Fil (1) Mal-Fil (2) Wa ma adraka mal-fil (3) Lahu dhanabun radhil, wa khurtumun tawil (4)3

“The elephant. What is the elephant? And who shall tell you what the elephant is? He has a ropy tail
and a long trunk. This is a [mere] trifle of our Lord's creations.”

This poetry was rejected by Quraysh themselves as well as it lacks the rhyme, rhythm and style of
speech. To fulfil the Qur’anic challenge it is easy as it requires only Arabic grammar and 28 letters of
Arabic but the fact the no one has been able to fulfil the Qur’anic challenge confirms that it is a
revelation made by the Lord of the worlds which cannot imitated. The inability of any person to produce
anything like the Qur’an, due to its unique literary form is the essence of the Qur’anic miracle. A
miracle is defined as “events which lie outside the productive capacity of nature”4. This is because the
natural capacity of author, is able to produce the known literary forms in the Arabic language. The
development of an entirely unique literary form is beyond the capacity of nature except some
supernatural entity, therefore, none can deny that Allah ‘Aza Wa Jal is the producer of Qur’an.

1
Web Dictionary, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ijaz
2
www.knowmuhammad.org
3
Understanding the Qur’an’s Literary Challenge: “Bring Something Like It” http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-416-
3479.html
4
Bilynskyj. S. S. God, Nature, and the Concept of Miracle, 1982, 10-42 and Craig. W. L. The Problem of Miracles:
A Historical and Philosophical Perspective.

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3. Arabic Literary Forms

According to both Muslim and Non-Muslim scholarship, the Qur’an cannot be described as any forms
of Arabic speech; namely poetry and prose.5 Taha Husayn, an Egyptian Litterateur, says:
“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 t0he
expounded, from One Who is Wise, All-Aware.” We cannot therefore say its 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.”
Arabic poetry is a form of metrical (musical) speech with rhyme. The rhyme (qafiyah) in Arabic poetry
is achieved when every line of the poem ends with a specific letter. The metrical aspect of Arabic poetry
is due to its rhythmical pattern (arud).
Arabic Prose is a non-metrical speech, meaning that it does not have a regular rhythmical pattern like
poetry. Arabic prose can be further divided into two categories: Saj’ which is rhymed prose and Mursal
which is straight prose or what some may call ‘normal speech’.

4. Unique Literary form of Qur’an

All pre-Islamic and post-Islamic poetry fit into the Saj’. The Qur’an cannot fit into any of Arabic
literary forms because of not sticking to the rules of poetry and prose, but intermingling metrical and
non-metrical speech and stylistic differences such as semantically orientated rhyme. Western scholars
say that the Qur’an fits into the form of Arabic Saj’. Western Scholars don’t say that the Qur’an is a
rhymed prose rather they say that Qur’an is a unique form of Saj’. This can be supported by three
opinions by modern and classical scholarship:
i. Unique fusion of Metrical and Non Metrical Speech: The Qur’an achieves this unique
literary form by fusing metrical and non-Metrical speech. This fusion of metrical and non-
metrical composition is present throughout the whole of the Qur’an and cannot be found
in any Arabic text, past or present.
ii. Qur’anic Saj’: The Qur’an shares similar features with saj’, especially in the early Makki
Surahs, but it over passes many of the aspects of Saj’. Western Scholars, therefore, describe
Qur’anic rhyme as Qur’anic Saj’.
iii. Qur’an bound stylistic variations: Theologians and Arab Linguists say that the Qur’an does
not contain Saj’ and is unique to all types of Saj’. They say that in the Qur’an, the use of
language is semantically orientated and its literary style is different.6

5. Is Qur’an a poetry or prose

The Qur’an cannot be considered as poetry because no Surah fits to any of the al-Bihar (Saj’) and in
many places show irregular rhyme. Mohammad Khalifa in his article The Authorship of the Qur’an
correctly says:

5
‘Abd al-Jabbar. I’jaz al-Qur’an. Cairo. 1960, p. 224
6
Al-Rummani. Thalath Rasa’il Ijaz al-Qur’an. Ed. M. Khalaf Allah & M. Sallam, Cairo. 1956, p. 97-98

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“Readers familiar with Arabic Poetry realize that it has long been distinguished by its wazn, bahr,
‘arud and qafiya – exact measures of syllabic sounds and rhymes, which have to be strictly adhered
to even at the expense of grammar and shade of meaning at times. All this is categorically different
from Qur’anic literary style.”

The Qur’an is not straight forward speech (Mursal) because of use of rhyme, rhythm and unique stylistic
features rich in the Qur’an. Mursal is just normal speech that doesn’t contains any of the above features.7

6. Unique Genre
The Qur’an combines rhetorical and cohesive features in every verse. Rhetoric in the Arab tradition is
“…the conveying of meaning in the best of verbal forms”
Cohesiveness is the feature that binds sentences to each other grammatically and lexically. It also refers
to how words are linked together into sentences and how sentences are in turn linked together to form
larger units in texts. These elements combine with each other in such a way that interlock and become
inseparable. This unique combination attracts the reader and transmit its meaning in precise wordings.
The rhetorical and cohesive components of the Qur’anic text cannot be separated from each other. As
Muslim scholars say:
“…the Qur’an is understood to say what it says in an inseparable identity with how it says it.”
Example:
“Men who remember Allah much and women who remember” Qur’an 33:35
This Qur’anic verse, in a different word order such as the verse:
“Men who remember Allah much and Women who remember Allah much”
The non Qur’anic verse would not deliver the same effect as it has lost its rhetorical effect and is extra
in meaning. Non-Qur’anic Arabic texts mostly employ cohesive elements but the Qur’an uses both
cohesive and rhetorical elements in every verse.8

7. Qur’anic Eloquence
Eloquence is defined as “expressing an appropriate meaning with a noble, apt and clear phrase,
indicating what is to be without superfluous additions.” As Muslim Scholars say:
“…humans cannot imitate the Qur'an because their knowledge does not encompass all the words of
Arabic, all the ideas in them, and all the varieties of structure.”
Example:
“Those who disbelieved Shu’ayb, they were the losers” Qur’an 7:90
The letter ‘lam’ has been placed to strengthen the meaning of loss of those who disbelieved. In normal
speech it would not normally be missed. The ‘lam’ has been used to increase the communicative effect
of the text. The letter ‘lam’ is placed before words to give different meanings. In this example it shows
intensification for the rejection of Prophet. Therefore instead of just saying ‘they were losers’ Allah
says they were ‘they were the losers’.9

7
Khalifa. M. The Authorship of the Qur’an in The Koran: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies, Vol. I, p.129
8
H Abdul-Raof. 2001. Qur’an Translation: Discourse, Texture and Exegesis. Curzon Press, p. 137
9
“Talkhis fi Ulumul Balaghah”, Imam Qazwini, 50-52 & “The Secrets & Subtleties of the Arabic Language”,
Herbjorn Jenssen, p87

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8. View of I’jaz Ul Qur’an From Non-Muslim Scholars

Agreed opinion on the superior nature of the Qur’an’s language.
 "The Koran [sic] admittedly occupies an important position among the great religious books of the
world…. it yields to hardly any in the wonderful effect which it has produced on large masses of
men. It has created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type of character. It first
transformed a number of heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a nation of
heroes…."10
 “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.”11
 “As tangible signs Qur’anic verses are expressive of an inexhaustible truth. They signify meaning
layered within meaning, light upon light, miracle after miracle.”12
 “…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.”13
 “…the Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self-confidence
Muhammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the Koran itself. Like all Arabs
they were 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 evidential miracle”14

9. Conclusion
The Qur’an is a unique form of Arabic speech. The form of its language cannot be described as prose
or poetry. It got this unique literary form by,
 Intermingling metrical and non-metrical speech
 Transcending the defining features of Saj’
 Using literary and linguistic devices that render it stylistically distinct

Every Surah has a special character, with its own unique form. This uniqueness of Qur’an is the only
reason that none was or is able to imitate Qur’an. As Martin Zammit says:

"Notwithstanding the literary excellence of some of the long pre-Islamic poems…the Qur'an is
definitely on a level of its own as the most eminent written manifestation of the Arabic language.”15

10
G. Margoliouth. 1977. Introduction to J.M.Rodwell’s, The Koran. Everyman’s Library, p. vii
11
H A R Gibb. 1963. Arabic Literature - An Introduction. Oxford at Clarendon Press, p. 36.
12
Bruce Lawrence, p. 18. The Qur’an: A Biography. 2006.
13
F. F. Arbuthnot. 1885. The Construction of the Bible and the Koran. London, p 5
14
H. A. R. Gibb. 1980. Islam: A Historical Survey. Oxford University Press, p. 28
15
Martin Zammit. 2002. A comparative Lexical Study of Qur'anic Arabic. Brill Academic Publishers

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And R Bosworth Smith concludes:

"…It is the one miracle claimed by Muhammad, his standing miracle, and a miracle indeed it is." 16

10. References

1. Web Dictionary, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ijaz

2. www.knowmuhammad.org
3. Understanding the Qur’an’s Literary Challenge: “Bring Something Like It”
http://en.islamtoday.net/artshow-416-3479.html
4. Bilynskyj. S. S. God, Nature, and the Concept of Miracle, 1982, 10-42 and Craig. W. L. The
Problem of Miracles: A Historical and Philosophical Perspective.
5. ‘Abd al-Jabbar. I’jaz al-Qur’an. Cairo. 1960, p. 224
6. Al-Rummani. Thalath Rasa’il Ijaz al-Qur’an. Ed. M. Khalaf Allah & M. Sallam, Cairo. 1956, p. 97-98
7. Khalifa. M. The Authorship of the Qur’an in The Koran: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies,
Vol. I, p.129
8. H Abdul-Raof. 2001. Qur’an Translation: Discourse, Texture and Exegesis. Curzon Press, p. 137
9. “Talkhis fi Ulumul Balaghah”, Imam Qazwini, 50-52 & “The Secrets & Subtleties of the Arabic
Language”, Herbjorn Jenssen, p87
10. G. Margoliouth. 1977. Introduction to J.M.Rodwell’s, The Koran. Everyman’s Library, p. vii
11. H A R Gibb. 1963. Arabic Literature - An Introduction. Oxford at Clarendon Press, p. 36.
12. Bruce Lawrence, p. 18. The Qur’an: A Biography. 2006.
13. F. F. Arbuthnot. 1885. The Construction of the Bible and the Koran. London, p 5
14. H. A. R. Gibb. 1980. Islam: A Historical Survey. Oxford University Press, p. 28
15. Martin Zammit. 2002. A comparative Lexical Study of Qur'anic Arabic. Brill Academic
Publishers
16. R. Bosworth Smith. 2004. Muhammad and Muhammadanism. Kessinger Publishing

16
R. Bosworth Smith. 2004. Muhammad and Muhammadanism. Kessinger Publishing