Martin Zammit:

"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."

Source: Zammit, M. R. (2002). A Comparative Lexical Study of Qur’anic Arabic.

Leiden: Brill, p. 37.

A. J. Arberry:

“In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of predecessors, and
to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the
sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pain to study the intricate and
richly varied rhythms which—apart from the message itself—constitutes the Koran’s
undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind.”

Source: Arberry, A. J. (1998). The Koran: Translated with an Introduction by Arthur J.

Arberry. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. x.

"I know all too well that, within my own experience, no piece of fine writing has ever
been done full justice to in any translation. The Qur'ân undeniably abounds in fine
writing; it has its own extremely individual qualities; the language is highly idiomatic,
yet for the most part delusively simple; the rhythms and rhymes are inseparable
features of its impressive eloquence, and these are indeed inimitable."

Source: Arberry 1955, p. 28.

Bruce Lawrence:

“As tangible signs, Qur’anic verses are expressive of an inexhaustible truth, they
signify meaning layered with meaning, light upon light, miracle after miracle.”

Source: Lawrence, B. (2006). The Qur’an: A Biography. London: Atlantic Books, p 8.

Hamilton Gibb:

“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."

Source: H. A. R. Gibb, Arabic Literature - An Introduction, 1963, Oxford at Clarendon

Press, p. 36.

"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."

Source: Ibid.

Frithjof Schuon:

"The supernatural character of the Qur’an is not just in its content but rather it is also
in its exterior efficacy, in the miracle of expansion of Islam."

Source: Schuon. 1963, p. 48, 49.

Alfred Guillaume:

"The Quran is one of the world's classics which cannot be translated without grave
loss. It has a rhythm of peculiar beauty and a cadence that charms the ear. Many
Christian Arabs speak of its style with warm admiration, and most Arabists
acknowledge its excellence. When it is read aloud or recited, it has an almost
hypnotic effect that makes the listener indifferent to its sometimes strange syntax
and its sometimes, to us, repellent content. It is this quality it possesses of silencing
criticism by the sweet music of its language that has given birth to the dogma of its
inimitability; indeed, it may be affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide
and fecund as it is both in poetry and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare
with it."

Source: Alfred Guillaume, Islam, 1990 (Reprinted), Penguin Books, pp. 73-74.

Laura Vagliery:

“The miracle of Islam par excellence is the Quran, through which a constant and
unbroken tradition transmits to us news of an absolute certainty. This is a book which
cannot be imitated. Each of its expressions is a comprehensive one, and yet it is of
proper size, neither too long nor too short. Its style is original. There is no model for
this style in Arab literature of the times preceding it. The effect which it produces on
the human soul is obtained without any adventitious aid through its own inherent
excellences. The verses are equally eloquent all through the text, even when they
deal with topics, such as commandments and prohibitions, which must necessarily
affect its tone. Stories of Prophets, descriptions of the beginning and the end of the
world, enumerations and expositions of the divine attributes are repeated but
repeated in a way which is so impressive that they do not weaken the effect. The test
proceeds from one topic to another without losing its power. Depth and sweetness,
qualities which generally do not go together, are found together here, where each
rhetoric figure finds a perfect application. How could this marvellous book be the
work of Muhammad, an illiterate Arab who in all his life composed only two or three
verses, none of which reveals the least poetic quality; e.g. "I am the Prophet and do
not lie. I am the son of Abd al-Muttalib."?"

Source: Prof. Laura Veccia Vaglieri, “An interpretation of Islam,” p. 42.

John Penrice:

"That a competent knowledge of the Koran is indispensable as an introduction to the

study of Arabic literature will be admitted by all who have advanced beyond the
rudiments of the language. From the purity of its style and elegance of its diction, it
has come to be considered as the standard of Arabic…"

Source: John Penrice. 2004. Preface of “A Dictionary and Glossary of the Koran”.
Dover Publications.

Forster Arbuthnot:

"…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."

Source: F. F. Arbuthnot. 1885. The Construction of the Bible and the Koran. London,
p. 5.

Karen Armstrong:

"The Koran constantly stresses the need for intelligence in deciphering the ‘signs’ or
‘messages’ of God. Muslims are not to abdicate their reason but to look at the world
attentively and with curiosity... But the greatest sign of all was the Koran itself:
indeed its individual verses are called ayat. Western people find the Koran a difficult
book, and this is largely a problem of translation. Arabic is particularly difficult to
translate: even ordinary literature and the mundane utterances of politicians
frequently sound stilted and alien when translated into English, for example, and this
is doubly true of the Koran, which is written in dense and highly allusive, elliptical
speech. The early suras, in particular, give the impression of human language
crushed and splinted under the divine impact... The early biographers of Muhammad
constantly described the wonder and shock felt by the Arabs when they heard the
Koran for the first time. Many were converted on the spot, believing that God alone
could account for the extraordinary beauty of the language. Frequently, a convert
would describe the experience as a divine invasion that tapped buried yearnings and
released a flood of feelings. Thus, the young Qurayshi Umar ibn al-Khattab had been
a virulent opponent of Muhammad; he had been devoted to the old paganism and
ready to assassinate the Prophet. But this Muslim Saul of Tarsus was converted not
by a vision of Jesus the Word but by the Koran... Muslims like Umar seem to have
experienced a similar unsettling of sensibility, an awakening and a disturbing sense
of significance which enabled them to make the painful break with the traditional
past.
Even those Qurayshis who refused to accept Islam were disturbed by the Koran and
found that it lay outside all their familiar categories: it was nothing like the inspiration
of the kahin [soothsayer] or the poet; nor was it like the incantations of a magician.
Some stories show powerful Qurayshis who remained steadfastly with the opposition
being visibly shaken when they listened to a sura. It is as though Muhammad had
created an entirely new literary form that some people were not ready for but which
thrilled others. Without this experience of the Koran, it is extremely unlikely that Islam
would have taken root."

Source: Karen Armstrong, A History of God, London, 1993, p. 168-171.

"From the above evidence, the Quran is acknowledged to be written with the utmost
beauty and purity of Language. It is incontestably the standard of the Arabic tongue,
inimitable by any human pen, and because it still exists today, therefore insisted on
as a permanent miracle sufficient to convince the world of its divine origin. If the
Quran was written by Muhammad, why were not Arab scholars and linguists able to
rival the Quran?"

Source: Ibid.

Marmaduke Pickthall:

"...and every effort has been made to choose befitting language. But the result is not
the Glorious Koran, that inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to
tears and ecstasy. It is only an attempt to present the meaning of the Koran — and
peradventure something of the charm — in English. It can never take the place of the
Koran in Arabic, nor is it meant to do so."
Source: Marmaduke Pickthall, The Meaning of The Glorious Koran. An Explanatory
Translation (1930), p. vii.

Philip Hitti:

"The style of the Koran is God's style. It is different, incomparable, and inimitable.
This is basically what constitutes the 'miraculous character' (ijaz) of the Koran. Of all
miracles, it is the greatest: if all men and jinn were to collaborate, they could not
produce its like. The Prophet was authorized to challenge his critics to produce
something comparable. The challenge was taken up by more than one stylist in
Arabic literature—with a predictable conclusion."

Source: Philip K. Hitti. 1960. "History of the Arabs", seventh edition. Macmillan & Co
Ltd.

David Margoliouth:

"The language of the Koran is God's language, and its eloquence is miraculous;
anyone who tries to rival it can prove that for himself. And being the communication
of the All-wise, it is an infallible guide to conduct; the authority for both statements
and precepts is paramount. It is therefore absolutely and uniquely consistent;
inconsistency, which would have been the sign of human effort, cannot be found in
it." & "The Koran [sic] admittedly occupies an important position among the great
religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the epoch-making works
belonging to this class of literature, it yields to hardly any in the wonderful effect
which it has produced on large masses of men. It has created all but a 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, and
then proceeded to create the vast politico-religious organizations of the
Muhammadan world which are one of the great forces with which Europe and the
East have to reckon today."

Source: G. Margoliouth. 1911. "Mohammedanism," Volume 15, p. 63. Introduction to

J.M. Rodwell's, "The Koran." Everyman's Library, p. vii.

Francis Steingrass:

"A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible emotions
even in the distant reader—distant as to time, and still more so as mental
development—a work which not only conquers the repugnance which he may begin
its perusal, but changes this adverse feeling into astonishment and admiration, such
a work must be a wonderful production... indeed and a problem of the highest
interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of mankind." & "If it spoke so
powerfully and convincingly to the hearts of his hearers as to weld hitherto
centrifugal and antagonistic elements into one compact and well-organized body,
animated by ideas far beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind,
then its eloquence was perfect, simply because it created a civilized nation out of
savage tribes…"

Source: Dr. Steingass quoted in T. P. Hughes - "Dictionary of Islam," pp. 256-257.

Dr. Steingass, quoted in Hughes' Dictionary of Islam p. 528.

Henry Stubbe:

"The truth is I do not find any understanding author who controverts the elegance of
Al Qur'an, it being generally esteemed as the standard of the Arabic language and
eloquence."

Source: Henry Stubbe. 1911. "Rise and Progress of Mohammadanism."

Hartwig Hirschfield:

"The Qur'an is unapproachable as regards convincing power, eloquence, and even

composition."

Source: Hartwig Hirschfield, "New Researches," London 1902, p.8.

T. B. Irving:

"The Qur'an is a magnificent document... because of its matchlessness or

inimitability."

Source: Irving, 1985, p. 2.

Maurice Bucaille:

"The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see
Muhammad as the author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from being
illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole
of Arabic literature?"

Source: Maurice Bucaille, "The Bible, the Quran and Science," 1978, p. 125.

Anthony Johns:

"It is the language itself which constitutes the iconic tradition. Not a single word can
be taken or heard in isolation. All represent nuclei of meaning that are cumulative
and cohere, serving as triggers to activate the profoundest depths of religious
consciousness."

Source: H. Johns. "Narrative, Intertext and Allusion in the Quranic Presentation of

Job" in the Journal of Quranic.

Michael Sells:

"...there is a quality to the sound of the Qur'an which anyone familiar with it in Arabic
can recognize. Qur'anic commentators have discussed the power and beauty of this
sound... is one of the key aspects of the science of analyzing ijaz al-Qur'an (the
inimitability of the Qur'an)."

Source: M. Sells. 2000. "A Literary Approach to the Hymnic Surahs of the Qur'an."
Curzon Press.

Von Goethe:

"However often we turn to it [the Qur'an]... it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end
enforces our reverence... Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim, is stern,
grand, terrible—ever and anon truly sublime—Thus this book will go on exercising
through all ages a most potent influence."

Source: T.P. Hughes. 1995. "A Dictionary of Islam." Asian Educational Services.

Reginald Smith:

"[The Quran is]...A miracle of purity of style, of wisdom and of truth. It is the one
miracle claimed by Muhammad, his standing miracle, and a miracle indeed it is."

Source: R. Bosworth Smith. 2004. "Muhammad and Muhammadanism." Kessinger

Publishing.

Edward Montet:

"All those who are acquainted with the Qur'an in Arabic agree in praising the beauty
of this religious book; its grandeur of form is so sublime that no translation into any
European language can allow us to appreciate it."

Source: Edward Montet, "Traduction Francaise du Coran" (Paris: n.p) 1929.

Paul Casanova:
"Whenever [Prophet] Muhammad [saas] was asked a miracle, as a proof of the
authenticity of his mission, he quoted the composition of the Qur'an and its
incomparable excellence as proof of its divine origin. And, in fact, even for those who
are non-Muslims nothing is more marvelous than its language with such
apprehensible plenitude and a grasping sonority... The ampleness of its syllables
with a grandiose cadence and with a remarkable rhythm have been of much moment
in the conversion of the most hostile and the most skeptic."

From Paul Casanova's article, 'L'Enseignement de l'Arabe au College de France'

Jaroslav Stetkevych:

"Venus-like, it [the Arabic language] was born in a perfect state of beauty, and it has
preserved that beauty in spite of all the hazards of history and all the corrosive forces
of time."

Source: "The Modern Arabic Literary Language," p. 1

William Muir:

"In the whole world, there is no work comparable to it. Every word of it is in its place,
and every letter has its due weight... There is not a single passage which has not a
meaning, or which is not full of beauty."

Source: "The Life of Mahomet." Voice of India, 2002

"The Qur'an is not simply a record of the words of the prophet, but the very word of
God... There is not a single passage which has not a meaning, or which is not full of
beauty... every word of the Qur'an is a miracle in itself."

Source: Ibid.

Arthur Jeffrey:

"The Qur'an is a book of such extraordinary power and beauty that one can only
marvel at its effect on the minds of those who first heard it. It is a miracle in the
original sense of the word, a 'sign' which reveals the presence and power of God."

Source: "The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qur'an." 2007

John Wansbrough:
"The Qur'an is unique among the sacred texts of the major religions in the simplicity,
concision, and rhetorical power of its language... The Qur'an is without parallel in the
history of human discourse."

Source: "Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation."

Prometheus, 2004

"The Qur'an is a work of extraordinary power and beauty, and its impact on the
minds of those who first heard it must have been immense... It is a work that is truly
miraculous in its content and style."

Source: Ibid.

George Sale:

"The style of the Quran is beautiful, it is adorned with bold figures after the Eastern
taste, enlivened with the florid expressions and in many places where the majesty
and the attributes of God are described, sublime and magnificent."

Source: George Sale, translation of the Qur'an, p. 47

William Lees:

"It is highly expressive... in parts, the language is lofty. And passages related to the
grandeur of God may be said to approach the sublime. The greatest elegance, the
purest language of the Quran, and its composition are incomparable. The Holy
Quran is the touchstone by which every composition is tried."

Source: M.M. Ali, "History of the Muslims of Bengal," Vol. II, Imam Muhammad
Islamic University, Riyadh, 1988, Chapter VII

Henry Stubbe:

"The truth is I do not find any understanding author who controverts the elegance of
the Al-Qur'an, it being generally esteemed as the standard of the Arabic language
and eloquence."

Source: Dr. Henry Stubbe MA, "Rise and Progress of Mohammadanism," London
1911, p. 158

Encyclopedia Americana:

"The Koran is composed in rhythmical and rhyming prose, held to be of miraculous

and inimitable excellence."
Source: Encyclopedia Americana, 1968, Vol. 15 p. 414i

"That he, an ummi ('unschooled man'), could produce exquisite prose was adduced
by him and his followers as the only miraculous proof of his prophethood."

Source: Encyclopedia Americana, 1992, Vol. 19 p. 315

The New Caxton Encyclopedia:

"It [the Qur'an] represents for Muslims one of Muhammad's miracles and is proof of
the authenticity of his prophetic mission: it is also regarded as inimitable in style and
content... The language of the Koran is classical Arabic, and it has extraordinary
vigor. The style reaches noteworthy heights, particularly in the first affirmations of the
unity, uniqueness, and omnipotence of God, in the lively descriptions of the Day of
Judgment, in the moralizing passages, and in the apostrophes against polytheism...
It is through the Koran that innumerable Arabic words have come into use in many
languages, and expressions from the Koran have become proverbial throughout the
Muslim world. Many persons know it by heart, and it is used as an alphabet book, as
a dictionary, as a grammar book, and as a code of manners for hundreds of millions.
The Koran is among the most difficult books in the world to translate: it is rare for a
version in any language to convey the strength and vigor of the original Arabic, the
rhythmic rhyming prose which is excited, slow, and majestic in its turns. Because of
its variety of uses, the Koran is the most widely-read book in the world. It has also
ensured a common literary language throughout the Muslim world, whatever
variations have taken place in the spoken world."

Source: The New Caxton Encyclopedia, 1977, Vol. 11 p. 3523

New Standard Encyclopedia:

"Mohammed never claimed to have other supernatural or miraculous powers... He is

said to have preached in a flowing, rhythmical prose so well-phrased that his
followers were convinced it must have been divinely inspired."

Source: New Standard Encyclopedia, 1989, Vol. 11 p. 458

Colliers Encyclopedia:

"As a literary masterpiece which mirrors the psychological, social, and spiritual
elements, the Koran surpasses every other book... The Koran is foremost in the
body of Arabic literature... Its place in Arabic literature and world thought has been
established by its meaning to Arab and Muslim, and by the revolution it set in motion.
In the Islamic view, no writings can rival those that follow the Koranic literary forms."
Source: Colliers Encyclopedia, 1990, Vol. 14 p. 142

John Esposito:

"The Qur'an is regarded as the only miracle brought by the Prophet. Muslim tradition
is replete with stories of those who converted to Islam on hearing its inimitable
message and of those pagan poets who failed the Qur'anic challenge (10:37-38) to
create verses comparable with those contained in the Qur'an. Indeed, throughout
history, many Arab Christians as well have regarded it as the perfection of Arabic
language and literature."

Source: John L. Esposito, "Islam: The Straight Path," Oxford University Press, 1991,
p. 21

William Watt:

"I do, however, believe that Muhammad, like the earlier prophets, had genuine
religious experiences. I believe that he really did receive something directly from
God. As such, I believe that the Qur'an came from God, that it is Divinely inspired."

Source: Christian Clergyman, Scholar of the Qur'an, Islamic History, and Theology,
d. 2006

Nessim Dawood:

"The Koran is the earliest and by far the finest work of Classical Arabic prose... It is
acknowledged that the Koran is not only one of the most influential books of
prophetic literature but also a literary masterpiece in its own right... translations have,
in my opinion, practically failed to convey both the meaning and the rhetorical
grandeur of the original."

Source: "The Koran Translated with Notes" by N. J. Dawood, 5th Edition 1990, pp.
1,3

Alî bin Rabban at-Tabarî:

"When I was a Christian, I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the
learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood
because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and
(old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon
the meanings of the Qur'an, I came to know that what the followers of the Qur'an
claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab or
a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now,
which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and apostles,
exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and prohibition
against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance of hell-fire
as this Qur'an does. So when a person brings to us a book of such qualities, which
inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has achieved such
an everlasting success, and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person who did
never learn the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of the
signs of his Prophethood."

Source: Abdul Aleem, "I'jaz ul Qur'an," Islamic Culture, pp. 222-223.