A Glance at the Miracle of the Holy Qur’an

By: Ayatullah al-Uzma Shaykh Nasir Makarim Shirazi
What do the letters stand for at the beginning of some of the Surahs?
We see that the beginning verse of many of the surahs of the Holy Qur’an are letters, like alif lam mim, alif lam mim rah and ya sin.
One of the secrets and the philosophy behind these letters, according to some of the Islamic traditions, is that God is showing the great miraculous and eternal quality of the Holy Qur’an.
That is, how can the Qur’an make use of these simple letters and create such words which are greater than the letters while every child can repeat them and in truth the appearance of this important fact is one of the most important miraculous issues.
Now this question arises. From what point of view is the Qur’an a miracle? It is only because of its simplicity and tone, or, in other words, the sweetness and clarity of its expression and the extraordinary influence of it or is it because of something else?
The truth is that whenever we look at the Holy Qur’an from different points of view, each one presents another image of its miracle. For instance:
1. Eloquence: The sweetness and extraordinary attraction of the miraculous words and concepts.
2. The expression of the highest content from every point of view, especially beliefs which lack any sort of superstition.
3. Scientific miracle: That is, the uncovering of issues which human beings during that age had not come to know.
4. To foresee and speak directly and accurately about some future events (the hidden news of the Qur’an).
5. The lack of contradiction, disputes, disorderliness and others.
A discussion about each of these five areas is very extensive but we will discuss some of them here.

1. Eloquence
We know that every discussion has to aspects: letter and content.
Whatever letters and words of beauty contain the necessary unity and are free of complicated and complex expression and also the sentence structure is such that they are exactly what one desires to hear and they attract the heart, that expression is called eloquence.
The Qur’an has both of these two qualities to the highest extent possible so that to date no one has been able to bring verses and surahs with such attraction, sweetness and tone.
In the previous lessons, we saw that Walid ibn Mugharayah, a skilled Arab linguist, was enraptured by hearing a verse of the Holy Qur’an and was made to think about how to express something to the Quraysh which would lessen the Holy Prophet in the eyes of the people, finally thought of the word ‘bewitchment’ and called Muhammad a be This is what they called the Prophet of Islam, even though they wanted, in this way, to condemn him, but, in truth, they were unable to do so.
At the same time, this calling the Prophet a magician is to admit to the extraordinary effects of the Qur’an in the sense that it cannot be explained and justified in simple terms and it must be recognized as being something miraculous.
But instead of them accepting the truth, and considering it to be a miracle, and gaining faith, they took the way of myth and legend. They were led astray and said that it was magic.
In the history of Islam, it can very often be seen that whenever harsh individuals went to see the Prophet, or hear verses of the Holy Qur’an, they changed their direction in life and allowed the light of the Holy Qur’an to guide them. This well shows that the attractions and eloquence of the Qur’an are miraculous.
We do not need to go far to see that whenever those people who are familiar with the Arabic language read the Qur’an, and they repeat it, they receive pleasure; they do not tire or become satiated.
The words of the Holy Qur’an are very accurate, are mixed with the purity of expression, and, at the same time, are clear and enlightening as well as, when necessary, they are firm.
It is necessary to point out that the Arabic language at that time had progressed a great deal as a language and examples of poetry during the Age of Ignorance, before the appearance of Islam, are among the best poems from the point of view of language.
It was famous that every year, the greatest literary men of the Hijaz would gather together and would offer the best examples of their poems in a commercial-literary center in the ukaz bazaar. One poem would be chosen as the best of the year. They would write it down and recite it in the Ka’bah. At the time of the Prophet, seven of these still existed and were called mu‘alaqat sab’.
But after the descent of the Holy Qur’an, they paled in comparison to the eloquence of the Holy Qur’an, so that one after another, they were removed from there and were forgotten in history.
The commentators upon the various verses of the Qur’an express all of the wondrous qualities of the verses so that reference can be made to them to gain a familiarity with it.
A familiarity with the Holy Qur’an shows that this saying of the Prophet of Islam, is not an exaggeration, “The Holy Qur’an has a beautiful exterior and a deep and subtle interior. The wonders of the Qur’an can never be counted and the miraculous qualities of the Qur’an will never age.”
The Commander of the Faithful, ‘Ali, peace be upon him, a great student of the Holy Qur’an, also says in the Nahj al-Balaghah, “The spring of hearts is in the Qur’an and it is the source of the springs of knowledge. There is no better way to remove the rust of the hearts and souls of people than through the Holy Qur’an.

Think and Answer
1. What is the philosophy behind the beginning letters of some of the verses of the Holy Qur’an?
2. Is the Holy Qur’an a miracle from only one point of view? Or from several points of view?
3. Why did the opponents of the Holy Qur’an refer to the Prophet of Islam as a ‘bewitcher’?
4. What is the difference between eloquence and bewitching?
5. What age did the mu’alaqat sab’ refer to and what does it mean?

The World View of the Holy Qur’an
Before anything else, we should study the intellectual and cultural environment from which the Holy Qur’an arose.
From the point of view of all historians, the Hijaz was among the most underdeveloped and backward areas of the world at that time. During the Age of Ignorance, the people of this area are referred to as savage or half-savage.
From the point of view of ideology, they were very firm worshippers of idols and stone and wood statues had cast their disgraceful shadows upon all of their culture.
They even say that they made statues and idols out of dates and they would kneel before them but at times of famine, they would eat them.
They held great hatred for female children so that they buried them alive and they called the angels, the daughters of God! They thought that God was just like a human being.
They were very surprised by the idea that a person should only worship One God. When the Holy Prophet invited them to worship the One God, with great surprise, they said, “Has he made the gods (all) into one God? Truly this is a wondrous thing.” (38:5)
Whoever spoke against their superstitions and their myths were called liars and insane.
They were ruled by a very firm tribal system and the differences and disputes among the tribes were so extensive that the wars among them never ended and time and time again, they colored each other’s environment with blood, creating blood baths. They were proud of their plunder and considered it to be part of their daily activity.
The number of people who could read and write in the area of Mecca, the center of commerce, could be counted on one hand and it was very rare to find scholars among them.
Yes, in such an environment, an individual who could not read and write and who had never had a teacher, arose and brought a book which was so full of such content and meaning that after 14 centuries, the scholars are still busy with its interpretation. Every age discovers new truths in it.
The image that the Holy Qur’an gives of the world of existence is a very accurate and exact one: monotheism is presented in the most perfect form. It expresses the secrets of the Creation of the earth, the heavens, the night and day, the sun and the moon, plants and the existence of the human being — each one as a sign of the One God in the various verses and with a varied form of expression.
Sometimes, it goes into the depths of the human being and speaks about the unity of the primordial nature: "Now, if they embark on a boat, they call on God, making their devotion sincerely (and exclusively) to Him; but when He has delivered them safely to (dry) land, behold, they give a share (of their worship to others)!” (29:65)
Sometimes it speaks of the intellect.
Sometimes it reasons from the unity of the intellect and relies upon the journey through the horizons and souls: the secrets of the creation of the earth and the heavens, animals and mountains and seas, rain and breezes and of the body and spirit of the human being.
When speaking about the Qualities of God, the most interesting and the deepest form of expression is selected.
The Holy Book says: “There is nothing whatever like unto Him...” (42:11)
“He is God. There is no god save He; the Knower of the unseen and seen; He is the Beneficent, the Most Merciful. He is God; there is no god save He; the King, the Holy, the Peace-loving, (the bestower) of conviction, the Guardian (over all), the Ever-Prevalent, the Supreme, the Great absolute!
Hallowed is God from what they associate (with Him). He is God, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; His are the Excellent Names; praises Him whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth; and He is the Ever-Prevalent, the All-Wise.”(59:22-24)
In expressing the Knowledge of God and explaining His Unlimitedness: And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the Words of God be exhausted.” (31:27)
“To God belongs the Face of East and the West: whichever way you turn, there is the Face of God …” (2:115)
When words are spoken about the resurrection and it denies the polytheists: “He says, ‘Who can give life to (dry) bones and decomposed ones (at that’)? Say, ‘He will give them life Who created them for the first time! For He is well-versed in every kind of creation! The same who produces for you fire out of the green tree when behold! You kindle therewith (your own fires)!
Is not He who created the heavens and earth able to create the like thereof? Yea indeed! For He is the Creator supreme of skill and knowledge! Verily when He intends a thing, His Command is, be and it is!” (36:78-82)
“On that Day will (the earth) declare her tidings. “(99:4)
“That Day shall We set a seal on their mouths. But their hands will speak to us and their feet bear witness to all that they did.” (36:65)
“They will say to their skins: ‘Why bear you witness against us?’ They will say. ‘God has given us speech, (He) Who gives speech to everything: He created you for the first time, and unto Him were you to return.” (41:21)
The value of the knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and the greatness of its content and the greatness of its content and the fact that this knowledge is free from any kind of superstition will become clear when it is compared with the altered Bible and Pentateuch.
When we compare these two with each other, for instance, we see what the Pentateuch says about the creation of the human being and then what the Holy Qur’an says.
What does the Pentateuch say about the prophets and what does the Holy Qur’an says?
How does the Bible and the Pentateuch describe God? How does the Qur’an do so?
Here the difference between these two will be made clear.

Think and Answer
1. What were the particularities of the environment from which the Qur’an arose?
2. What effect did idol worship have in their thoughts?
3. What is the difference between primordial nature and reason?
4. What is the logic used by the Qur’an in describing the Qualities of the Creator? Give examples.
5. How can one better understand the content of the Holy Qur’an?