Chapter One

Submission of Arguments that are External and Internal Evidence to Prove the Divine Origin and Superiority of the Holy Quran

Before laying out the arguments in this chapter, it is necessary to mention some preliminary points that are of fundamental importance for understanding the details and substance of the following arguments, and to comprehend their purport. These preliminary points follow.

First Preliminary Point

External evidence signifies those extrinsic circumstances which, when examined, prove that a given book is revealed by Allah, or that there is a need for a book to be revealed by Allah; and internal evidence refers to the inherent excellences of a book that are present in the book itself, and whose study makes it a rationally incontestable fact that it is the Word of God, and that it is impossible for man to write such a book.

Second Preliminary Point

The arguments that serve as external evidence in support of the divine origin and superiority of the Holy Quran are of four types: first, those proofs that are derived from matters that need to be reformed; second, those that are derived from matters that need to be perfected; third, those that are derived from matters that manifest the power of God; and fourth, those that are derived from matters relating to the unseen. However, the arguments that constitute the internal evidence of the divine origin and superiority of the Holy Quran are all derived from matters manifesting the power of God. The explanation of the above types is as follows:

Matters that Need to be Reformed refer to matters such as disbelief, infidelity, idolatry and sinful conduct, which people have adopted in place of true doctrines and righteous actions, and which may have become so widespread in the world that eternal divine favour should address itself to their reform.

Matters that Need to be Perfected relate to the teachings which are found in defective condition in revealed books, and whose defectiveness and incompleteness are manifested upon comparison with perfect teachings, and which are therefore in need of a revealed book to raise them to the level of perfection.

Matters that Manifest the Power of God are of two kinds:

1. External evidence:
   These refer to things that are created by God without any human planning and that invest every insignificant particle with such majesty, dignity and greatness as is impossible according to reason, and of which no parallel is to be found on the face of the earth.

2. Internal evidence:
   These refer to those beauties of form and meaning of the revealed Book, the like of which human powers are utterly incapable of producing, and which, by being truly matchless and peerless, point to the Unique and Almighty God as though reflecting His very countenance.

Matters Relating to the Unseen mean those matters which are proclaimed by a person with regard to whom it is certain that their exposition is, in every respect, beyond his power. That is to say, by looking at these matters and by considering the circumstances of the person in question, it becomes manifestly clear that he could not have acquired the knowledge of those matters either by observation and experience, nor could he have learned them by thought and reflection; nor should it be possible to imagine that he could have obtained their knowledge from one who was familiar with them. However, the same matters may not be beyond the power of another person. This exposition makes it clear that the nature of umur-e-ghaibiyyah [matters relating to the unseen] is relative and subjective. That is to say, when they are attributed to some particular person they can be considered as matters relating to the unseen, but when they are attributed to some other persons they do not possess this quality.

Examples:
(A.) Person Y is born fifty years after the death of Person X, while Person X was born in the present age. Person X is not the contemporary of Person Y, nor does Person X have any external means to know about the life of Person Y. For Person Y, the events of his life do not fall under the category of umur-e-ghaibiyyah because they are part of his own life as he felt and experienced them. However, if Person X were to foretell these events correctly, and in their minutest detail, Person X will be said to have revealed the unseen, for these events were not observed or felt by Person X, nor was it possible for him to know them by some external means.

(B.) Person Y is a philosopher who, after spending a long time in the deep study of philosophical books and cogitating on their contents, has acquired complete proficiency in the knowledge and comprehension of subtle, philosophical truths. Moreover, he has acquired many facts of rational knowledge and irrefutable arguments because he has studied the books written by his predecessors, has access to the treasures discovered through research carried out by earlier scholars, and is in the habit of meditation, mental exercise, and constant use of established rules of logic.

On the other hand, it is an established fact that Person X has not learnt even the rudiments of logic and philosophy, nor does he know that there are such things as books of philosophy, nor is he trained to exert his mind through meditation and reflection, nor does he keep the company or acquaintance of the learned or philosophers. Rather, he is completely unlettered and has always lived among the unlettered.

Thus, all the branches of knowledge that Person Y has learnt with diligence, effort and hard work are not ‘matters relating to the unseen’ for Person Y, because he has spent a long time assiduously learning them. However, if Person X, who is completely unlettered, explicitly expounds the abstruse and subtle points of wisdom and philosophy in such a way that his exposition is neither inaccurate nor lacking in any respect whatsoever, and, moreover, if he expounds philosophical truths so comprehensively that no previous philosopher has ever been able to do so, then each of his expositions which fulfils the above conditions would fall under the category of umur-e-ghaibiyyah because he expounded that which was beyond his ability, his scope of knowledge, as well as his spectrum of grasp and understanding. Furthermore, he did not have at his disposal any means to explain such things.

(C.) Person Y is a priest, a pundit or a learned scholar of another religion who has mastered all great and small [matters], has spent a large part of his life in hard work spanning many decades, and has thus acquired the knowledge of subtle and abstruse doctrines of his religion. He has also, after meditating and reflecting on the teachings of his religion, discovered all that is right or wrong in it, as well as its extremely subtle and profound truths.

On the other hand, Person X is an individual about whom it is an established fact that he is unlettered and cannot read any book. So if Person Y relates some doctrines or tenets mentioned in these books, they will not fall under umur-e-ghaibiyyah with respect to him, because he is well-versed in the subjects of the books in question due to having full knowledge and rehearsing the contents of the books over a long period of time. However, if Person X, who is entirely unlettered, expounds the profound doctrines, which would normally be impossible to do unless one has a complete and in-depth knowledge of them, and if he can disclose the subtle and profound truths contained in these books which are not known to anyone except the distinguished scholars, and if he exposes all the errors and flaws of these books, which is equally impossible without the ability to examine a text with a sharp, critical eye, and if, over and above all this, he is so perfect in his critique and analytical study that he is unrivalled in this respect, it will then be just and fair to affirm that he has stated umur-e-ghaibiyyah.

Explanation:
A critic might object with respect to this preliminary point that it is possible for someone to acquire knowledge of the plain and simple facts contained in religious books by just hearing them; one does not necessarily have to be educated. They might say that it is possible for an illiterate person to acquire such knowledge from one who is literate; these matters do not involve subtle and intricate knowledge that can only be acquired through formal education.

Such critics should be asked whether or not their scriptures contain any subtle truths that can be fathomed only by the ablest of scholars and learned men, and can be understood only by those who have sweat blood over them for a long period and have received education in centres of learning from accomplished teachers. They may reply to this rejoinder by admitting that such profound truths of the highest degree are not given in their books—but rather, they consist of only such simple, trivial, and shallow teachings which even a common man can comprehend by paying slight attention to them, and that even an unintelligent boy can reach their depths by a cursory look at them, and the acquisition of their knowledge does not merit any distinction, and at best they are like books comprised of stories, or like books which are written to be read by children or common men. If it is so, the plight of these books is only to be regretted. This is because it is very clear and evident that if the subject matters of a book are limited to the obtuse intellect of a common man and fall utterly short of the standard of containing subtle verities, it cannot be held in esteem. Rather, such a book in the eyes of the wise is as commonplace as its subject matter is crude and without substance, and its contents do not deserve to be considered philosophical works, or to be ranked at the level of sublime truths. Thus, anyone who claims that all of the contents of his revealed scripture are crude and insignificant and are devoid of all those subtle truths, the knowledge of which is the exclusive prerogative of great scholars and thinkers, he not only denigrates his holy book but also loses any right to boast about his superiority over others. Because in having in-depth knowledge of his book, common people are his partners and equal to him, and he cannot have such superiority of knowledge over them as would distinguish him from the common people or bestow on him the title of a learned man or scholar. No doubt in that case he would be one from among the ignorant masses because the quantum of his knowledge is no more than that of common people. And undoubtedly the knowledge of such frivolous and worthless books cannot be considered to be matters relating to the unseen.

But the condition is that the books under discussion be disseminated and known so widely that it was possible for an unlettered person to learn of their teaching by paying even a little attention to them. If the subject matter of these books is not publicized and well-known, no matter how nonsensical and crude it may be, it will be regarded as the unseen with respect to a person who does not know the language in which they were written.

The above observation would be relevant if a people believed that their revealed books did not contain any subtle truths. But if they claim that their revealed books do contain subtle truths that are accessible only to the great scholars whose lives have been exhausted in their study and ceaseless contemplation, and contain such truths that only those persons who are highly intelligent, deep thinkers or profound scholars can reach their depth and essence, this will only prove our point, because if an unlettered person were to reveal the subtle verities contained in such books, that are beyond the capacity of the common intellect to comprehend, then undoubtedly—after it is affirmed that he is an unlettered person—his knowledge would be considered to be of the unseen. This is what Example C aims to illustrate.

Admonition:
The fact that the unseen comes from Allah is incontrovertible, for it is manifestly established by reason that to discover the unseen is beyond the power of created beings, and whatever is beyond the power of created beings has to be from God. So, it is evident that matters relating to the unseen are revealed by God and their divine origin is certain and conclusive.

Third Preliminary Point

Anything that has come into existence solely through the perfect power of God Almighty, whether it be a part of His creation or of one of His holy books, which has originated from Him, both in its words and its meanings, must have the distinction that none of His creatures has the power to create the like of it. This general principle, which applies to everything that originates from Allah, can be proven in two ways.

First, through qiyas [analogical reasoning]: qiyas, which is authentic and sound, affirms that it is necessary that God is One and without associate in His being, attributes and works, and that it is impossible that any of His creatures should be partners with Him in any of His creations, words or actions. The proof is as follows: If such a partnership were permissible with respect to any of His creations, words1 or actions, then it would be permissible in all His attributes and actions. And if it were permissible with respect to all [of His] attributes and actions, then it would also be permissible that another god should come into existence, because that which possesses all attributes of God would be God and that which possesses some of the attributes of the Divine would still be a partner of the Most Exalted Maker with respect to those attributes. However, to be a partner of the Maker is, according to reason, obviously impossible. Hence, this argument proves that it is necessary for God to be One without associate in all His attributes, words, and actions, and for His being to be free from all those ignoble qualities which tend to create the possibility of a partnership with Him.

The second proof for this claim comes from perfect inductive reasoning, and it stands substantiated when we reflect over all the things that have been created by Allah. When we minutely observe each and every part of the universe, which has come into existence through the perfect Omnipotence of God and observe its every detail—from the loftiest to the smallest and even the most insignificant like a housefly, mosquito, spider, etc.—we find that none of them are such as would be in man’s power to create. Rather, as we continue to reflect upon their structure and design, we find in them wonderful workings of the hand of providence which serve as irrefutable proof and clear arguments for the existence of the Creator of the universe.

Besides all these arguments, it is clear to every wise person that were it permissible that someone other than God could have the power to create that which God has created by the hand of His Providence, then no part of creation could be cited as a perfect sign of the existence of the True Creator, and the matter of His recognition as the Creator would become entirely doubtful; for if some of those things that have been created by God Almighty could be created by someone else, then there is no reason why someone else cannot create everything that God has created. Now as it has been established with categorical arguments that it is necessary for everything that comes from Allah to be matchless, and that its matchlessness is a conclusive proof of its being from Allah, this fact should suffice to fully expose the falsity of those who hold that it is not necessary for the Divine Word to be matchless, or that its being matchless is no proof of its being from God.

Here, for the purpose of completing the argument, I find it appropriate to remove yet another misconception that is deeply rooted in their minds due to their short-sightedness, namely, that there are many texts in the world, the likes of which have not been produced to this day, but these texts cannot be taken as the word of God. So, let it be clear that this objection, too, stems from a lack of thought and reflection. Otherwise, it is quite obvious that no matter how lucid and eloquent a human text may be, it would be illegitimate to claim that the writing was truly beyond the power of man and that its author accomplished a divine feat. Rather, anyone with the least bit of common sense knows that a thing that has been created by human faculties cannot be considered beyond the power of man; otherwise no man could have created it [in the first place]. By calling a word the word of man, you have yourself admitted that human powers can create it; and if it is of the kind that can be created by man, how can you call it matchless. Only halfwits or madmen can be expected to first accept that a thing has been created by human faculties and then nonsensically claim that it is now above and beyond the power of man to create. The sum of their insane proposition would be that human faculties are both capable and incapable of creating a certain thing. Besides, to this day no man has ever claimed that his words or his creations are matchless and peerless like the words and creations of God. And if some conceited fool was to make such a claim, then thousands of writers better than him would have come forward to make him lick the dust.

It only befits the Glory of God to claim that the whole world is helpless and powerless to produce the like of His Word, and to arouse the fury of the deniers by labelling them in very strong words as faithless, accursed, and Hell-bound, and to repeatedly provoke those who fail to produce its like—and yet continue to deny it—with warnings of punishment as severe as death, so that they may leave no stone unturned in their combined effort [to produce the like of the Divine Word], or else deem their homes to be destroyed, their women to be enslaved and they themselves to be killed. Has any human being ever made such a claim—and that too, with such force and explicitness? Certainly not.

Since no one has ever boasted about his words being peerless, nor considered his faculties to be any more than human—and even hundreds of renowned poets chose to fight and die but failed to produce even a surah like the Holy Quran—therefore, anyone who declares that the flawed words of such helpless people are matchless, and that they have a share of Allah’s perfect and exclusive attributes can only be blind and foolish. For, what else other than blind and foolish would we call a person who is shown a manifest difference between the work of God and the work of man with clear arguments, yet he chooses not to see.

The above discourse is enough to demonstrate that the quality of matchlessness is peculiar only to the work of God and His Word. For, every wise person knows that the principal means that reason has for establishing the Godhead of the Divine is that everything that proceeds from Allah is so matchless that it constitutes a perfect sign of the existence of the Unique Creator. Had this means not been available, the way of reason to reach God would have been closed. Having acknowledged that cognition of God depends upon accepting everything that comes from Him to be peerless, and yet ascribing an exclusively divine attribute to human beings, amounts to cutting at the very root of both reason and faith.

Now that it has been established with powerful and unequivocal arguments that no act of man is peerless, and all the works of God and all that emanates from Him is without equal, if you still refuse to trust this perfect inductive argument that has been derived from an exhaustive study of the divine laws of nature, then you had better stop laying any claims to reason or the laws of nature; and shred and cast into a river all your useless books of logic and philosophy. Do you not feel ashamed when you assert that even a disgusting common housefly is so perfect and unique in its outer appearance and inner structure that it points towards God as its Creator, yet you claim that God’s Word cannot be so unique in its eloquence that when one looks at it one is convinced that its being from God stands proven.

O you the mindless! And O you the destitute of reason! Do you consider the lucidity and eloquence of the Word of God lower than, and its excellence inferior to, the wings and legs of a housefly. It is indeed regrettable that about the physical constitution of a mosquito you openly admit that such a constitution is not possible for man to make nor will it be possible in the future, yet, about the Word of Allah, you claim that man can produce the like of it. In fact, you dispute and argue that although no man has so far been able to match it, what is the proof that in future he will not have this ability.

O ignorant ones! The proof is the same as that which you understand and accept so well in the context of mosquitoes, houseflies and every leaf on a tree. But when you behold divine light, your eyes are blinded like those of an owl or become clouded. So, because of your fly-like natures, you readily acknowledge the grandeur of a housefly, but do not acknowledge the magnificence of the light of Allah. You admit that these words, like their meanings, emanate from the very mouth of God, yet you do not even equate them to the saliva that comes out of the mouth of a bee. In other words, you believe man to be incapable of producing honey, yet capable of creating the Word of God. It is amazing how mere vermin have caught your fancy, and captivated your hearts, so much so that the Word of God is not considered equal even to them.

Ignorant people! If God’s Word is not matchless, then who told you that insects and trees and leaves are matchless. Do you not at all reflect that if the Word of God is no match even for mere insects, this would raise doubts about the very wisdom of God, who would stand accused of granting supremacy to an inferior thing over a superior one, and of vesting the inferior with such signs regarding His own existence as He did not grant to the superior.

The grace and beauty of the Quran is the light and life of every Muslim;
The moon is the beloved of others—our beloved is the Quran.

I searched everywhere; its peer could not be found;
Why, after all, should it not be unique; it is the Holy Word of the Gracious Lord.

Every word in it is a living and everlasting spring;
No orchard has such quality, nor is there a garden like it.

The Holy Word of the Gracious God has no equal;
Be it a pearl from Oman or a ruby from Badakhshan.2

How can the word of man equal the Word of God?
There, is divine power; here, is helplessness. The difference is so obvious.

In knowledge and eloquence, how can man equal Him;
Before whom even the angels confess ignorance.

Even the tiny leg of an insect, man can never create;
How then is it possible for him to create the light of God?

O people, have some regard for the grandeur of the Great Lord;
Hold your tongues now if you have even a hint of faith.

To consider someone equal to God is an act of great infidelity;
Have some fear of God, dears! What a lie and calumny this is!

If you accept the Oneness of God,
Why are your hearts so full of polytheism?

What veils of ignorance have enveloped your hearts!
You are indeed guilty of an error. Desist, if you have any fear of God.

I bear no ill will to you, brothers! This is only humble advice;
My heart and life are an offering for anyone who has a pure heart.

Whatever I have written so far regarding the matchlessness of the Divine Word has been intended for certain short-sighted and free-thinking Muslims of this age, who have been rendered arrogant and benighted by sophistic and dubious Western education and have been led into renouncing and denying the matchlessness of the Glorious Quran, which is a necessary condition of its being from Allah. Despite being called Muslims, believing in the Holy Quran, and professing the kalimah [the declaration of faith in Islam], they think, like the faithless, that the Word of Allah equals the words of an insignificant human being in its external and internal qualities. The statement, [‘And they failed to respect Allah as He should be respected’], is applicable to them because they have disregarded all the magnificent powers of God and profound wisdom that must necessarily reflect the countenance of God in everything that proceeds from Him.

These verities, however, are so clear and self-evident that they can lead even those who are non-Muslims to readily understand the broad generalization that the word attributed to God has to be matchless and unequalled. When any sensible person reflects over the laws of nature and finds that everything which comes from God, no matter how trivial it may seem, is full of great marvels, is created with profound wisdom, and is beyond the power of man to create, it becomes impossible for him not to admit that man is powerless to create the like of anything that emanates from God. Nor can the intellect of any sane person suggest that it is possible for God’s creation to be the associate of God in His being, His attributes or His works.

In addition to the above-mentioned arguments, there are many more which make the matchlessness of the Word of God even clearer and manifest it like axiomatic truths to an intelligent and insightful person. One of these arguments is derived from the fact that varying results are experienced, in different ways, from diverse actions. To illustrate, it should be quite obvious to every reasonable person that if various writers were to write, utilizing the best of their intellectual prowess, a piece of prose—free from frivolity, falsehood, meanness, unwarranted verbosity, satire, and every kind of ambiguous and uncouth language, and all such defects that conflict with wisdom, lucidity, and eloquence; and is also completely pure and free from all such grave defects that are contrary to perfection and comprehensiveness, and at the same time is absolutely comprehensive and truthful, and is full of wisdom, lucidity and eloquence, truths and verities—then the one who would stand out above all of them will perforce be the one who possesses the greatest intellectual prowess, extensive general knowledge, expertise in deep intellectual subjects, and who is also the most skilled in the art of writing prose. In no event would it be possible for a person who is inferior to him in ability, knowledge, skills, experience, mind and intellect to be able to equal him in respect of the eloquence of his writing.

Another example is that of a physician who is an expert in his profession, has acquired proficiency in the diagnosis and treatment of disease over many years of experience, and is also outstanding in his knowledge of literature and has achieved outstanding pre-eminence as a writer and a poet. Now, when this physician explains the causes, nature, and symptoms of a disease, he will be able to do it far more accurately, truthfully, lucidly, and eloquently than a person who is not even remotely acquainted with medicine and is also absolutely ignorant of the subtleties of literary expression. It is an obvious and easily understandable fact that there is always a difference to some extent between the discourse of the ignorant and the wise; and a man’s intellectual excellence is always reflected in his scholarly exposition, just as a face is reflected in a clear mirror.

The words that a person utters in his exposition of truth and wisdom are considered a yardstick for measuring his intellectual abilities. The words that flow from the spring of the vastness of knowledge and perfect reason and those that emerge from narrow, constricted, dark, and limited thought are as clearly distinct as fragrance is distinct from foul smell, provided that one’s sense of smell is not congenitally defective or temporarily impaired. You may reflect and ponder over it as much as you wish, you will not find any flaw in this truth, nor find any chink in it, from any perspective.

Now that it has been established from every angle that differences that lie concealed in literary and intellectual prowess will perforce be reflected in one’s speech, and it is on no account possible that those who are most excellent and superior in reason and knowledge should be equal to others in lucidity of expression or exaltedness of meaning, and that no distinction remains between them, this truth entails yet another truth; namely, that the Word of God has to be the most excellent, and superior to, and incomparable vis-à-vis, the word of man—both in its external and internal excellences—because no one’s knowledge can equal the perfect knowledge of God. This is what God refers to in the verse:

—Part Number 123

Meaning that, if the disbelievers fail to produce anything like this Quran, and are unable to take up its challenge, know then that this Word [i.e., the Quran] has not flowed from man’s knowledge but from the knowledge of God—in comparison to whose boundless and perfect knowledge all human knowledge is worthless and insignificant.

This verse uses a kind of inductive argument to prove the existence of the cause from the existence of the effect. To put it briefly in other words, it says that divine knowledge, on account of its perfection and comprehensiveness, can never be similar to the defective knowledge of man. Thus, it is essential that the word which springs from perfect and incomparable knowledge must itself be perfect and incomparable, and must possess a perfect distinction over the words of man. This is the very perfection that is demonstrated in the Holy Quran.

In short, the Word of God should be as clearly different from the word of man as the knowledge, wisdom, and power of God are from those of man. When individual persons, in spite of belonging to the same species, show such differences in their discourse on account of the difference in their knowledge, intellect, experience, and practice, and when it is impossible for someone of limited knowledge and weak intellect to equal the vastly knowledgeable and highly intellectual, how then can God, who is entirely free from partnership in His being and undoubtedly combines all perfections in Himself, and is One, without any partner in all His attributes, be equalled by creatures who are only a particle of insignificant and uncertain existence. How, indeed, can man, being His creature, raise his own lowly and insignificant knowledge to be at par with the infinite knowledge of the Creator.

Now, is any iota of doubt left in proving the fact that the formal and substantial grandeur and greatness of a text depend wholly on the academic prowess and practical proficiency [of its author]. Is there any man who has not seen this verity, at least in some part, through his personal experience and observation? This truth is so forceful, established, publicized and well-known, that no man, whatever the level of his intellect, can fail to understand it. How greatly ignorant, then, would be the one who accepts this in the case of imperfect humans, but turns away in denial when it comes to the Holy Word of the Perfect One, whose unique and unmatched status as the possessor of ultimate knowledge is accepted by all.

Some critics of Islam argue that although it seems logical that God’s Word should be without parallel, where do we find such a word whose matchless nature is proven with manifest arguments. If the Quran is matchless, then this should be proven by clear arguments. After all, [they say] its incomparable eloquence can be appreciated only by those whose mother tongue is Arabic. Its matchlessness cannot be presented as an argument to others, nor can they benefit from it.

Let it be known that the answer is that this flimsy objection is raised only by people who have never sincerely tried to ascertain the matchlessness of the Quran from someone possessing knowledge of it. Rather, after seeing the light of the Quran, they turn their back on it, lest any ray of that light should reach them. Otherwise, the matchlessness of the Holy Quran is so patent and obvious in the estimation of seekers after truth that, like the sun, it spreads its rays in all directions and there is no doubt or difficulty in knowing and understanding it. This perfect light can be seen even with minimal attention, provided the darkness of prejudice and ill-will does not block it.

It is true that some aspects of the matchlessness of the Holy Quran are such as to require some knowledge of Arabic for their comprehension, but it is a great mistake and ignorance to imagine that the entire range of the miraculousness of the Quran depends upon the knowledge of Arabic, and that all Quranic wonders and all the great qualities of this discriminating Book can be appreciated only by the Arabs, and that non-Arabs are barred from discovering them. Certainly not. Certainly not.

It is clear to every knowledgeable person that most aspects of the matchlessness of the Quran are so simple and easy to understand that no proficiency in Arabic is needed to learn and understand them. Rather, they are so manifest and clear that minimal intelligence—which should be characteristic of every human being—suffices for their understanding. For instance, one reason for its matchlessness is that, despite its brevity, to the extent that if it is written out by an average pen it can be comprised within four to five juzw’, it comprehends all religious verities which lay scattered and diffused in various earlier books and in the scriptures of previous Prophets.

Furthermore, it possesses the distinction that whatever verities a person might discover by diligence, effort, and devotion relating to religion through the exercise of his own intelligence and perception; or whatever new subtle verities he might discover, and whatever points of truth and wisdom or proofs and arguments he might set forth by the exercise of his own reason; or should he offer, for comparison, the subtlest verity that the ancient philosophers may have discovered through great toil and labour; or should he desire to discover the Quranic remedy for the inner disorders and spiritual maladies from which most people suffer; he can test [the Quran] in whichever aspect and by whatever method he might desire, and he will find that, in setting forth its truth and wisdom, the Holy Quran encompasses everything like a circle and that no religious verity is left out of it. Rather, it completes and corrects the verities that past philosophers misstated due to their deficient knowledge and wisdom. What is more, it describes and brings to light with perfect meticulousness and accuracy the subtleties that never occurred to any sage or philosopher. It articulates clearly all the subtle points of knowledge of the Divine that were written in hundreds of lengthy books and yet remained defective and far from complete. Nor does the Holy Quran leave room for any wise person in the future to come up with a subtle point that it does not already contain. This is despite the fact that it is a Book of such a small size that it requires no more than forty sheets of paper if written in normal handwriting. Now, it is clear that this is an aspect of matchlessness that even a person of meagre intellect cannot doubt. It is clear to every reasonable person that it is not within the power of man nor within the capacity of any other creature to set out every type of religious truth, all the facts and insights relating to the subject of divinity, and all the arguments in support of true principles and the means of attaining them which have resulted from the intellectual exercises of all thinkers, ancient and modern, with such completeness in a book of moderate size, from which no verity has been left out.

For every person, literate or illiterate, there is a clear and straightforward way for testing this aspect of the Holy Quran. If anyone should doubt as to how the Holy Quran can be comprehensive of all religious verities, I undertake the responsibility myself that if anyone—as a seeker after truth, that is, after making a written promise that if he is satisfied he would accept Islam—should set forth a certain number of religious verities from any book in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, English, Sanskrit, etc., or should set forth a subtle point relating to any subjects of divinity out of his own intellect, I shall produce for him the same from the Holy Quran—provided he sends it to me while this book is being compiled, so that it can be incorporated and published at an appropriate place as a footnote in this book. However, when such questions are sent, the following condition should be kept in mind: anyone who desires to start the debate, should first publish a clear statement in a newspaper stating with utmost sincerity that his sole purpose is to find the truth, and in case he is fully satisfied with the answer, he is ready to embrace Islam. Otherwise, it is a waste of time to pay attention to anyone who does not sincerely seek the truth, and whose heart is devoid of fear of God, and who, because of his inner wickedness, indulges in idle talk like mischief-makers.

Another proof of the matchlessness of the Holy Quran that can be readily understood by every seeker after truth is that, in addition to its brevity and despite its comprehensiveness of all truth and wisdom, which has been mentioned above, its style is profoundly eloquent, balanced, delicate, soft, and awe-inspiring. Even if a zealous critic and staunch opponent of Islam, who is also well-versed in Arabic writing and composition, were categorically commanded by a ruler having full authority, to produce the like of the Holy Quran in, say, twenty years—which amounts to a lifetime of effort—under the penalty of death, he will fail to do so. Nay, even if he is told to take just a few lines from the Quran and try to match or excel them in such a way that his text should not only comprise all the truths and verities contained in the relevant portion of the Quran, but should also be equally eloquent, even then, in spite of his undying enmity, fear of being disgraced as well as of death, he can never have the power to produce anything like it, even if he were to summon to his aid hundreds of linguists and writers from around the world.

The above-mentioned example is not an imaginary illustration or a baseless supposition. Rather, this is an established fact that was put to the test at the time [of the revelation] of the Holy Quran itself, and its truth has been proved to every seeker after truth up to this day. And even now if any seeker after truth wishes to witness this Quranic miracle first-hand, I take it upon myself to very easily prove it to his satisfaction. To verify this statement and to distinguish between truth and falsehood is not at all difficult. It is not something that requires any expense, or loss of any other kind. The seeker after truth needs only to choose any topic of his choice from anywhere in the Holy Quran and give it to any of the scholars of Arabic, who are found in this country in the hundreds of thousands, with the request that he should write on that topic in his own words, covering all subtleties and fine points. When such a composition is ready, it should be sent to me. I shall then make it very clear, in a plain and lucid discourse, which everyone who can read Urdu will be able to understand easily, how his piece of writing is totally deprived and devoid of the excellent qualities of the Quran.

Here, it should also be remembered that just as the characteristics of other things are learned through repeated tests and experiments, the distinctive quality of the Holy Quran’s matchlessness in respect of its lucidity and eloquence can also be known only through test and experiment. God has prescribed only one course to discover the distinctive qualities of things; that if we are in doubt about a particular distinctive quality of a thing we should go on repeating the experiments until we are fully satisfied. Anybody who persists in doubting a quality, which is found to exist in an object through experiments, by saying that he cannot find any rationale for it, is surely mad or insane. For instance, if a person knows from repeated tests and experiments that arsenic is a fatal poison, but continues to deny it by saying that he does not know why it has this fatal quality, such a person will be regarded by the wise as insane; rather, worse than the insane.

It is a self evident truth that different elements have different properties. When the specific property of something has been verified by repeated experiments, can denying it be called anything other than madness or insanity. The greatest folly, however, is to deny the attributes and acts of God Almighty. For, in the case of all other things, the peculiar qualities that distinguish them from others can be proven only through experiment, it is not necessary to provide a rational ground for it. But as I have already stated in the case of divine attributes, the fact that4 His existence, His attributes, and His acts are not shared by anyone else and are replete with His mighty power is not only proven by experience but also by rational arguments that demonstrate that God must be One without any partner in respect of His person, all His attributes, and acts; and also demonstrate that the proof of His divinity is contingent upon the proof of such unique qualities.

The ignorant people who have not accepted the inimitability of the Divine Word, should, therefore, be ashamed of themselves and reflect. Their refusal is based only on their concocted notion that since the discourse of God is made up of the same words and letters as the discourse of man, why should man be considered incapable of creating the like of the Word of God. I pity those who have failed to grasp this solid and evident truth that has been proved by irrefutable arguments. Had they possessed even a little God-given intelligence, they would ask themselves first—prior to advancing such foolish criticism—as to whether or not it is necessary for God to be One without having any partners in His person, His attributes, and all His actions.

And if they had not reflected over this argument, at least they should have thought over the second argument, that when a being, by their very admission, is Supreme and Peerless in knowledge and creative powers, then everything that proceeds from such powers should also be peerless. For, as I have already mentioned, the magnificence and grandeur of a discourse depends on the intellectual prowess of the author; the greater his intellectual prowess, the higher in degree would be the greatness and grandeur of his composition.

And if they have shut their eyes to this argument as well, I wish that they had borne in mind the fact that all things have distinct qualities. Are they not aware that there are hundreds of things that belong to the same species; rather, they are counted under one category and yet the All-Wise God has granted different qualities to each and every one of them. [Continued in Part IV.]