AL-QUR’AN AL-HAKÎM - القرآن الحكيم
The Qur’an, that is full of hikmahs.
(Please refer to The Twelfth Word)
A Concise Explanation of The Miraculousness of the Qur'an
One time I saw in a dream that I was at the foot of Mount Ararat. The mountain suddenly exploded, scattering rocks the size of mountains all over al-‘âlam, shaking it.
Then a man suddenly appeared at my side. He told me: "the aspects of the Qur'an's miraculousness you know, expound them concisely and summarise them succinctly!"
I thought of the dream's meaning while still dreaming, telling myself: the explosion here symbolizes a revolution in mankind.
As for the revolution, indeed the guidance of Furqân will be exalted everywhere, and will rule. And the time to expound its miraculousness will come!
I said to the questioner in reply: The Qur'an's miraculousness is manifested from seven universal sources, it is also composed of seven elements:
First Source: This is the fluency of its wording, arising from the purity of its language; and the shining manner of exposition born from all the beauty of the word-order; the eloquence of the meanings, the originality of the concepts, the excellence of the inferences, and the uniqueness of its styles.
Combined with these, in the character of its miraculousness is a wondrous embroidery of expression, a unique art of language. Its repetition never tires a person.
Second Element: A treasury of ghayb ‘ilms containing all the principles which pertain to ghayb in the matters of existences, Ilahî haqiqahs which pertain the mysteries of ghayb, the ghayb of samâ, events of ghayb concealed in the past, and matters hidden in the future.
The tongue of al-‘âlam al-ghayb’s pillars speaks with al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah; its language symbolically; its aim is humankind, a luminous flash of miraculousness.
Third Source: It has a wondrous comprehensiveness in five aspects. In its words, meanings, injunctions, and its ‘ilm, and the balance of its aims.
Its words contain truly vast possibilities and numerous aspects, yet each is the one preferred by eloquence, the most correct (sahîh) in its Arabic and apt in the subtle meanings and mysteries of the Sharî'ah.
Its meaning: The miraculousness of its exposition was comprised and comprehended at once by the ways of all the awliyâ, the azwaq of the ‘ârifs, the madhabs of the sâlikîn13 , the ways of the Mutakallimîn, and the paths of the ‘Ulamâ.
The breadth of its evidence, the expanse of its meanings. If you look through this window, what a broad arena you will see!
The scope of its injunctions: The wondrous Sharî'ah has deduced from it all the principles for the happiness of this world and the next, all the means of salvation.
Its pronouncements at once embrace all the relations of social life, all the means of tarbiyyah, the haqiqahs of all conditions.
The profundity of its ‘ilm: It has brought together in Jannahs, in the fortresses of its Surahs, both the physical ‘ilms and the Ilahî ‘ilms, and all the levels of signs, allusions, and indications to them.
Its aims and purposes: It has applied perfect balance and regular sequence; conformed with the principles of the fitrah and unity, and has preserved the balance.
So see the marvellous encompassment in the comprehensiveness of its words, the breadth of its meanings, the scope of its injunctions, the profundity of its ‘ilm, and the balance of its aims.
Fourth Element: It bestows a luminous faydh on every age in accordance with its understanding and degree of literacy, and on all the classes of men in accordance with their capacities and abilities.
Its door is open to every era and every class within each. It is as though this Rahmanî Kalâm is freshly revealed every instant, everywhere.
As time grows older, the Qur'an grows younger; its signs, symbols and allusions become apparent; it rends the veil of Nature and causes, that Ilahî address.
It sheds the nûr of Tawhîd continuously from every âyah. It raises the veil of al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah, cast over the Ghayb. The loftiness of its address invites man's gaze to be attentive.
For it is the language of the Ghayb; it directly speaks with al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah. Its wondrous freshness proceeds from this element, an all-encompassing ocean!
The Ilahî condescension to the human mind (aql) is for the familiarity of the mind. It is the variety in revelation’s style which makes it familiar and the beloved of human beings and jinn.
Fifth Source: It relates in an original style laden with meaning, as though itself had witnessed them, of its stories and narrations, and truthful accounts, making their essential points;
By narrating, it warns mankind. Its narrations are these: It tells of former events, and future events, the mysteries of Jahannam and of Jannah;
Haqiqahs of the Ghayb, and mysteries of al-‘âlam ash-shahâdah, Ilahî mysteries, stories about relations between existences;
Clear stories that neither fact has refuted, nor logic. Even if logic does not accept them, it cannot refute them - the samawî books, which are revered by all the world.
It relates faithfully the points on which they agree, and mentions in correct form the subjects on which they differ. These matters issuing from one "unlettered" was a wonder of the time!
Sixth Element: It was the founder of the religion of Islam, and comprises it. If you investigate time and place, neither the past was capable of producing the like of Islam, nor is the future.
This samawî thread holds the globe in its annual and daily rotations, and spins it. It weighs down heavily on the earth and also mounts it, but the earth does not give up its rebellion.
Seventh Source: The six nûrs pouring forth from these six sources blend together; from this a beauty becomes apparent, and from this a hads, a luminous means.
This produces a pleasure: known as the pleasure of miraculousness, but our language is inadequate to describe it. The mind too is defective; that star of samâ can be seen, but not held.
For thirteen centuries the Qur'an's enemies have desired to challenge it, while it has aroused in its friends of the Qur'an a desire to imitate it. This here is a proof of its miraculousness.
Available are millions of Arabic books, written in consequence of these two intense desires, which have come into the library of existence. If they are compared with revelation,
If they are weighed up, relying on the evidence of their eyes and ears, not only the unmatched ‘ulamâ, even the most common man, will declare: "This is samawî, those are human!"
Moreover, he will conclude: "It doesn't resemble them, it is not of the same class. If so, it is either lower than all of them, and the falsity of this is self-evident.
So it must be superior to all of them." Throughout all this time its doors are open, its meanings dedicated to humankind; it has summoned to itself rûhs and minds!
Man had power over it, and laid claim to it, but his meanings still could not oppose the Qur'an; he never could; now the time of testing has passed.
It does not resemble other books, it cannot be compared to them. For it is Rabbanî hikmah that its being revealed bit by bit over twenty years in relation to need, in miscellaneous parts.
The causes of revelation were various and distinct. The questions about any one matter were repeated and various. The events related to injunctions were numerous and changed. The times of revelation were distinct and different.
The conditions it was considering were various and different; the groups of those it was addressing were numerous and remote from each other; the aims of its guidance (irshad) were graded and various. Its structure, and expositions,
and replies, and addresses were based on these foundations. Yet despite this, its smoothness of style and lack of defect, its mutual proportion and harmony, demonstrated its perfection. Witness to this is that according to the science of rhetoric,
the Qur'an has a characteristic not present in other speech: if you listen to a speech, you will see the speaker (its owner) behind it, or you will find him within it. Style is the mirror of a person.
O dream-questioner! You asked for conciseness, so I have made an indication. If you seek detail, it is beyond me! A fly cannot behold the samâ.
For of the forty sorts of miraculousness, only one is the eloquence of the word-order; and an exposition of it did not fit in Isharat al-I'jaz14 .
My hundred-page tafsir was insufficient for it. Rather, from those who receive ilham of the rûh like yourself, It is I who seeks your explanation in detail!” The Words ( 767 )