His conduct on the one hand...

His conduct on the one hand, and the verses of the holy Qur'an on the other, he conveyed the message that he had been ordered to deliver. He proclaimed clearly and loudly the revelations he had received. He conveyed the message in the midst of the society where people's mind revolved exclusively around eloquent speech and the composition of beautiful poetry and literacy excellence.

Under these conditions Allah equipped Muhammad (s) with a weapon, the holy Qur'an, which possessed unique characteristics that were beyond the capacity of human being to reproduce. The verses of the Qur'an filled the hearts of the Arabs with new feeling and perception. As they were fully versed in the art of rhetoricthey readily realized that the eloquenceof the Qur'an was beyond the power of man to produce. In fact, the Prophet (s) challenged them to produce even one surah like that.

"And if you are in doubt concerning that which We revealed to Our servant then produce a chapter like it, and call your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful." (2:23) In a society where poetry could be more powerful than swords, the exquisite style of the Qur'an and its inimitability - could be very convincing indeed. Everyone who heard it had to acknowledge that its language was extraordinarily powerful.

The Arabs of that age who were addressed by the Qur'an could never have doubts about its extraordinary eloquence. It is intended to be an eternal miracle. A permanent message must display to mankind a permanent and everlasting miracle one which advances with time, so that just as it offered convincing proofs to the people of the past, it can also offer these proofs to the people of the future. A short - lived miracle cannot be a source of reference for the future.

For this reason, the Qur'an is presented as permanent and universal message. "It is not poetry, though it is hard to say whether it be or not, it is beyond poetry. It is not history, not metaphysical dialectics like the Buddhist sutras nor the sublime homiletics like Plato's conference on the wise and foolish teachers.