In the previous lessons...

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.