Many people misunderstand the Quran’s literary challenge of producing something like it. Many think it is just „as good“ as writing the Quran.
For this reason, many skeptics – and rightly so – emphasize that literary values are highly subjective. If someone says he thinks a certain collection of prose or poetry is better than the Quran, who can argue with him? Isn’t it really a matter of personal judgment and taste? Who can be the referee?
However, the challenge of the Quran does not only mean writing something of a similar literary style, but rather writing something like the Quran.
We can see this in all the verses of the challenge. God says:
„Say: (o Muhammad) ´If the people and the Ğinn united to produce something like this Quran, they would not produce anything like it, even if they supported each other.“ (Quran 17:88)
God says,
“Or will they say, ‚He made it up‘? Say: „So bring forth ten equal suras and call who you can except God if you are truthful.“ (Quran 11:13)
God says,
„Or do you want to say,“ He (Muhammad) made it up? “ Say: „Bring out a sura of the same kind and call who you can except God if you are truthful.“ (Quran 10:38)
God says:
“And if you (Arab idolaters, Jews and Christians) are in doubt about (the Quran) what We have sent down to our servants (Muhammad), bring up a Sura of the same kind and call you on witnesses (helpers ) except God if you are truthful. And if you don’t – and you definitely won’t – you fear the (hell) fire, the fuel of which are people and stones; it is prepared for the unbelievers. ” (Quran 2: 23-24)
So it’s not just a matter of quality – it doesn’t even have to have the same value! Similarity is what matters. What is required in the challenge is to achieve at least a comparable level of literary beauty, refinement and grandeur of the Quran while at the same time mimicking the particular style of the Quran.
It is perfectly possible to mimick the Quran style, and many people have been successful in it – but all such attempts from Musailimah’s time to the present day have proven stupid and absurd, and they have often garnered laughter and ridicule. This is the unanimous opinion of anyone who has ever heard or read about these attempts.
It is equally possible for a person who writes in Arabic to achieve a high level of literary excellence and to convey the noblest thoughts and feelings in the most moving poetry and prose – but no one has ever succeeded in this by using the special style of the Qur’an ´an used.
And what a difficult style it is! The Quran is neither Arabic prose, nor is it recognized as Arabic poetry. It is not written in a combination of both prose and poetry, but none of these types. He is unique. At the same time, the Quran is inherently stable and maintains its unique style.
Only the Quran achieves the highest level of literary excellence – so much that it makes people shake and cry – while maintaining its style.
So this is the test of fire: write something in exactly the same style as the Quran and produce something of a similar quality and grandeur that can be discussed.
One could still argue that the evaluation of the results is still based on subjective literary tastes. That’s true. However, the second part of the challenge is to bring witnesses who can determine the quality of this assessment, not just stand there and make the claim.
Throughout history, people have tried to write in the Quran style. The results have always been so ridiculous that no one dared to say that he believed the Versch resembled the Quran in its literary manner. The reason that no one dared to do so was not the fear of retribution – like some Have suspected skeptics – but rather the fear of standing there like a complete idiot. An early example was:
Al-Feel
Mal-Feel
Wa maa adraaka mal-feel
Lahu dhanabun radheel, wa khurtoomun taweel
… which means:
the elephant –
what is the elephant?
And what would you get out of it if you knew what the elephant was?
It has a skinny tail and a very long trunk.
We can easily admit that this was a successful attempt to mimick the Quran style. It is obviously based on the beginnings of Sura al-Qari’ah or Sura al-Haqqah. With such a ticket on offer, however, it is no surprise that people are unwilling to harm their reputation by confirming literary excellence.
We should stop here and think: what other literary style that we know has produced such an undisputed work, but at the same time guaranteed everyone who lays a hand on it like a terrible failure?
In general, it is not a bad idea for a poet to imitate a successful style. However, the challenge of writing a single chapter like the Quran – the shortest chapter consisting of only three medium-length verses – has proven impossible.
We should remember that not everyone who speaks Arabic is Muslim. Many are Christians and Jews. Some are atheists. They live all over the world. Among all these non-Muslim Arabs there are leading poets and writers and important literary critics. None of them claim that they or anyone else has produced a literary work that comes close to the Quran in style and quality.
For someone who speaks Arabic, this is an obvious thing. Any Arab who looks at people’s attempts to write in the Quran style usually burst out laughing at this awkwardness or banality.
Non-Arabic speakers cannot experience this directly, but they can confirm that no serious literary attempts have been successful.
Assuming that any literary evaluation is based on subjectivity would pose a problem with the challenge of having a single judge or a committee of judges, or a pre-established criterion such as „only Muslim scholars can be referees“.
But there is no such limitation with this challenge.
The general consensus of the international Arab literary association – and the Arab mass in general – says that there is nothing that could take up the challenge. That is an objective yardstick.
Source: https://www.islamland.com/deu/articles/eine-literarische-herausforderung-bringt-etwas-wie-ihn-hervor