Eighteen Sign.Part2

SECOND POINT (Part.1)

At the time of Moses (Upon whom be peace), it was magic that was prevalent, so his most important miracles resembled it. And at Jesus (Upon whom be peace)’s time, it was medicine that was prevalent and his miracles were mostly of that kind. Similarly, at the time of the Most Noble Prophet (Upon whom be blessings and peace), in the Arabian Peninsula four things were prevalent:

1. The First: Eloquence and rhetoric.
2. The Second: Poetry and oratory.
3. The Third: Soothsaying and divining matters of the Unseen.
4. The Fourth: Knowledge of past events and cosmology.

Later, we had a copy of the Qur’an written which showed in gilded letters a flash of its miraculousness which appeared from the ‘coinciding’ of the word ‘Allah.’ And I wrote eight short pieces, called the Eight Symbols, which explain the subtle relationships evident in the coinciding of the Qur’an’s letters, and their allusions concerning the Unseen. I also wrote five treatises, one about the wonders of ‘Ghauth al-Gilani,’ three about those of ‘Ali, and one called Indications of the Qur’an, which by means of tawafuq or ‘coincidences’, confirm, commend, and applaud the Risale-i Nur. That is to say, that important truth was perceived and written in summary fashion in the writing of the Miracles of Muhammad, but unfortunately the author saw and described only a tiny part of it; he continued without further pursuing it.

Thus, when the Qur’an of Miraculous Exposition appeared, it challenged those with knowledge of these four fields.

Firstly, it made the men of rhetoric and eloquence bow before it; they all listened to it in astonishment.

Secondly, it filled the poets and orators with amazement, that is, those who spoke well and declaimed fine poetry, so that they bit their fingers in astonishment. It reduced to nothing the value of their finest poems written in gold, causing them to remove the famous ‘Seven Hanging Poems’, their pride and glory, from the walls of the Ka’ba.

And it silenced the soothsayers and sorcerers, who gave news of the Unseen, and made them forget the knowledge they had received. It drove away the jinns, and put an end to soothsaying.

And it saved those with knowledge of the past and cosmology from superstition and falsehood, and instructed them in true facts and luminous knowledge.

Thus, these four groups bowed before the Qur’an in perfect wonder and veneration, becoming its students. At no time could any of them attempt to contest it.

How do we know that no one could dispute or contest it?

T h e  A n s w e r : If it had been possible to dispute it, for sure someone would have attempted it. For their religion, their possessions, their lives, and their families had been put into peril. If they had disputed it, they would have been saved. If it had been possible, they were bound to contest it. And if they had done so, since the supporters, unbelievers, and dissemblers were many, and truly many, they were sure to have supported such a contest, and would have advertised it widely. Just as they spread everything that was against Islam. And if someone had disputed the Qur’an and they had made it known to everyone, it would certainly have been recorded in the books of history in glittering terms. But all the histories and books are in evidence; apart from a few passages about Musaylima the Liar, there is nothing in any of them. Whereas for twenty-three years the All-Wise Qur’an continuously taunted and challenged them in a way that would increase their obduracy. It in effect said:

“Let someone unlettered like Muhammad the Trustworthy compose the like of the Qur’an. You can’t do it, so, come on, not an unlettered person, but someone very learned and literary. You can’t do that either. Rather than a single person, gather together all your scholars and men of eloquence, and let them assist one another, and the false gods on which you rely can also lend a hand. You won’t be able to do this either, so use the literary works of the past, and even call on those of the future to help you, and then compose the like of the Qur’an. And if you can’t do this, then do not compose all the Qur’an, but only ten Suras. Come on, you can’t manage ten which are truly like the Qur’an’s Suras, so put it together out of stories and fictitious tales; just produce the like of the word-order and eloquence. Don’t write a long Sura, just a short one. But if you can’t do this, your religion, lives, property, and families will all be in danger, both in this world and in the next!”

Thus, with these eight alternatives, the Wise Qur’an has challenged and silenced men and jinn, not for twenty-three years, but for one thousand three hundred.

Nonetheless, in those early times, those unbelievers did not have recourse to the easiest way, dispute or contest, but chose the most fearsome way, that of war, putting their lives, possessions, and families into danger. That means, to dispute it was not possible. And so, would not any intelligent person, particularly the people of Arabia at that time and the Quraysh, who were very clever have ensured that one of their literary men composed a Sura similar to one of the Qur’an’s and so be saved from the Qur’an’s attacks; would they have abandoned the short and easy way, cast all they possessed into peril, and travelled the way most fraught with difficulties?