The Essence of Islam – Volume I — Page 457
The Holy Qur'an wonders and qualities are unlimited and have no end. 457. As we have just stated, this characteristic is found in everything created by God Almighty. For instance, if the wonders of a leaf of a tree are investigated for a thousand years, that period would come to an end, but the wonders of the leaf will not come to an end. That which has come into being through unlimited power, must comprise unlimited wonders and qualities. The verse: قُل لَّوْ كَانَ الْبَحْرُ مدَادًا لِكَلِمَتِ رَبِّي لَنَفِدَ الْبَحْرُ قبل أن تَنْفَدَ كَلِمَتُ رَبِّي وَلَوْ جِئْنَا بِمِثْلِهِ مَدَدًا 268 supports this, for the whole of creation is Words of God. Thus this verse means that the qualities of creation are without limit and endless. Now when every created thing possesses unlimited and endless qualities and comprises numberless wonders then how could the Holy Qur'ān, which is the Holy Word of God Almighty, be confined to the few meanings which may be set out in a commentary of forty or fifty or a thousand volumes, or could have been expounded by our lord and master the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him] in a limited period? To say so would almost amount to disbelief, if it is deliberately persisted in. It is true that whatever the. Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him] has set forth as the meaning of the Holy Qur'an is true and correct, but it is not true that the Holy Qur'ān contains no more than the insights that have been set forth by the Holy Prophet [peace and blessings of Allāh be on him]. Such sayings of our opponents indicate that they do 268 "Say, If the ocean became ink for the words of my Lord, surely, the ocean would be exhausted before the words of my Lord came to an end, even though We brought the like thereof as further help. 'al-Kahf, 18:110 [Publisher]