Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page xviii
Essence of the Holy Qur’ a n xviii sciences. Every subject connected with heaven or earth, human life, commerce and various trades is occasionally touched upon. . . it was indirectly due to the marvellous development of all branches of science in the Muslim world” (Dr Hart Wing Hirschfeld). “ Its (Qur’ a n's) miraculous quality resides partly in its style, so perfect and lofty that neither men nor jinn could produce a single chapter to compare with its briefest chapter and partly in its content of teachings, prophecies about the future, and amazingly accurate information such as the illiterate Muhammad could never have gathered of his own accord” (Harry Gaylord Dorman). “ The Qur’ a n is the one miracle claimed by Mu h ammad—his standing miracle he called it. . . and a miracle indeed it is ” (Bosworth Smith). “The Qur’ a n contains, pure, elevated and benignant precepts (Washington Iving). “ Well then, if the Qur’ a n were his (the Prophet's) own composition, other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not) then let them accept the Qur’ a n as an outstanding evidential miracle” (H. A. R. Gibb). “ The Qur’ a n is probably the most often read book in the world, surely the most often memorized and possibly the most influential in the daily life of the people who believe in it” (James A. Michener). “ On the whole we find in the Qur’ a n a collection of wisdom which can be adopted by the most intelligent of men, the greatest of philosophers and the most skilful of politicians. . . But there is another proof of the Divinity of the Qur’ a n; it is the fact that it has been preserved intact through the ages since the time of its revelation till the present day. . . Read and re-read by the Muslim world, this book does not rouse in the faithful any weariness; it rather through repetition, is more loved every day. It gives rise to a profound feeling of awe and respect in the one who reads it or listens to it. . . It was, therefore, neither by means of violence of arms, nor through the pressure of obtrusive missionaries that caused the great and rapid diffusion of Islam, but above all, through the fact that this Book, presented by the Muslims to the vanquished with the liberty to accept or reject, was the Book of God, the Word of Truth, the miracle Muhammad could show to those in doubt and to those who remained stubborn” (Laura Veccia Vaglieri—Apologies de I 'Islamisme pp. 57-59). “If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and astounding results are the three criteria of human genius, who could dare to compare any great man in modern history with Mu h ammad. The most famous men created arms, laws and empires only. They founded, if anything at all, no more than material powers which often crumbled away before their eyes. This man moved not only armies, legislations, empires, peoples and dynasties, but millions of men in one-third of the then inhabited world, and more than that he moved the altars, the gods, the religions, the ideas, the beliefs and the souls. On the basis of a Book, every letter of which has become law, he created a spiritual