The Life & Character of the Seal of Prophets (sa) - Volume II — Page 395
IX - Repeated Treachery of the Jews, Compilation and Sequence of the Holy Qur ’ā n, Marriage of Ḥaḍrat Zainab ra , the Great Calumny and Mischief of the Hypocrites 395 can only be performed by a person who is completely bereft of sense and understanding. To abandon the order of revelation, which could have in the least, furnished various historical benefits, merely so that the Sūrahs of the Holy Qur’ān could be arranged with respect to length, which possesses no academic benefit whatsoever, is such an action which cannot be committed by even a man of meagre understanding, and is out of the question as far as the Holy Prophet sa is concerned. The person of the Holy Prophet sa is far above and beyond this. Secondly, the very existence of these Sūrahs in their current form, due to which this notion has come about in the first place, proves that there is some kind of intelligent arrangement behind them. For as we have mentioned, the Holy Qur’ān was not revealed in the form of Sūrahs , rather, it was revealed very gradually in the form of verses. Sūrahs only came into existence as a result of the collection of these individual verses. In addition to this, as far as actual fact is concerned, it is absolutely incorrect and contrary to reality as well that length has been taken into account in the arrangement of the Qur’ān. Even an elementary study of the number of verses in the Sūrahs contained in the Holy Qur’ān is sufficient to refute this notion, because there are numerous examples where various lengthy Sūrahs have been placed afterwards, while shorter Sūrahs have been positioned first. There is no telling how Western scholars have been so negligent and committed such a blatant mistake in this respect. Hence, there is no room for uncertainty and doubt that firstly, the current arrangement of the Holy Qur’ān is not according to its order of revelation; secondly, nor is this arrangement according to the length of various Sūrahs ; rather, thirdly, this is a unique arrangement which was fixed by the Holy Prophet sa himself under divine instruction. Now, the question which arises is: what kind of an arrangement is this? In response to this, all that can be alluded to here, at this instance, is that the very same principle of arrangement has been taken into consideration by the Holy Qur’ān, which is the word of God, as is found to exist in the action of God, i. e. , the book of nature, as it were. In other words, just as an order has been established in the physical world, and ways and means for the material life of this world, its progress and well-being have been provided for, so too, there is an order in the word of God, i. e. , the Holy Qur’ān. This is in accordance with the eternal laws of psychology, which are most effective for the moral, social and spiritual life of the world, and for its reformation and progress. Then it is ironic that just as