This is interesting and I will definitely give it a look. Wallah misree guys are really tricky. But I honestly thin it would not be difficult to reproduce shakespear. While great literature do you honestly believe it compares to the quran?
I certainly do - though of course no human piece of literature is of consistently high standard - and that includes the Qur'an.
Here is one of my favourite quotes from Macbeth it is powerful in style and meaning
"Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."Here is a quote from the Qur'an that is pedestrian in style and banal in meaning:
يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ الْأَهِلَّةِ قُلْ هِيَ مَوَاقِيتُ لِلنَّاسِ وَالْحَجِّ
“They ask you concerning the phases of the moon, say:
They are but signs to mark fixed periods of time in (the
affairs of) men, and for Pilgrimage.” (2:189)Also, take another look at the verse I quoted in my video and tell me honestly if you think it is a well constructed or badly constructed sentence?
مَنْ كَفَرَ بِاللَّهِ مِنْ بَعْدِ إِيمَانِهِ إِلَّا مَنْ أُكْرِهَ وَقَلْبُهُ مُطْمَئِنٌّ بِالْإِيمَانِ وَلَكِنْ مَنْ شَرَحَ بِالْكُفْرِ صَدْرًا فَعَلَيْهِمْ غَضَبٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ
"Whoso disbelieveth in Allah after his belief - save him who is forced thereto and whose heart is still content with the Faith - but whoso findeth ease in disbelief: On them is wrath from Allah. Theirs will be an awful doom." (16:106)
I can quote innumerable passages from the great literature of mankind throughout the ages, that are just as - if not more beautiful - than the best parts of the Qur'an and I could quote parts of the Qur'an that are poorer than even the most ordinary of human literary achievement.
Now one can of course say that I should compare the best parts of the Qur'an with the best parts of other literature. That would be fair thing to say in regards to any other book - but not the Qur'an - because of the very extraordinary claim it makes for itself.
It claims to be of Divine origin - from beginning to end. The author is supposed to be Omnipotent and Omniscient. As a result it must be consistently flawless and of the highest standard throughout. Its style, meaning, language and clarity must be consistently maintained by The One who only has to say: "Be, and it is."
Ok, lets put the word beauty aside and use the word complexity...which is less subjective. Can someone reproduce a book with the linguistic and grammatical complexity of the Quran. (without simply reverse-engineering it...hell even let them reverse engineer it)
I'm not entirely certain what you mean, but I will say the same thing I said above - no, I don't think one can reproduce a book with the same linguistic and grammatical complexity of the Qur'an for the same reasons stated above.
I remember being told a story (i forget the name of the person I will look for it inshallah) about a student of hassan al basree...this student was the first muatazilte.
He had a speech impediment in which he could not pronounce the letter "raa" properly. Some of his collegues sought to embarrass him by making him perform a speech in front of a group thinking they will humiliate him by exposing his impediment.
But due to the vast vocabulary and the complex grammar of the Arabic language, incredibly he was able to deliver the speech without using the letter "raa".
This is similar to the stories about Ali who was also legendary for his eloquence. Here is a Khutba he delivered entirely without using the letter Alif:
http://www.sami9.net/vb/showthread.php?t=99488This of course does not prove the Qur'an is of non-human origin. In fact it just reminds us once again, that human beings can - and do - produce wonderful feats of oratory and literature.
Topic: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an - For Screwball