THE QURAN REMAINS A DISTINCTIVELY UNIQUE AND INIMITABLE EXAMPLE OF ARABIC LITERATURE. ITS STYLE HAS CONTINUED TO WIN THE ADMIRATION OF ALL PEOPLE EVER SINCE IT WAS FIRST RECITED TO THEM UNTIL OUR PRESENT DAY.

 

THE QURAN

 

A literary analysis of the Qur'an reveals that its language is both refined and majestic, always addressing hearts and minds, and not attempting to achieve an immediate influence through superficial beauty. It seeks to make its point with logic without playing on people's prejudices.

At the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, the Arabic language attained a high peak of beauty, purity and strength.

But when the Qur'an was recited to people, it was met with admiration that left the most refined Arabic poetry and prose miserably lagging behind.

The arrangement of its syllables follows a system, which is more coherent than we find in prose but less restrictive than that of poetry. It varies within the same verse to keep its hold on the listener and observes a rhyme at the end of verses in order to maintain a general rhythm in each surah.

Its words are selected from among those, which are immediately understood, without resorting to the colloquial. It only very rarely uses unfamiliar words. A main feature of the language of the Qur'an is its concision. It expresses in the least number of word ideas, which cannot normally be explained without the use of relatively long sentences. You cannot find a word added for stylistic convenience.

But this purity of expression and unique concision are combined with striking clarity that makes the language of the Qur'an, an open challenge. Even a layman can easily say when listening to the Qur'an: I understand it well. Both the academic and the ordinary person who does not look beyond the surface are able to comprehend the Qur'an, as if every sentence is tailored to suit the mentality of each one of them in accordance with his level knowledge and learning.

What is more is that the Qur'an has tackled themes which were rarely touched upon in pre-Islamic Arabic literature. From the purely linguistic point of view, the Qur'an has created its own language and used its own style.
  Moreover, the Qur'an employs a unique method of painting with the words, it uses images that are clearly and vividly drawn in our minds.

These characteristics apply to all the Qur'an, in all its chapters. Nevertheless, we find a great difference of style between those surahs revealed in Makkah and those revealed after the Prophet and his companions emigrated to Madinah where the first Islamic state was established. The difference is due to the subject matter of those two sets of surahs.

In Makkah, the Islamic message was making itself known to people, outlining the faith based on the Oneness of Allah and calling on them to accept that faith. Hence, the theme of faith was paramount in all those surahs revealed in Makkah which are characterized by short verses and powerful style in addition to a quick rhythm and a strong rhyme. However, the Makkan parts of the Qur'an include clear indications of what was to be forthcoming of instructions on how to build an Islamic society and mould the life of its people in accordance with Islamic principles
and virtues.

On the other hand, the surahs revealed in Madinah tackled the problems that the new society was facing and showed how a model Islamic community can be organized. It therefore addressed practical problems in the life of the Muslim community. It related these and the solutions that were laid down to the central theme of faith.

This brings an unmistakable unity to the subject matter of the Qur'an as a whole and to the way it is treated in both the Makkan part and he parts revealed later in Madinah. If the style is different, the difference is merely necessitated by the subject matter discussed. However, the main characteristics of the Qur'anic style are clear in both parts.
Some people may suggest that there is repetition in the Qur'an, when there is different treatment of particular subjects and particular narratives. For example, the story of Moses and his people mentioned in no less than 31 surahs in the Qur'an, but every time there is a change of emphasis.

Some episodes in that story are selected for particular treatment each time. Some scene are given in detail in more than one surah, but the way they are treated makes them sound new each time.

The lessons derived are also different each time to make the repeated event appear new each time. Moreover, that repetition does not detract from the relevance of the story whenever it is discussed, nor does it make any passage or verse appears redundant.

Indeed, each time a particular statement or verse or passage is repeated, it appears to fit perfectly with the theme of the surah in which it occurs and strongly related to what is being discussed before and after it.

Sometimes a particular verse is repeated several times in one surah, as occurs in the one entitled, "The Merciful". That repetition is for emphasis.

One has to read and understand the Quran to appreciate its message.