God Arises
The Challenge of The Qur’an
~ 281 ~
besides God to assist you, if what you say be
true.
1
Needless to say, this challenge has not to this day
been met. Those who feel that the authorship of the
Quran was human and not divine should consider
also that no ordinary mortal would deliver himself
of such a challenge for fear of being instantly
proved a posturer and a braggart. Neither the
Quran, nor the challenge it flings down to
humanity, can be of human origin, for no human
work is ever complete; it can always be added to,
improved upon and emulated. Purely human
standards are always re-attainable. This, however,
has proved the Quran to be quite unique in that it is
both definitive and inimitable.
Attempts were, of course, made to meet this
challenge. The first was that of Labid Ibn Rabiyah, a
contemporary of the Prophet and the last of a series
of seven renowned poets of the time. He was so
eloquent that once, when he recited a poem at the
famous annual fair of Ukaz, the other poets present
fell in prostration before him — they were so
enchanted by his verses. In pre-Islamic days,
