The QUR'AN An Abiding Wonder by Maulana Waiduddin Khan - page 83

The Qur’an An Abiding Wonder
The Qur’an —The Prophet’s Miracle
~ 83 ~
Shakespeare (1558-1625) appeared on the scene,
English took another step forward. His dramas and
poems set a new literary standard, enabling English
to march further forward. The coming of the
scientific age two hundred years later had a
tremendous impact on every stratum of society.
Language now began to follow the dictates of
science. Prose became more popular than poetry,
factual expression more effective than story telling.
Dozens of poets and writers from Jonathan Swift
(1667-1745) to T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) were
representative of this trend. They were the makers
of the modern age of English literature through
which we are now passing.
The same thing happened with other languages.
Writers, or groups of writers, kept on emerging
who became more popular than their predecessors.
Whenever they appeared, they steered the language
on a new course. Eventually every language
changed so much that it became impossible for a
person to understand the ancient form of his own
tongue without the aid of dictionaries and
commentaries.
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