The Almighty—majestic and exalted—also informed us about the Ark: how it was set afloat, how it sailed, how the unbelievers were drowned, how the vessel came to rest and settled in safety, and how commands were issued to the earth and the sky to serve His purpose, in His words, “And he said, ‘Embark in it; in the name of Allah be its course and its mooring,’” until His saying, “Away with a people who did wrong,” and many other like passages.

When Quraysh found themselves incapable of producing anything comparable to it and accused the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—of having fabricated it, Allah Most High revealed:

“Or do they say, ‘He has invented it’? Rather, they do not believe. Let them bring a discourse like it, if they are truthful” (al-Ṭūr 52:33–34).

Then He sent down an even sterner challenge:

“Or do they say, ‘He has forged it’? Say, ‘Produce ten surahs like it, forged, and call upon whomever you can besides Allah, if you are truthful’” (Hūd 11:13).

When they were still powerless to respond, He reduced the demand yet further—to the like of one of the short surahs—saying, exalted is His remembrance:

“And if you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a single surah like it” (al-Baqarah 2:23).

Silenced, they could give no answer; every avenue of argument was cut off. They turned instead to warfare and obstinate resistance, preferring the capture of women and children. Had they been able to match the Qur’an, that would have been far easier, more forceful as a proof, and more telling in its effect—this, despite their being the very masters of eloquence and rhetoric, from whom linguistic purity and polished speech were learned.

The Qur’an’s eloquence stands at the highest summit of excellence, the loftiest degree of concision and clarity; indeed, it surpasses mere excellence and proficiency and enters the realm of superlative, unmatched perfection. Consider the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—who was endowed with “compendious speech” and singular pearls of wisdom: when you reflect on his description of Paradise, sublime though it is, you find it still below the rank of the Qur’an. He said:

“In it are things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and have never occurred to a human heart.”

How does that compare with the Almighty’s words,

“In it is all that souls may desire and that delights the eyes” (al-Zukhruf 43:71),

and His saying,

“No soul knows what comfort of eyes is hidden for them” (al-Sajdah 32:17)?

The latter are more perfectly balanced in meter, finer in structure, sweeter in diction, and composed of fewer letters. Even so, the contest is confined to the length of a surah or the longest single verse, for the longer a discourse runs the wider the field for the skilled and the narrower for the inept pretender. Thus the proof was established against the Arabs—lords of eloquence and presumed challengers—just as the proof was established through Jesus’ miracle over the physicians and through Moses’ miracle