In reality, however, the Qur’an is the speech of Allah—uncreated. He spoke it as He willed, exalted and sanctified is He, far above what they allege. All created beings are, in fact and in essence, incapable of producing anything like it, even were they to join forces in mutual support. Indeed, even the Messengers themselves—who are the most eloquent and perfect of all creation—could never utter speech comparable to the speech of Allah.
The Qur’an that the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) conveys from Allah is expressed in a style entirely unlike the styles found in the Prophet’s own speech. Likewise, the Prophet’s sayings, preserved through rigorously authentic chains, possess such eloquence that none of the Companions, nor anyone after them, has been able to match their stylistic excellence when conveying meanings in his noble words. Moreover, the manner of speech of the Companions surpasses that of the Successors, and so on, diminishing progressively down to our own time.
Thus the scholars of the early generations were more articulate, more knowledgeable, and less affected in their wording than the scholars of later centuries. Anyone with an ear for language recognizes this, just as one senses the difference between the poetry of the pre-Islamic Arabs and that of the later poets who followed them.
For this reason an authentic ḥadīth has been transmitted on this very point. Imām Aḥmad relates it, saying: “Yūnus and Ḥajjāj narrated to us; al-Layth narrated to us; Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd told me, from his father, from Abū Hurayrah, that the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said:
‘Every Prophet was given signs which caused people to believe in him; what I have been given is revelation that Allah has sent to me, and so I hope to have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection.’” (1)
Al-Bukhārī and Muslim likewise recorded it through the narration of al-Layth ibn Saʿd. (2)
The meaning is that each of the Prophets—peace be upon them—was granted proofs and evidences of his truthfulness and of the validity of what he brought from his Lord, sufficient as an argument for the people to whom he was sent, whether they believed and thus earned the reward of faith, or rejected and thereby incurred punishment. His words, “What I have been given,” refer—chiefly and most magnificently—to the revelation sent down to him, namely the Qur’an, an enduring and perpetual proof that stands during his lifetime and after him. The miracles granted to earlier Prophets ended with their lifetimes and remain only in the reports about them, whereas the Qur’an is a living proof—as though the listener hears it directly from the mouth of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him); thus Allah’s argument remains in force through it both during his life and after his death.
Hence he said, “So I hope to have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Resurrection,” because the decisive, conclusive proof Allah has granted him endures, and for that reason he will be the Prophet followed by the largest multitude on that Day.