Verse 11:1 informs us that
the Quran's Miracle
involves[1] the superhuman mathematical
design of its physical structure and [2] the
simultaneous composition of a literary work of extraordinary
excellence.
One may be able to meet the numerical distribution requirements of a
simple mathematical pattern. However, this is invariably accomplished at
the expense of the literary quality. The simultaneous control of the literary
style and the intricate mathematical distribution of individual letters throughout
the Quran
(Appendix 1) is evident in the
fact that the Quran is made easyto memorize, understand, and enjoy. Unlike a human-made book, the Quran is enjoyable to read over and
over, infinitely.
The title of this Appendix is
repeated in Sura 54,
verses 17, 22, 32, and 40 As it turns out, the Quran's Arabic text is composed in
such a way as to remind the reader or the memorizer of the next correct
expression, or the next verse. God created us
and He knows the most efficient way for fixing literary materials into our
memory. Memorization of the Quran has played a
vital role in preserving the original text generation after generation at a time
when written books were a rarity.
Without even realizing it, the
person who memorizes the Quran is
divinely helped by an intricate literary system as he utters the sounds of the
Quranic words. Almost every verse in the Quran
contains what I call "Memory Bells." Their function is to remind the reader of
what comes next. This system is so vast, I will give only two
illustrative
examples:
1. In Sura 2, Verses 127, 128, and
129 end with two different names of God each.
These pairs of names are
"Al-Samee` Al-`Aleem (The
Hearer, the Omniscient),"
"Al-Tawwaab Al-Raheem (The Redeemer, Most Merciful)",
and
"Al-`Azeez
Al-Hakeem (The Almighty, Most Wise)," respectively.
If this were a regular book, one would
easily mis-match these six names. Not so in the Quran. Each one of these pairs
is preceded in the same verse by a
"Memory Bell"
that reminds us of the correct pair of
names. Thus, Verse 127 talks about Abraham and Ismail raising the foundations of
the Ka`abah.
The verse ends with the names
"Al-Samee` Al-`Aleem." The prominent
sounds here are the
"S," "M," and " `Ayn."
These three letters are prominent in
the word "Ismail."
We find that this word is conspicuously delayed in the sentence,
while improving its literary quality. Thus, we find that the verse goes like
this:
"When
Abraham raised the foundations of the Ka`abah, together with Ismail
..."
Normally,
a human writer would say,
"When Abraham and Ismail raised the foundations of the
Ka`abah...."
But delaying the sounds in "Ismail" brings them closer to the end
of the verse, and thus reminds us that the correct names of God in this verse
are
"Al-Samee`
Al-`Aleem."
Verse 128 has the prominent word "Tubb" just before the names
"Al-
Tawwaab
Al-Raheem." The word "Tubb" thus serves as the memory bell.
The names of God at the end
of 2:129 are
"Azeez, Hakeem."
The prominent sounds here are "Z" and "K." Obviously, the memory
bell in this verse is the word "Yuzakkeehim."
2. Another good example is found in 3:176, 177, & 178,
where the retribution for disbelievers is described as
"Azeem (Terrible),"
"Aleem (Painful),"
and
"Muheen
(Humiliating)," respectively.
In a human-made book, the memorizer could easily mix up these
three descriptions. But we find that each of these adjectives is preceded by
powerful memory bells that prevent such a mix-up. The word
"Azeem"
of Verse 176 is preceded by
the word "Huzzun," which is characterized by a stressed letter
"Z."
This
serves to remind us of the particular adjective at the end of this
verse. The word "Aleem"
of Verse 177 is preceded by the sound of the word
"Iman" to serve as
a memory bell, and the word
"Muheen" of 3:178 is preceded by
an abundance of "M" and "H" throughout this verse
Other examples of memory bells
include
the
ending of 3:173
and
the
beginning of 3:174,
the ending of 4:52 and
the beginning of 4:53,
the ending of 4:61 and
the beginning of 4:62,
the ending of 18:53
and
the
beginning of 18:54,
and many more.