Praise be to Allah (The Glorified and Exalted).
1) What can an individual state, except that this pagan is a fool. The language of the Qur'an is Arabic and not English.
I find it very easy to read and comprehend. Sometimes in the English translations, the translators use bracketed phrases to their discretion because they believe it may help the English reader. Most of these translations, such as Yusuf Ali are geared toward non-Muslims, so the translator feels perhaps filling in a bit more information may be helpful to the reader that is completely ignorant of Islamic history, or may be a bit low on the intellect level, because some of the brackets are just extra and are not really necessary. The Qur’an has its own style. The style of the recitation is rhythmic, thereby making it easier to memorize. The revelation is not meant to be read like a story book, beginning with “once upon a time” and continuing chronologically up to the time of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). It appears that the Almighty saw the chronological order type of book as something very boring to read, which is the case as you see with the books of the christians and jews.
2) Human beings differ amongst themselves in their appreciation for literature. Some individuals are gifted with an excellent understanding of great literature, as well as their own ability to produce fine poetry, writing, and are well versed in speech, and obviously others are not. This is the reason why everyone is not an acclaimed author, poet, or speech writer.
3) Lets use the English work of Shakespeare as an example. Shakespeare's plays were popular among his people, not necessarily for their plots, but because of their fine usage of Classical English. Individuals living during Shakespeare's time, had an enormous appreciation for the language of Shakespeare's plays. They could understand and comprehend not only the usage of the English language, but also importantly, the allusions being made within the plays, sometimes to Greek mythology, etc. All of that fit within the context of the time period and culture. However, in modern times, Classical English has become obsolete and replaced by a far more different modern English language. It is also the case that the people living in modern times have a different culture within the land of Shakespeare, but also in non-English speaking lands and they have different levels of education and understanding than the individuals that lived in Shakespeare’s land and time period. Shakespeare’s plays have become widespread and translated into various languages. What the English in the past considered great writing, may not be the case for someone ignorant of Classical English and ignorant of the knowledge required to truly understand Shakespeare’s plays.
In my speech course, during my university studies, my speech professor had said that he found the works of Shakespeare intolerable, unable to be read or comprehended. However, modern English language scholars have stated that Shakespeare’s work is among the finest examples of English literature. Who is to be believed, my professor or the English scholars? My professor’s first language is modern English, but he cannot speak or comprehend Classical English nor does he have much of any knowledge about the allusions that are made in the plays, such as to Greek gods of mythology, nor is he good at understanding metaphors, similies, or parables. Apparently, my professor likes simple writing, straight to the point and direct. A student gave the professor a book of one of Shakespeare’s plays that was washed down so it could be understood in modern English and had extensive commentary explaining the meaning behind the various similies, metaphors, and allusions that are used in the play and also things pertaining to the way of life and culture of the English during that time period. After reading that book, the speech professor said that he enjoyed the work of Shakespeare a great deal. Obviously, there is no problem with the writing of Shakespeare, but my professor’s understanding.
Now, the Qur’an has been revealed with a very easy format. The Almighty is concerned with simply explaining to mankind who their Creator is, telling them about the purpose of life (the trial of this world), about Resurrection and Judgment, and about an eventual outcome in either Heaven or Hell for eternity. These various topics are repeated constantly throughout the recital, using various parables, similes, and examples. There are of course other things, but this is the meat of the revelation. The Creator is not concerned with writing a history book of the events of the life of mankind on the Earth, nor a biology text explaining the various animals or plant life on the Earth, etc. All of that would have taken volumes upon volumes and no person would take the time to read any of that long-winded talk. This is the reason most christians [over 60 bible books] and jews never read their books. The Almighty is only concerned with revealing a short book, that is easy to memorize, entertaining to read, and only the most basic information required to learn in order to gain salvation and be saved from entering Hell.
The language is flowery from beginning to end. The translations never embody the same flowery speech, the translators’ are simply concerned with explaining the meanings of the verses. This is the reason they use many brackets and extensive commentary at times. Because that is the purpose of a translation, to simply translate the meaning and not word for word or try to mimic the flowery Arabic discourse in a foreign language.
When attending literary courses, I found that every book is this way. The reader needs commentary and a background understanding of the book, knowledge of the time period, explanation of the various similes and metaphors that are used, etc. This is the way it is with every good piece of literature. Any one that has taken a university course in literature and was forced to write an extensive essay analyzing some point in the literature, has had to undergo the task of referring to other articles, teacher notes and explanations, to further understand and explain the literary work.
An individual that has never learned about Islam, can read the Qur’an and get a basic understanding of the religion. This is the reason why you see individuals converting to Islam, having only read the Qur’an and they are not learned in Islamic history, they do not know when the verses were revealed, or have an understanding of some of the parables, etc. As long as the person knows the meat of it, that is enough to gain salvation. Allah (The Exalted) will not ask a person on the Day of Judgment why they did not understand a parable in the Qur’an or some simile that was used. As long as their Beliefs are correct and they have the good deeds, they may gain salvation by the Mercy of Allah. The flowery speech is there because of the greatness in Allah’s Word, and for the appreciation of very clever minded persons. If an individual is driven to learn everything about the Qur’an. This is commendable. In order to truly learn the Qur’an, a person must learn Classical Arabic (and obtain a dictionary of Classical Arabic), read the biography of the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), read the commentary by Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), in which he explains when the verses were revealed and their meanings.
*What I have noticed is that this type of foolish criticism comes particularly from individuals belonging to the christian religion. It is amazing that these fools criticize the Qur'an, when their own book is based upon the Greek language, which is clearly not a Semitic language, and Isa (Jesus) (peace be upon him) was a semite. And the Almighty did not reveal the book of Isa (Jesus) (peace be upon him) in Greek! Of the books known, they were revealed in Semitic languages. It is also the case that the modern bible is based upon an old bible, which is considered the oldest available bible, in the original Greek language, and that is nothing more than torn apart pieces of paper and half pages put together! Where in the world did they get the complete bible pages they have in languages such as English, when the oldest Greek bible is torn into pieces and not complete! Obviously, the English bibles are written by the opinions and hands of men. Take a look at the christians' oldest bible, large parts of it are missing, pages covered with candle wax, parts of pages in which the ink has faded away, etc. These are the bible books they are using for their translations!:
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx and take a look at this other page
http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx?book=1&chapter=24&lid=en&side=r&zoomSlider=0. Browse around the site, the entire "oldest bible" is simply torn into shreds. [Photograph of the original manuscript appears in the window on the left.]
The christians' call the bible the "Word of God," when most of its words are actually missing. This is what they are basing their salvation upon, torn apart pieces of paper with incomplete books. A bible with no credibility and no validity. Not to mention that the bible is a poor literary work, no wonder no Greek language or English scholar has considered the bible of any value, not on the same level of either the writings of the famous Greek poets such as Homer, nor the English works of Shakespeare.
*Also see the threads "Learning Islam (LI)" by clicking on my username and going to "Statistics" and then "Threads started by..."
See also:
1)
http://thedeenshow.com/show.php?action=guest&id=3
2)
http://www.islamreligion.com/
3) Try the Nouman Ali Khan courses on the Qur'an if you wish to have a better understanding of the Qur'an:
http://bayyinah.com/
*The reader may copy this text and keep it on a word document, so next time an ignorant pagan babbles nonsense about the Qur'an, you may respond appropriately. Save the website with the "oldest bible" in the original Greek language and pass it to the ignorant christians, and let them take shame in their religion and the fact that they have been deceived. The overwhelming majority of them are too ignorant to know their bible was originally written in Greek anyway.
And Allah Knows Best.
brother miq1. I can also add the following:
