Satan’s insignificant objection

Source : http://www.wsatan.com/

While I was reciting:

“Not a word does he utter but there is a sentinel by him, ready (to note it). And the stupor of death will bring Truth (before his eyes): “This was the thing which thou wast trying to escape!” And the Trumpet shall be blown: that will be the Day whereof Warning (had been given). And there will come forth every soul: with each will be an (angel) to drive, and an (angel) to bear witness. (It will be said:) “Thou wast heedless of this; now have We removed thy veil, and sharp is thy sight this Day!” And his Companion will say: “Here is (his Record) ready with me!” (The sentence will be:) “Throw, throw into Hell every contumacious Rejecter (of Allah)!-“ (Surah Qaf 50:18-24)

Satan said: “You find the Quran’s eloquence primarily in its fluent style and intelligible expression. Yet, where is the fluency and coherence in these verses, there are also great gaps, for they jump from the throes of death to the world’s destruction, from the blowing of the Trumpet to the end of the Reckoning and therefrom to throwing the sinful into Hell.”

I made the following points in reply:

A most fundamental element of the Quran’s miraculousness is its eloquence and precision. It contains so many instances of this that observant critics have been filled with wonder and admiration. For example:

In Surah Hud:
Eloquent people have prostrated before: “Then the word went forth: “O earth! swallow up thy water, and O sky! Withhold (thy rain)!” and the water abated, and the matter was ended. The Ark rested on Mount Judi, and the word went forth: “Away with those who do wrong!”” (Surah Hud 11:44), which tells of the Flood’s might so precisely and miraculously within a few short sentences.

In Surah Al Shams:
“The Thamud (people) rejected (their prophet) through their inordinate wrong-doing, Behold, the most wicked man among them was deputed (for impiety). But the Apostle of Allah said to them: “It is a She-camel of Allah! And (bar her not from) having her drink!” Then they rejected him (as a false prophet), and they hamstrung her. So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal (in destruction, high and low)! And for Him is no fear of its consequences.” (Surah Al Shams 91:11-15), the Quran recounts precisely and clearly the people of Thamud’s story and fate in a most comprehensible way.

In Surah Al Anbiya:
“And remember Zun-nun, when he departed in wrath: He imagined that We had no power over him! But he cried through the depths of darkness, “There is no god but thou: glory to thee: I was indeed wrong!”” (Surah Al Anbiya 21:87), much remains unsaid between ‘We had no power over him’ and ‘he cried through the depths of darkness’. Those few words re-tell the chief points of Prophet Yunus’s (Jonah) story in a way that neither diminishes comprehensibility nor mars eloquence. What is not stated directly is left to the person’s understanding.

Also in Surah Yusuf:

In Surah Yusuf, the verse, “But the man who had been released, one of the two (who had been in prison) and who now bethought him after (so long) a space of time, said: “I will tell you the truth of its interpretation: send ye me (therefore).”” (Surah Yusuf 12:45), and verse, “”O Joseph!” (he said) “O man of truth! Expound to us (the dream) of seven fat kine whom seven lean ones devour, and of seven green ears of corn and (seven) others withered: that I may return to the people, and that they may understand.”” (Surah Yusuf 12:46),  seven or eight sentences are omitted between ‘send ye me (therefore)’ (end of verse 45) and ‘”O Joseph!” (he said) “O man of truth!”‘ (beginning of verse 46). This neither affects comprehensibility nor mars the Quran’s eloquence.

The Quran contains many more instances of miraculous precision. The precise description given in the verses in question from Surah Qaf make them even more beautiful and miraculous. Pointing to the unbelievers’ future, which is so long that a day of it is equal to 50,000 earthly years, they draw attention to the fearful events that will befall them. They bring before our minds the whole span of those upheavals like a flash of lightening, thereby compressing it into one page so that we can ponder it. Referring the unmentioned events to the imagining faculty of the listener or reader, they achieve a sublime fluency. “When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that ye may receive Mercy.” (Surah Al A’raf 7:204)

I asked Satan if he had more objections. He replied: “I don’t oppose those truths. But many foolish people follow me. Many devils in human form assist me. Many philosophers are just as conceited as Pharaoh. I teach them things that contribute to their pride and selfishness. They will prevent the publication of your Words, and so I’ll never yield to you.”

Glory be to Allah. We know only what You (Allah) have taught us. You are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.