Oftentimes, I come across the same pertinacious argument used to support the divine origin of Quran. This reasoning streams from Quran itself, Sura 2 (The Cow), verses 23 and 24:
002.023 And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.
002.024 But if ye cannot- and of a surety ye cannot- then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones,- which is prepared for those who reject Faith.
Let’s recap: Quran is from Allah, and if you doubt it, try writing a single chapter like that of Quran. If you can’t - no one can - it is an irrefutable evidence of Quran’s divinity.
Unfortunately, neither Quran nor defenders of its heavenly origin provide any measurable criteria for determining “like thereunto”, or quality, of one’s work against Quran. Should there be any quantifiable criteria, including linguistic purity and beauty, conformity to science laws, deep philosophy, forewarning that came true or knowledge available only to an omnipotent all-knowing deity, then the history would show that better texts have been written in volumes not just in almost 1,400 years elapsed since Muhammad’s death, but also during his times. In fact, Muhammad’s fellow tribesmen and even a 14-year-old Jewish boy mentioned in Hadith wrote better verses. They, as poets and intellectuals, dismissed Quran for its philosophical primitivism, linguistic inelegance and unequivocally substandard storytelling.
With no criteria in place, unquestionably, no better work can be written. Any piece of literature will be dismissed as merely “not nearly good enough” without providing any meaningful explanation for how the verdict was established. Quran, thus, continues to maintain its position of the “The Perfect Book”, although not because of its qualities.
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