The Qur’an has long been revered as a literary masterpiece that transcends the boundaries of faith and touches the hearts of those who appreciate the intricacies of language and art. It’s linguistic elegance, poetic structure, and powerful imagery combine to form a text, the beauty of which has been proven to captivate and enchant both Muslims and non-Muslims alike. This idea has been comprehensively captured by Prof Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, when he said,
“Without a doubt, the Quran is beautiful, indeed, the most beautiful literary composition the Arabic language has ever known. Its beauty, however, is not a consequence of faith, but it’s very cause. The aesthetic judgement – that the Quran is beautiful, nay, sublime – is not a pronouncement of faith. It is a critical judgement, reached through the literary analysis. Hence, its beauty is not held by Muslims but also by non-Muslims conversant with the literary aesthetics of the Arabic language.”
(Prof Ismail Raji al-Faruqi, The Cultural Atlas of Islam, p102)