Quran Surah 2:23 (Rumi, Ibn Arabi and Baha'ullah)

"And if you are in doubt as what we have occasionally revealed to our Servant, then produce a Surah like it. Call your witnesses and gods besides the Spirit. But if you cannot - and certainly you cannot - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for those who reject faith."

The Glorious Qur’an dramatically broke upon the Arab world. The Arab people were proficient at poetry and ballads. There were poetry competitions, and poets from warring tribes often composed in honor of their own tribes and against the enemy. For a clan to have great poets was a mark of honor. But these poetical people(s) were unprepared for the power of the Qur’an. Even today crowds become almost hypnotized when it is recited. No translation, including ours, can do it justice.

Muhammad was already in his 40s when he received the revelation. He was known for being a just, honest and discerning man. But he was unknown as a poet. In fact, he was often poked fun at because of the fact that he couldn’t rhyme. When the Qur’an passed his lips people knew that something extraordinary had happened.

The passage speaks to the Arabs of Muhammad’s day. In all the land, with its many poets, it challenges anyone anywhere to approximate it. And no one could. As Jesus’ (pbuh) proof of being the Messiah was in his miracles (for his book has been lost), Muhammad’s proof as the Seal of the Prophets is in the miracle of the Recital.

But what of today? Has another Surah been found?

We say no! But what we would like to suggest is that three post-Qur’anic divine inspirations have taken portions of the Message and clarified them. Perhaps one can compare this to homeopathy, where the original substance becomes more powerful each time it is whirled. So too with the divine message of the Qur’an. If one were to read only these two works alone, one would gain a clearer understanding of the Truth than if one were to read only the Qur’an, even though these works are “commentaries” on the Qur’an.

How many sincere people read the Qur’an every day, completing it several times each year, but do not grasp its light? How many scholars and mullahs stand blind before it?

What are these works?

The first is the Mathnawi, by the Sufi Saint Rumi, in its entirety. The second includes the writings of Ibn Arabi. And the third is the entire corpus of writings of Baha’ullah. Taken together these works take us deep into the ocean of the Qur’anic Light – where we ourselves, unguided, could not hope to journey. After having read the above one can then return to the Qur’an, eyes opened, and behold its magnificence.

For more Rose Crescent commentary on the Glorious Qur'an click here.