not produce its like, though the one should help the other." The miracles granted
to the prophets varied with the requirements of each separate age. In Moses' time the
power of the magicians was greatly feared, therefore the miracles of Moses resembled
theirs, but were more wonderful. In Jesus' time the healing art had reached its acme,
hence Jesus came with miracles of healing, which at that time impressed people more than
anything else would have done. So in Muhammad's time eloquence among the Arabs had reached
perfection, and he was sent with the Qur'an, a marvel of eloquence, which no one could
equal. Even if he wrought no other miracle, this was quite enough for the "illiterate
prophet" to do.
C. We have already seen that the Qur'an is not a miracle. Many other books, in
other languages, far surpass it in eloquence: for example, the Book of Isaiah the prophet,
the Psalms of David, the Book of Deuteronomy, to say nothing of the works of the Arabic,
European, Indian, and Persian writers already mentioned. Eloquence cannot be considered as
sufficient proof of a prophet's calling. We now know from what erroneous sources1
the Qur'an was derived, and this alone suffices to prove that the book is not from the
all-wise God.