…
But the proof for the consistency of the Qur’an in written form is available as well. …
Since we are back on the “the-only-true-Koran-is-in-Arabic” debate, I re-post my previous for the benefit of new-comers:
Consider Old English of the Middle Ages with Modern English today:
In Old English:
Here bygynneth the Book of the Tales of Caunterbury
Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open eye-
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.
In Modern English:
Here begins the Book of the Tales of Cantebury
When in April the sweet showers fall
That pierce March’s drought to the root and all
And bathed every vein in liquor that has power
To generate therein and sire the flower;
When Zephyr also has with his sweet breath,
Filled again, in every holt and heath,
The tender shoots and leaves, and the young sun
His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run,
And many little birds make melody
That sleep through all the night with open eye
(So Nature pricks them on to ramp and rage)
Then folk do long to go on pilgrimage,
And palmers to go seeking out strange strands,
To distant shrines well known in distant lands.
And specially from every shire’s end
Of England they to Canterbury went,
The holy blessed martyr there to seek
Who helped them when they lay so ill and weak.
So the Bible “changed” to keep up with the language that people spoke so that it would be
understandable to those who are living now.
To claim that any language, including Arabic, is exempt from change in 1,400 years is the height of the absurd. In fact, if the Koran has not changed to keep up with the vernacular, we can say it is no longer the perfect word of Allah because it is less understandable, and the less understandable it is, the less perfect it is; and to the extent it is still understandable, it is to fewer and fewer people. Eventually, the language it is in will become essentially extinct, and then NO ONE will understand it. Ironically, Muslims take pride in this by claiming the only true Koran is in Arabic. So the Muslim claim that it is the “perfect word of Allah”, as if to gain some prestige through membership in an exclusive club by excluding non-Arabic speakers [including most Muslims, BTW], is thus refuted and exposed for what it is.
