Inimitability

Richard C. Martin, a contemporary orientalist, in his article “Quran’s inimitability” published in Leiden Encyclopedia, investigates Quran’s inimitability; but in the view of the critic, he has not been able to well describe it because he has mostly relied on some specific Sunni sources. In addition he has analyzed literal inimitability of Quran, while according to most of Muslim scholar’s views, especially Shi’ite scholars, Quran is inimitable in all of its aspects. In this article, the above writer’s views regarding the ancestors’ works on inimitability, the course of challenging verses, Quran’s contradictors, sarfeh and its relation with inimitability and literal inimitability are analyzed and criticized.