Emergence of the discourse on the imitability of the Qur’an

Abstract

Numerous disciplines emerged for interpreting and assessing the Qur’an, establishing the dogma of its incomparable text. Over time, an interpretative community coalesced around this axiom, shaping and expanding the discourse on the Qur’an’s inimitability. In parallel, a counter-discourse, termed in this paper as “the imitability of the Qur’an,” evolved, illustrating its genesis and the methods of its interpretative community. This discourse encompasses two manifestations: linguistic and stylistic imitation of the Qur’an and a critical approach viewing the Qur’an as a text that imitates others, raising uncertainties about its motives, authorship, originality, and authenticity.

Keywords

• qur’an
• discourse of the inimitability of the qur’an
• discourse of the imitability of the qur’an