Linguistics and the Sacred Language of the Qur'an

The Arabic language of the Qur'an is an integral aspect of this revealed Book. It is not only the content of the Qur'an which has come from Allah, the container is also Divine and cannot be separated from the message. Since the message has been sent to mankind, it has a clear human language as its vehicle of expression' But the very words and verses of the Qur'an have no! been originally spoken by a human being. They have been spoken by Allah and therefore they have Divine Presence. It is this Divine Presence that makes the Arabic of the Qur'an a sacred language. When the Qur'an is translated into another language, the translation does not have that sacredness of the original text, because its words and sentences belong to a human being and thus they have not the Divine Presence to be sacred. Therefore, the sacredness of the Qur'anic language originates not from its being Arabic, but from the fact that it is the very Word of Allah. When we say the sacredness of the Qur'anic Arabic is due to its being chosen by Allah as His instrument of communication, we, in fact, speak theologically. But one may also speak linguistically and say that Allah has chosen to communicate in such a language because it is pure, primordial and profound.