they rejected him, and they hamstrung her. So their Lord, on account of their crime, obliterated their traces and made them equal [in destruction, high and low]! ∗ And for Him is no fear of its consequences.(91:11-15)

In these few short sentences and with a miraculousness within the conciseness, fluency, and clarity, and in a way that does not spoil the understanding, the Qur’an relates the strange, momentous events concerning the Thamud people, together with the consequences and their calamitous end. And for example:

And remember Zun-Nun, when he departed in wrath: he imagined that We had no power over him. But he cried through the depths of darkness: “There is no god but You; glory be unto You; I was indeed among the wrongdoers.”(21:87)

Here, many sentences have be ‘rolled up’ between the words “that We had no power over him” and “but he cried out in the depths of the darkness,” but these omitted sentences neither spoil the understanding, nor mar the fluency of the style. It mentions the main elements of the story of Jonah (Upon whom be peace), and refers the rest to the intelligence.

And for example, in Sura Yusuf, the seven or eight sentences between the words “Send me” and “Joseph, O man of truth!”(12:45-46) have been skipped in conciseness. It neither impairs the understanding, nor mars the smoothness of the style. There are a great many instances of this sort of miraculous conciseness in the Qur’an, and they are very beautiful indeed.

However, the conciseness of the verses from Sura Qaf are particularly wonderful and miraculous. For they each point out the truly dreadful future of the unbelievers when each endless day will last fifty thousand years, and the grievous, dire things that will happen to them in the awesome revolutions of the future. It conveys the mind over them like lightning, presenting that long, long period of time to the mind’s eye as a single present page. Referring to the imagination the events which are not mentioned, it describes them with a most elevated fluency and smoothness of style.

When the Qur’an is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace: that you may receive mercy.(7:204)

And now if you have anything to say, O Satan, say it!

Satan replied: “I cannot oppose what you say, nor defend myself. But there are many foolish people who listen to me; and many devils in human form who assist me; and many pharaohs among philosophers who learn things from me which flatter their egos, and prevent the publication of works like yours. Therefore I shall not lay down my arms before you.”