Why is the quran the model for poetry?

It has been a source of faith and pride for Muslims over the centuries in that the Holy Qur'an is the preeminent Word of the Almighty, inimitable in style and absolute in nature. This conviction is as strong for believers of today as it has been for believers of the past.

One such issue regards the question of pre-Islamic poetry in the Arabian Peninsula. The pagan Arabs of the pre-Islamic period were a proud and boastful people who were characterized by epic tales, heart-rending poetry, and eloquent prose. Indeed, their literary Excellence had intoxicated them with glaring arrogance and self-worship. And then, with the revelation of Prophet Muhammad(pbuh), the Arabs had found a contest for their genius - The Holy Qur'an.

Suddenly, their pride had been undermined by something even greater than anything they could have ever dreamed of, a book that had never been matched in beauty, wisdom, and structure, and which has remained unchallenged right to the present day. For the Arabs, the question must have found it's time; can a more powerful book exist other than the one whose pen belongs to the Almighty himself?

Poetry is something which appeals to the emotions and feelings. The Quran, on the other hand is designed to inspire by arousing consciousness, conscience and will. When did poetry create a world movement, a civilization and empires?

Many Orientalists do not understand that Muslims regard the Quran as the Word of God, that it comes through a higher consciousness from an Objective Source, and that is how they interpret the Words in the Quran. But even if they do not accept or understand this, it is surely unintelligent, to say the least, to interpret a book by criteria which are not the same as those which the author intended.