To understand why Muhammad's strongest argument or miracle was
a book, the Holy Qur'an, it is necessary to understand the role language
and linguistic composition played in the lives of the pre-Islamic Arabs. It is also important to understand the nature of the Arabic language itself during the pre-Islamic period.

This understanding will help to show why the revelation of the Qur'an through Muhammad (saww) found attentive ears among his contemporaries, who not only were articulate users of the language but held those skilled in the arts of linguistic composition in high esteem.

Before the rise of Islam, Arabic was mainly a spoken language with an oral literature of elaborate poetry and, to a lesser extent, prose.

Writing had not yet fully developed and memorization was the most common means of preserving the literature. Both poetry and prose in the pre-Islamic era dealt with a rather limited range of topics which included in the case of poetry praise, eulogy (panegyric), defamation, and love, and in the case of prose superstition, legends, parables, and wisdom tales.

Pre-Islamic Arabs took great pride in their language and in articulate
and accurate speech, the latter being one of the main requisites for social prominence. On this particular point, Professor Hitti writes:

"No people in the world manifest such enthusiastic admiration for literary expression and are moved by the word, spoken or written, as the Arabs. Hardly any language seems capable of exercising over the minds of its users such an irresistible influence as Arabic".

Such was the role that the spoken word played in the life of pre-Islamic Arabs. With the emphasis placed on eloquent and articulate speech, the prominent position occupied by those who had the talent for linguistic composition, and the pride the early Arabs took in their language, it is
little wonder that the Qur'an was revealed in the most eloquent, articulate, and elaborate style the Arabic language has known.

The Qur'an has without doubt provided a level of linguistic excellence unparalleled in the history of the Arabic language.

Theologians explain this phenomenon as God's wisdom in addressing the articulate Arabs through the medium in which they were most adept and
with which they felt most comfortable. The effectiveness of the Qur'an
was thus ensured by the fact that it represented a level of eloquence unattainable even by their most eloquent speakers.