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Dear brother,
Rearranging words used in the Qur'an does not result in Qur'anic verses and chapters. A Qur'anic verse is not a random collection of words, and a Qur'anic chapter is not simply a set of such random collections of words. In the Qur'an, every word, the position of a verse in a chapter, the time of the revelation of a verse, the number of verses in a chapter, and the number of chapters have all been chosen by Allah. Anything other than the 114 chapters and their 6236 verses, which were delivered to Prophet Muhammad, is not part Qur'an.
Verse 2:23 is not the only verse in which Allah challenges the disbelievers to produce chapters like those of the Qur'an:
And if you [O people!] are in doubt about that which We have revealed to Our servant [Muhammad], then produce a sura [chapter] like it and call on your witnesses beside Allah, if you are truthful (2.23). But if you do not do it, and you shall not do it, then guard yourselves against the fire of which men and stones are the fuel; it is prepared for the disbelievers (2.24).
Or do they [the disbelievers] say: "He has forged it"? Say [O Muhammad!]: "Then bring a sura [chapter] like it and invite whom you can beside Allah, if you are truthful (10.38).
Or do they [the disbelievers] say: "He has forged it"? Say [O Muhammad!]: "Then bring ten forged suras [chapters] like it and invite whom you can beside Allah, if you are truthful (11.13). And if they do not answer your call, then know that it is revealed by Allah's knowledge and that there is no god but He; will you then become Muslims [submit]? (11.14).
Note that verses 2.24 and 11.14 state that the disbelievers were bound to fail to produce anything like the Qur'an. This can mean that they tried but failed to produce a text that has the visible and subtle qualities of the Qur'anic text. But it can also mean that they were miraculously prevented from even taking up the challenge and trying to produce any piece of text that they can claim to look like the Qur'an.
In addition to the verses above, the following verse states that even if all men and jinn worked together to produce a book similar to the Qur'an, they would fail:
Say [O Muhammad!]: "If mankind and the jinn should gather together to bring the like of this Qur'an, they would be able to bring the like of it, even if they supported each other (17.88).
The Qur'an is a book of many facets, and its text has many meanings. No one knows all these facets or meanings. This is why the Qur'an cannot be imitated in a meaningful way. I would like to refer here to one miraculous aspect of the Qur'an. The Qur'an revealed historical facts that Prophet Muhammad and his people did not know. For someone to produce anything like the Qur'an, they would need to be able to invent a text that accurately explains historical facts that the inventor himself did not know. This is a quotation from my book The Prophet Joseph In The Qur'an, The Bible, And History (2005, pp 32-33):
"The last part of verse 3 of the sura of Joseph reminds the Prophet that he did not know any of those stories before the inspiration of the Qur'an came to him:
We narrate to you [O Muhammad!] the best of narratives, by revealing this Qur'an to you; and before it you were one of the unaware (12.3).
A similar reminder occurs in other verses that talk about historical events that Allah describes as "anba' al ghayb (tidings of the unseen)." The information about those historical events is described in that manner because those events happened far in the past. The aim of this reminder is to stress that the Messenger and his people could not have known those details had Allah not revealed them in the Qur'an:
Those are some tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you [O Muhammad!]; you did not know them nor did your people before this [the Qur'an]; so be patient; the [prosperous] end is for the dutiful ones (11.49).
For instance, in the following verse, Allah refers to the lottery that prophet Zachariah took part in to take custody of Mary:
These are some tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you [O Muhammad!]; and you were not with them when they cast their pens [to decide] which one of them should be charged with the care of Mary, and you were not with them when they disputed [the matter] (3.44).
The following verse from the sura of Joseph refers to the plot of Joseph's brothers to get rid of him, which the Prophet learned about through the Qur'an:
These are some tidings of the unseen which We reveal to you [O Muhammad!], and you were not with them when they concerted their plans together when they were scheming (12.102).
Finally, this is what Allah says about His revelation to prophet Moses:
And We gave Moses the Book, after We destroyed the generations of old, as clear testimonies for people, a guidance, and a mercy, that they may remember (28.43). And you [O Muhammad!] were not on the western side [of the Mount] when We handed to Moses the matter, and you were not one of the witnesses (28.44). But We brought forth generations, and their lives dragged on for them; and you were not dwelling with the people of Midian, reciting to them Our verses, but We have sent [you as] a Messenger (28.45). And you were not on the side of the Mount when We called [Moses], but this [knowledge that We have revealed to you] is a mercy from your Lord for you to warn a people to whom no warner before you came, that they may give heed (28.46).
Note how Allah reminds the Prophet in these verses of sura 28 that he was not on the western side of the Mount to know about the Tablets of the Torah, which He wrote for Moses there, nor was he living among the people of Midian to know of what happened to Moses after fleeing the wrath of Pharaoh in Egypt. Allah explains to the Prophet his acquisition of this knowledge saying "but We have sent [you as] a Messenger," meaning that Prophet Muhammad came to know about these events because Allah made him one of His messengers. That knowledge is proof that Muhammad is indeed a Messenger of Allah. Finally, Allah reminds His Messenger that he was not on the side of the Mount when Allah called on Moses, but that He has given him this knowledge as a mercy from Him so that he would warn people who had not had a warner before him "that they may give heed" to the warning."
Thank you.
Louay Fatoohi
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