43.2–3 – By the clear book! Surely we have made it an Arabic Qur’ān
The sūra opens with the statement that the recitation is in Arabic so that the audience may understand (also 12.2). The word qur’ān does not necessarily mean the Muslim scripture as it is known today. See the comment on this term at 2.185.
Verse 3 is the final verse in a series of verses that focus an “Arabic qur’ān” (12.2; 20.113; 39.28; 41.3; 43.7). Other verses that highlight the Arabic language of the Quran are 13.37; 16.103; 26.195; and 46.12 (cf. 41.44). At the most basic level, these verses say that the recitation is in Arabic so that people can understand the message and be warned (20.113; 26.194; 39.28; 41.4; 42.7; 46.12). From there the verses move into claims of revelation (anzala, 12.2; 13.36; 20.113; nazzala, 16.101–2; tanzīl, 26.192; 41.3, 42; āyāt, 16.101–5) and inspiration (awḥā, 12.3; 42.7; waḥy, 20.114). In these claims Allah narrates (12.3) and coins parables (39.27, 29), and the “true spirit” brings the “revelation” down upon the heart of the messenger (26.193–4; cf. 16.102).
That people may hear or read and understand a recitation in their own language is certainly “good tidings” (46.12). However, why should the Arabic language of the recitation be a proof of revelation or inspiration? Why should retelling a well-known story (12.2–3) or claiming to “confirm” the book of Moses (46.12) or preaching what is “in the scriptures of those of old” (26.196) require a divine source? The Quran answers neither of these questions directly. Additionally, it does not address the issue that during the centuries prior to Islam, the Bible was translated into languages such as Syriac, Armenian, Coptic, and Latin. Does the Quran’s teaching on inspiration imply that those translations could claim a divine origin too?