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The critic sometimes finds one feature of the 'Qur'an' unusual and wearisome: the frequent repetitions of the same topics. Varied as the 'Qur'an' is, giving in many places an account of the earlier divine messengers and of the life and sufferings of Christ, the following points recur time and again as 'Leitmotive' of the revelation: the testimony to the unity and awe-inspiring omnipotence of God, to the reward for the ones devoted to doing the will of God and to the chastisement of those denying his signs. Above all the 'Qur'an' proclaims God's mercifulness: "My mercy embraceth all things." "In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful" thus reads the introductory formula which opens each surah. Goethe's verdict upon these passages, which repeat the central themes in new contexts and which are obviously founded in the Prophet's educative purpose was: "Unlimited tautologies and repetitions form the body of this Holy Book which, every time we take it up, revolts us anew, fills us with amazement and finally commands our veneration." Understanding this book depends, as Baha'u'llah continually reminds us, on "purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit". Whoever calls it a confused, obscure and muddled work is like the blind of whom Baha'u'llah writes: "Yea, the blind can perceive naught from the sun except its heat , and the arid soil hath no share of the showers of mercy. "Marvel not if in the Qur'an the unbeliever perceiveth naught but the trace of letters, for in the sun, the blind findeth naught but heat."
(143:1)
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