Short answer
No. The Qur'an challenges anyone who doubts it to produce a single chapter like it. It says that all mankind and jinn (unseen beings) together could not do it. The challenge was first put to the Arabs of Mecca, a people whose great art was poetry. The Quraysh, the leading tribe of Mecca, wanted the Prophet (ﷺ) silenced. They boycotted his clan, tortured his followers and went to war, but they never produced a chapter. Their best critic, al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, said it was not poetry and not soothsaying. In the end he could only call it magic, a verdict the Qur'an preserves. False claimants to prophethood such as Musaylima arose, and no imitation has won lasting acceptance among those who know Arabic. Islam teaches that this is a sign the Qur'an is from God (﷾).
Full explanation
The challenge in the Qur'an's own words
The Qur'an sets the terms itself. It asks those who say it was forged to bring a recital like it, ten chapters like it, or a single chapter like it. They may call on any helpers they can find besides God (﷾). It says that mankind and jinn together could not produce its like, even if they helped one another.
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
“Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!"”
“Or they may say, "He forged it," Say, "Bring ye then ten suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah!- If ye speak the truth!”
“Or do they say, "He fabricated the (Message)"? Nay, they have no faith! Let them then produce a recital like unto it,- If (it be) they speak the truth!”
“Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
A recital like it
Let those who say it was invented bring a recital like it.
Ten chapters like it
Bring ten forged chapters like it, and call on any helpers but God (﷾).
One chapter like it
Bring a single chapter like it.
No one ever could
Mankind and jinn together could not produce its like, even helping one another.
Who judges the challenge?
The obvious objection is that anyone can write a page of Arabic and claim victory, and Muslims will never concede. The answer is that the first judges were not Muslims. The challenge was put in Arabic to the Quraysh and the Arabs around them. Their great art was poetry, and they wanted the Prophet (ﷺ) finished. They even said they could produce words like these if they wished. One convincing chapter, recited at the Ka'ba (the sacred house in Mecca), would have ended his claim. His own Book said they could not do it. They never produced it.
“Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!"”
“Or they may say, "He forged it," Say, "Bring ye then ten suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah!- If ye speak the truth!”
“Or do they say, "He fabricated the (Message)"? Nay, they have no faith! Let them then produce a recital like unto it,- If (it be) they speak the truth!”
“Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
“When Our Signs are rehearsed to them, they say: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients."”
What the Quraysh chose instead
Instead of writing a chapter, the Quraysh boycotted the Prophet's (ﷺ) clan for two or three years. They tortured his followers, drove him out and then made war on him. Bilal, an enslaved follower of the Prophet (ﷺ), was laid on the burning ground with a rock on his chest. They also told their people not to listen to the Qur'an and to talk over it, so that they might gain the upper hand. The Qur'an itself reports this. A poet does not need to stop people hearing a rival's verses.
Reports how the Quraysh persecuted the Prophet's (ﷺ) followers in Mecca, including how Umayya ibn Khalaf laid Bilal on his back in the midday heat with a great rock on his chest; and how the Quraysh wrote an agreement to boycott the clans of Hashim and al-Muttalib, which lasted two or three years.
“The Unbelievers say: "Listen not to this Qur'an, but talk at random in the midst of its (reading), that ye may gain the upper hand!"”
The verdict of their best critic
The Quraysh asked al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, their finest judge of language, for a verdict they could use against the Prophet (ﷺ). He ruled out soothsaying, madness and poetry, and said its speech was sweet and fruitful. The best charge he could offer was sorcery. Ibn Ishaq, an early biographer of the Prophet (ﷺ), reports that a passage recording that verdict was revealed about al-Walid. On that report, it was recited in Mecca while he was alive to deny it.
Reports that as the pilgrimage season came near, the Quraysh met with al-Walid ibn al-Mughira to agree on what to tell visiting Arabs about the Prophet (ﷺ). Al-Walid rejected each suggestion: the Qur'an was not the murmuring of a soothsayer, not the talk of a madman, and not poetry, for he knew every kind of poetry; nor was it sorcery. He said its speech was sweet, like a palm tree whose branches bear fruit. In the end he said the nearest charge was that he was a sorcerer whose words divide a man from his family. Ibn Ishaq reports that Qur'an 74:11-25 was revealed about al-Walid.
“Then said he: "This is nothing but magic, derived from of old; "This is nothing but the word of a mortal!"”
Neither poetry nor soothsaying
A chapter "like it" needs more than good Arabic, which is common. The two most famous forms of heightened speech among the Arabs were poetry (shi'r) and the rhymed sayings of the soothsayers (kahins). Poetry had fixed metres they had names for. The Qur'an says it is not the word of a poet or of a soothsayer. Al-Walid, who knew every kind of poetry, agreed that it was neither. It also claims to be the speech of God (﷾), given over twenty-three years through a man who did not read or write.
“It is not the word of a poet: little it is ye believe! Nor is it the word of a soothsayer: little admonition it is ye receive.”
Reports that as the pilgrimage season came near, the Quraysh met with al-Walid ibn al-Mughira to agree on what to tell visiting Arabs about the Prophet (ﷺ). Al-Walid rejected each suggestion: the Qur'an was not the murmuring of a soothsayer, not the talk of a madman, and not poetry, for he knew every kind of poetry; nor was it sorcery. He said its speech was sweet, like a palm tree whose branches bear fruit. In the end he said the nearest charge was that he was a sorcerer whose words divide a man from his family. Ibn Ishaq reports that Qur'an 74:11-25 was revealed about al-Walid.
“And thou wast not (able) to recite a Book before this (Book came), nor art thou (able) to transcribe it with thy right hand: In that case, indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted.”
A man of Quraysh who heard it
Jubayr ibn Mut'im was a man of Quraysh who had come to Medina about the captives of Badr. He was not yet a Muslim. He heard the Prophet (ﷺ) recite Surat al-Tur (chapter 52) at the sunset prayer. He said that was when faith first settled in his heart. The recitation reached the verses asking whether they were created from nothing, or created the heavens and the earth. Then, he said, his heart was about to fly.
Jubayr ibn Mut'im reports that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) recite Surat al-Tur in the sunset prayer, at the time when faith first settled in his heart. In the same report the Prophet speaks about the prisoners of Badr.
Jubayr ibn Mut'im, who had come to Medina about the captives of Badr, reports hearing the Prophet (ﷺ) recite Surat al-Tur in the sunset prayer.
Jubayr ibn Mut'im reports that he heard the Prophet (ﷺ) recite Surat al-Tur in the sunset prayer. When he reached the verses asking whether they were created from nothing, or were themselves the creators, or created the heavens and the earth, Jubayr says his heart was about to fly.
“Were they created of nothing, or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay, they have no firm belief.”
Imitators, then and since
Rival claimants to prophethood appeared in the Prophet's (ﷺ) own lifetime. One was Musaylima, whom the Prophet (ﷺ) identified with a dream of two liars who would claim prophethood after him. Imitations of the Qur'an have been attempted in later centuries too. Each is a text on the table that anyone who reads Arabic can compare. None has won lasting acceptance as the Qur'an's equal.
Ibn Abbas reports that Musaylima, known as the Liar, came to Medina in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime with many of his tribe, saying he would follow the Prophet if he were given the rule after him. The Prophet refused him and said he thought Musaylima was the man shown to him in a dream. Through Abu Hurayra the report adds the Prophet's dream of two gold bracelets, which he took to mean that two liars claiming prophethood would appear after him; they proved to be al-Ansi and Musaylima.
“Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
A second open test
The Qur'an also invites its readers to search it for error. It says that a book from anyone but God (﷾) would contain much discrepancy. Both tests are on the page for anyone to take, and unlike the miracles of earlier prophets, this one can be examined today.
“Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy.”
“Say: "If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
Arabic grammar came after the Qur'an
The rules of Arabic grammar were drawn up after the Qur'an, in the eighth century. The grammarians built them largely from the Qur'an and the old poetry of the Arabs. So the first judges of the challenge needed no rulebook. They were masters of the living language the rules were later drawn from.
Explains that the systematic study of Arabic grammar began in the eighth century, driven by the need to read and explain the Qur'an correctly, and that the early grammarians, Sibawayh above all, took the Qur'an and early Arabic poetry as their main evidence for the language.
Answering the sceptic
Qur'an 2:23 — Surat al-Baqara (The Cow), verse 23
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true.”
Cited for
Sceptics say literary quality is a matter of taste, and since Muslims judge every attempt, the challenge can never be lost.
The response
The first judges were not Muslims. They were the Quraysh, masters of their own language, who wanted the Prophet (ﷺ) defeated and boasted they could say the like. They chose boycott, torture and war rather than produce a chapter. And the test stays open: any attempt is a text that anyone who reads Arabic can set beside the Qur'an.
Where it lands — The people best placed to meet the challenge, and most eager to, did not meet it, and that verdict was not given by Muslims.
Perspectives
Confucian: Heaven teaches without words
Confucius said Heaven does not speak: the four seasons pursue their courses and all things are produced, yet Heaven says nothing. Some Confucians conclude that a book's beauty proves nothing about Heaven.
Does Heaven speak? The seasons pursue their courses and all things are produced, but Heaven says nothing, so no book need be Heaven's word.
Rebuttal
The seasons are signs, and the Qur'an agrees. But Confucius never claimed that the Analects came from Heaven, so he set no test. The Qur'an does claim to be God's (﷾) word, and stakes that claim on a test anyone can take: produce one chapter like it. The people best able to meet it chose war instead.
Sceptical reading
A sceptic can say that literary quality is a matter of taste, so no text can be proven unmatched.
Literary quality is a matter of taste, and a challenge judged by believers can never be lost.
Rebuttal
The challenge was not left to taste. Its first judges were the Quraysh, masters of Arabic, who wanted the Prophet (ﷺ) defeated. The Qur'an, recited in their hearing, records their boast that they could say the like (8:31). Yet their finest judge could not class it as poetry or soothsaying, and they chose boycott, torture and war over a chapter.
The Islamic perspective
The Qur'an stakes its origin on a test anyone can take. The people best able to meet it had every reason to try. They spoke the language and were at the height of their art. They chose war instead. The Prophet (ﷺ) brought a Book its finest critics could neither imitate nor classify.
The Qur'an challenges doubters to produce a chapter like it, and says mankind and jinn together could not.
The Quraysh answered the Prophet (ﷺ) with boycott, torture and war rather than a chapter like the Qur'an.
The Quraysh told their people not to listen to the Qur'an and to talk over its recitation.
Their leading judge of language, al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, could not call it poetry or fortune-telling. As the Qur'an records, all he could call it was magic.
Jubayr ibn Mut'im heard Surat al-Tur recited before he was a Muslim. He said that was when faith first settled in his heart.
Rivals such as Musaylima claimed to be prophets in the Prophet's (ﷺ) lifetime. No imitation since has been lastingly accepted as the Qur'an's equal.
Arabic grammar was later systematised largely from the Qur'an and early Arabic poetry.
That the Qur'an cannot be imitated is a sign that it is the speech of God (﷾).