14. THE RHETORICAL EXPRESSIONS OF THE QUR'AN (1)

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14. THE RHETORICAL EXPRESSIONS OF THE QUR’ĀN (1) The Qur’ān was revealed when the Arabs were at the pinnacle of their poetry and prose, and yet, they could not even produce the smallest chapter similar to it. The smallest chapter in the Quran is chapter 108 (al-Kawthar) consisting of only 3 verses.

The British Orientalist and translator, Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot (1833-1901), said “that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded.” The famous German writer, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), said about the Qur’ān “[…] soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our reverence […]

Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is stern, grand – ever and always, truly sublime – So, this book will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence.”

Allah says in the Qur’ān as follows: َ ‫ّللا َو َلكِنْ َتصْ د‬ ‫ِيق الَذِي َبي َْن‬ ِ َ ‫ون‬ َ ‫َو َما َك‬ ِ ‫ان َه َذا ْالقُرْ آنُ أَنْ ُي ْف َت َرى مِنْ ُد‬ ُ‫ون ا ْف َت َراه‬ ِ ‫َي َد ْي ِه َو َت ْفصِ ي َل ْال ِك َتا‬ َ ُ ‫ أَ ْم َيقُول‬.‫ِين‬ َ ‫ْب فِي ِه مِنْ َرب ْال َعالَم‬ َ ‫ب َل َري‬ ‫ّللا‬ ِ َ ‫ون‬ َ ‫قُ ْل َفأْ ُتوا ِبس‬ ِ ‫ُورة م ِْث ِل ِه َو ْادعُوا َم ِن اسْ َت َطعْ ُت ْم مِنْ ُد‬ )73-73:‫ِين (يونس‬ َ ‫صا ِدق‬ َ ‫إِنْ ُك ْن ُت ْم‬ And this Qur’ān is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the Revelation) which was before it [i.e. the Torah and the Gospel], and a full explanation of the Book (i.e. the laws decreed for mankind)—wherein there is no doubt—from the Lord of the worlds.

Or do they say: He (Muhammad) has forged it?”

Say: “Bring then a surah (chapter) like it, and call upon whomsoever you can besides Allah, if you are truthful.” (Q. 10:376-38)

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One of the miraculous natures of the Qur’ān is its unique literary form. It is different from normal literary forms of Arabic poetry and prose, as mentioned by Dr. Taha Husayn, that it is neither pure poetry, nor pure prose, but between. The verses of the Qur’ān are full of rhetoric, namely, among other things in Western terminology are: alliteration, analogy, antiphrasis, antithesis, asyndeton, assonance, cadence, chiasmus, epizeuxis, equivoque, homonymy, hyperbole, isocolon, metaphor, palindrome parenthesis, polyptoton, rhetorical questions, and synecdoche. The frequent use of these rhetorical features excels any other Arabic rhymed prose. Here are some of their definitions and examples: 1. ‫ ْال ِج َناس‬, assonance, pun, paronomasia1. It is divided into three categories: (a) complete, (b) incomplete, and (c) simple.

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Pun or paronomasia is the use of words with similar sounds but different in meaning, such as: “tun a gitar” and “tuna guitar”, “prophet” and “profit.” In Malay and Indonesian language we have the word beruang which has two meanings: “bear” and “to have money.” So, if we say “beruang beruang” it means “the bear has money.” The example in modern Arabic poetry is that of Ismā‘īl Ṣabrī Pasha (1854-1923) who had a sister called Asmā, as follows: )‫ مفاعلتن مفاعلتن فعولن‬:‫(البحر الوافر‬ َ ْ ُ ‫َط َر ْق‬ ‫َفلَ َمــــا َك َل َم ْتنِىْ َكل َمت ِنــــي‬ * ْ‫اب َح َتى َك َل َم ْتنِى‬ َ ‫ت ْال َب‬ ْ َ‫َف َقال‬ ُ ‫ص ْبرا * َفق ْل‬ ‫ص ْب ِري‬ َ ‫ت َيا ْاس َما]ء[ عِ ْيـــ َل‬ َ ‫ت َيا إسْ َماعِ ي ْــــــ ُل‬ I knocked at the door until I got tired [of knocking] When I got tired she talked to me She said, “O Isma’il, be patient!”

Then I said, “O Asmā, I have lost my patience.” ْ‫ َم ْتنِى‬+‫ = َك َل‬my arm has become tired ْ ‫ = َكلَ َم‬she talked to me ‫ نِــــي‬+‫ت‬ ‫صبْرا‬ َ +‫ إسْ مَاعِ ي ْــــــ ُل‬+‫ = َيا‬O Isma ‘īl, be patient ‫صب ِْري‬ َ +‫ عْ ي ْــــ َل‬+ ‫ ْاس َماء‬+ ‫ = َيا‬O Asmā’, my patience has almost gone This is called invented (fabricated) jinās )‫ (الجناس المل ّفق‬that may confuse the listeners.

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a. Complete jinās (‫ ) ْال ِج َناسُ ال َتام‬is when two or more words are exactly the same, but have different meanings. This can be said to belong to the category of homonym. For example: ‫ُون َما لَ ِب ُثوا َغي َْر‬ َ ‫َو َي ْو َم َتقُو ُم السَا َع ُة ُي ْقسِ ُم ْالمُجْ ِرم‬ )55:‫ون (الروم‬ َ ‫ك َكا ُنوا ي ُْؤ َف ُك‬ َ ِ‫َسا َعة َك َذل‬ And on the Day that the Hour will be established, the criminals will swear that they stayed not but an hour—thus were they evfer deluded [away from the truth in this life of the world].(Q. 30:55) Here the first sā‘ah means “the Day of the Hour”, whereas the second sā‘ah means “an hour.” َ ُ‫ ُي َقلب‬.‫ار‬ ‫ار‬ َ ‫ّللا ُ اللَ ْي َل َوال َن َه‬ َ ‫َي َكا ُد َس َنا َبرْ ِق ِه َي ْذ َهبُ ِب ْاْلَ ْب‬ ِ ‫ص‬ )33-37:‫ار (النور‬ َ ‫ك لَ ِعب َْرة ِْلُولِي ْاْلَ ْب‬ َ ِ‫إِنَ فِي َذل‬ ِ ‫ص‬ The vivid flash of its (clouds) lightning nearly blinds the sight. Allah causes the night and the day to succeed ech other. Truly, in this is indeed a lesson for those who have insight (Q. 24:33-34) The first abṣār is the plural form of baṣar meaning “eye-sight.” Although it is plural, it is translated in singular form, because “sights” in plural means something else, namely, something remarkable, such as “Grand Canyon is one of the sights of the world.” The second abṣār is the plural form of baṣar meaning “insight” which is knowledge. It is also translated in singular form, although it is in plural form, as “insights” in English is usually used to indicate examples of insight or sudden insight.

The above examples are of the comolete jinās of nouns. The jinās between prepositions are so many in the Qur’ān, such as follows: (37:‫َو ُي َنز ُل مِنَ ال َس َما ِء مِنَ ِج َبال فِي َها مِنَ َب َرد )النور‬ He sends down from the sky some mountains of hail in them (Q. 24:37)

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This is the literal translation of the above verse to indicate that the preposition min ) ْ‫ (مِن‬is mentioned three times each with different meanings: “from the sky” indicates where the hail cames from; “some mountains” indicates that “it is not one, but many” )‫“ ;(من للتبعيض‬of hail” indicates the kind of the mountains, not of pebbles, a different ones.

As the word “mountains” in this verse has more than one meaning or sense, it is ambiguous, and is called equivoque. (b) Incomplete jinās )‫) ْال ِج َناسُ َغ ْي ُر ال َتام‬ Incoplete jinās ithat it misses one of the following conditions: (1) vowel signs, called muḥarraf; (2) letters, called muṣaḥḥaf (3) number of letters (4) sequence of letters) (1) Al-jinās al-Muḥarraf )‫ ) ْال ِج َناسُ ْال ُم َحرَ ف‬occurs if two or more words have different vowels only, such as: ُ ‫ َفا ْن‬.َ‫ِيه ْم ُمنذ ِ​ِرين‬ ‫ان‬ َ ‫ْف َك‬ َ ‫ظرْ َكي‬ ِ ‫َو َل َق ْد أَرْ َس ْل َنا ف‬ )37-37:‫َعا ِق َب ُة ا ْل ُمنذ ِرينَ (الصافات‬ And indeed We sent among them warners (Messengers); Then see what was the end of those who were warned (Q. 37:72-73) Ther term mundhirīn means “warners”, mundharīn means “those who are warned.” The difference is only in the two vowels, “i” and “a”. ‫ِين أَ ْنفُ َس ُه ْم َوأَمْ َوالَ ُه ْم ِبأَنَ لَ ُه ُم ْال َج َن َة‬ َ ‫ّللا ا ْش َت َرى م َِن ْالم ُْؤ ِمن‬ َ َ َ‫إِن‬ )111:‫ (التوبة‬... ‫ون‬ ِ َ ‫يل‬ َ ُ ‫ون َو ُي ْق َتل‬ َ ُ‫ّللا َف َي ْق ُتل‬ َ ُ ‫ُي َقا ِتل‬ ِ ‫ون فِي َس ِب‬ Verily, Allah has purchased of the believers their lives and their properties for (the price) that their shall be Paradise. They fight in Allah’s Cause, so they kill (others) and are killed… (Q. 9:111)

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The example from the sayings of the Prophet is as follows: َ ‫اللّ ُه َم َك َما َح َس ْن‬ ‫ت َخ ْلقِي َف َحسنْ ُخلُقِي‬ O Allah, as You have beautified the creation of me, beautify then my character.

The term khalqī means “my creation,” whereas khuluqī means “my character." The difference is between the vowels “a” and “u…u.”

(2) Al-Jinās al-Muṣaḥḥaf )‫صحَ ف‬ َ ‫ ( ْال ِج َناسُ ْال ُم‬which is also َ ‫) ِج َناسُ ْا‬. It occurs in words called Jinās al-Khaṭṭ (‫لخط‬ when they have the same khaṭṭ, namely, consonantal sekeleton, but different in meanings, such as: ‫ض َل‬ َ ‫ِين‬ َ ‫ الَذ‬.‫ين أَعْ َمال‬ َ ‫قُ ْل َه ْل ُن َنب ُئ ُك ْم ِب ْاْلَ ْخ َس ِر‬ ‫َسعْ ُي ُه ْم فِي ْال َح َيا ِة ال ُّد ْن َيا َو ُه ْمَيحس ُبونَ​َ أَ َن ُه ْم‬ )103-107:‫ص ْنعا (الكهف‬ ُ َ‫ُيحسِ ُنون‬ Say (O Muhammad): “Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds? Those whose efforts have been wased in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds.” (Q. 18:103-104) The term yaḥsabūna means “they think”, whereas yuḥsinūna means “they do good.” They are different in meaning, but the same in their consonantal skeleton, namely, ‫ يحسنون‬and ‫ يحسبون‬are the same if we ignore the dots in them.

Another example is what Prophet Abraham a.s. says as mentioned in the Qur’ān as follows: ُ ْ‫ َوإِ َذا َم ِرض‬.‫ِين‬ ‫ت‬ ِ ‫َوالَذِي ه َُو ي ُْط ِع ُمنِي َو َيسْ ق‬ )30-39:‫ِين (الشعراء‬ ِ ‫َفه َُو َي ْشف‬ “And it is He Who feeds me abnd gives me to drink. And when I am ill, it is He Who cures me (Q. 26:79-80).

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The term yasqīni means “He gives me to drink”, whereas yashfīni means “He cures me.” Both are different in meaning, but have the same consonantal skeleton, namely, ‫ يسقين‬and ‫ يشفين‬if we ignore the dots in them.

The example from the sayings of the Prophet to a young man as follows: ‫ك َوأَ ْت َقى ل َِرب َك‬ َ ‫ َفإِ َن ُه أَ ْن َقى لِ َث ْو ِب‬،‫َيا اب َْن أَخِي! ارْ َفعْ َث ْو َب َك‬ )‫(رواه البخاري و البيهقي و ابن حبان‬ O my nephew! Lift up your dress, for it is cleaner for your dress and more pious to your Lord (Reported by Bukhārī, Bayhaqī and Ibn Ḥibbān) The term anqā means “cleaner”, whereas atqā means “more pious”. They are different in meaning, but have the same consonantal skeleton, namely ‫ أنقى‬and ‫أتقى‬ if we ignore the dosts in them.

The example from the sayings of the ṣaḥābah (companions of the Prophet), is what ‘Umar r.a. said: ْ ‫ت َغي َْر ْالع‬ ْ ‫ت َتا ِجرا َما‬ ُ ْ‫اخ َتر‬ ُ ‫لَ ْو ُك ْن‬ ، ‫ِط ِر َشيْئا‬ ‫إِنْ َفا َتنِي ِر ْب ُح ُه َما َفا َتنِي ِري ُح ُه‬ If I were a a trader, I would not have chosen other than perfume; if I lost its profit, I would not lose it scent.

The term ribḥuhu means “its profit”, whereas rīḥuhu means “its scent.” Both are different in meaning, but have the same consonantal skeleton, namely, ‫ ربحه‬and ‫ ريحه‬if we ignore the dots in them. (to be continued) (CIVIC, 13 May, 2016) :‫المراجع‬ ‫المكتبة الشاملة‬ https://islamwich.com/2013/04/03/quranic-challenge/ https://old.uqu.edu.sa/page/ar/43947 http://www.hamzatzortzis.com/essays-articles/exploringthe-quran/the-inim http://websta.me/n/ator_m http://forums.roro44.net/545849.html