An Approach to Delicacies of Ela Preposition in Qur an

The method of using prepositions along with verbs has caused debates, and the axis of these debates is whether verbs are always accompanied with their respective prepositions or can be recognized by other prepositions based on semantic considerations. The ultimate goal of these issues is to state rhetorical methods and rationales in the application of prepositions in Qur’an, demonstrate the degree of Qur’anic effect on Arabic appreciation, and to recognize more delicate methods and interpretation procedures, which lead to an understanding of the Qur’anic eloquence.Investigating meanings of Ela and a frequency count of this preposition in Qur’an bring to the conclusion that it occurred 702 times for the meaning "the end point" (original meaning), 10 times for "association" (with), 21 times for "possession" (for), 4 times for clarification, and 5 times for "limits" (at). A detailed search in the original meaning of a verse and its words, along with the preceding and following verses made it evident that no preposition has taken the place of another one, since it does not seem logical that once a preposition is assigned for a meaning, another one would carry over its meaning. We made extensive use of books related to different meanings of the preposition "Ela" in Qur’an, including the interpretive book "Al-Kashāf" by Zamakhshari (Died in 538 AH), Al-Tahriro va-Tanvir by Ibn-Āshoori (Died in 1393 AH), Al-Bahr-ul-Muhit by Abu-Hayān Andolosi (Died in 754 AH), and many others.For presenting delicacies and beauties of verses, we first collected varied opinions of interpreters, grammarians, and rhetoricians, and then added aesthetical effects to the study to present such delicacies more effectively. In this article, we suffice in discovering delicacies of the preposition Ela in Qur’anic verses, and target at recognizing various applications of Ela and replacing it with other prepositions to which it does not originally belong.