Manifestations of the Function of Irony in the Rhetorical System of the Holy Qur’an

Irony is a prominent literary foreignization method in which the meaning of events in deep and at surface levels differ. Relying on the thematic analysis of the text of the Holy Qur’an as a literary text, the following article tried to identify, categorize, and analyze the motifs, and visible and invisible ironic signs. In so doing, it sought to answer the question of the conceptual results and literary purposes in the application of the ironic concepts (in particular satirical irony) in this holy book.  With its special attention to culture, the Holy Qur’an as a spoken text has used this speech technique and literary method in order to make its teachings believable for the audiences and to attract them. Relying on ironic elements, the Qur’an has been able to elevate itself to the level of a literary-cultural text. The present study thus also aimed to show that the numerous types of irony in the text of the Holy Qur’an surpass a merely rhetorical or artistic technique and its ultimate purpose is not only the visibility of irony, but also the awakening and awareness of moral themes and teachings, which have helped to build literary ironic images. Accordingly, among the ironic themes applied in the text of the Holy Qur’an examples such as allusion to the revelation of the Qur’an, avoiding arrogance, a camel passing through the eye of a needle, suffocating the wicked with their own hands, flimsy limbs of the hypocrites, as well as destroying idols were explained and analyzed in order to explicate the rhetorical manifestations of this method of literary criticism and its application in the influence of the Qur’anic text.