فصلنامه پژوهش های ادبی - قرآنی
سال هفتم شماره 1 (پیاپی 25، بهار 1398)

According to the linguistic theory of Halliday and Hassan (1976), textual cohesion is one of the most important elements of textuality marked by different, inter alia, grammatical, lexical, and relational elements. “Substitution”, manifested in different nominal, verbal, sentential and clausal forms, is a kind of grammatical cohesion that means replacing an element with another in the text. Due to their high semantic and rhetoric capacities, demonstrative nouns are used in the Holy Qur'an in various substitutive forms hence playing a significant role in the coherence and textual cohesion of ayahs. Additionally, by breaking down the grammatical structures of the text, they have created a linear and grid-like order besides giving prominence, dynamism, brevity, and artistic ambiguity to the text. Using Halliday and Hassan's theory, the present study sought to analyze demonstrative nouns used as substitutes in Surah Al-Hajj and to survey the quality of their translations so that the degree of the success of the translators in explicating the rhetorical meaning of this cohesive device becomes clear. To this end, two semantic translations by Fouladvand and Khorramshahi and a literal translation by Mohaddes Dehlavi were selected. The results show that Fouladvand has somewhat created an equivalent cohesion by explicating meaning and paying attention to rhetorical aspects. Moreover, Mohaddes Dehlavi has to some extent created cohesion using clarification in the target text. However, Khorramshahi's translation, despite being literary, has failed to clarify meaning and rhetorical nuances thus lacking the necessary cohesive explication.

The Simpsonian narrative model, which deals with critical stylistics, relies on linguistic tools to examine a narrator's performance while narrating. This qualitative model allows the researcher to analyze points of view by means of identifying the narrator type and the mood used. The present descriptive-analytical research, which selected this model as its framework, analyzed the role of the narrator in the Noble Surah Ta-ha from temporal, spatial, psychological, and mood perspectives. The fictional capacity of Surah Ta-Ha and addressing narrative details, along with the necessity of conducting linguistic analyses of Qur'anic stories are some of rationales for this study. Based on the research findings and the evaluations carried out, the narrator in this sura is the third person narrative mode who sometimes changes his state to the reflector-mode. Furthermore, the mood of the narrator in this sura is positive and considering the verb types used, the narrator has a comprehensive dominance in terms of the information provided with the audience.

The technique of mushakalah is one of the homonymy-based semantic literary devices of rhetorical embellishment, many prominent examples of which have remained unknown or less known in the Qur’anic explorations. The present descriptive-analytical research, after reviewing the history and recognizing the status of mushakalah in rhetoric and redefining its sub-types, by re-reading the ayahs, seeks novel examples of this device in the Qur’an. Since some Qur’anic scholars have considered badī' (rhetorical embellishment) as practical only in the aesthetics of the Qur’anic text and have not seen it helpful in its interpretation, this study aims to find an answer to the question of “what functions one can conceive for recognizing the technique of mushakalah in the process of understanding and interpreting the text of the Qur’an.” The research findings show that exegetes familiar with this literary device do not consider the apparent signification of the words enough, and are not trapped in interpretative mistakes, but seek to reveal the motives behind the choices of words. In addition, it is shown that another function of mushakalah is the revelation of the ironic tone of the text and presenting an eloquent interpretation on the basis of homonymy.

One of the linguistic styles of the Qur'an is the use of allegorical language. Being allegorical means expressing the Qur'anic truth in a literary and artistic manner and this type of language is by no means fantasy and delusion. In the present descriptive-analytical study, which draws its analysis on library data, it turned out that the whole Qur'anic truth is insightful and real and there is no fantasy and falsehood in Qur'anic propositions. Furthermore, this study attempted to answer the question of identifying the principles of the allegorical language of the Qur'an. Therefore, this article reports the analysis of the principles of the Qur'anic allegorical language such as going beyond the impasse of discovering the real meaning, the need for reasons and clues, Qur'anic ayahs' pointing to their inner meanings, polysemy in Qur'anic ayahs, and consistency with definite rational and canonical principles. A meticulous and accurate explication of the principles of the theory of the allegorical language of the Qur'an will set the ground for correct interpretation of the ayahs, hence the critical necessity of investigating the allegorical language of the Qur'an as well as its principles and requirements. The findings of this study indicate that allegories in the Qur'an, while expressing truth in literary and artistic forms that convey both exterior and interior meanings, are not fantasy and false but prove that Qur'anic propositions are genuine and discerning.

Taking a linguistic perceptive on the Holy Qur'an has opened new horizons in Qur'anic studies. Michael Halliday's theory is an approach within functionalist linguistics that has currently drawn many linguists' attention. Halliday believes that different components of speech have three ideational, interpersonal and textual metafunctions, hence his attempt at regulating three corresponding semantic layers. The present research aims to analyze the discourse of Surah Al-Falaq and Surah Al-Nas at the level of textual metafunction based on Halliday's functionalist theory. Therefore, through studying the thematic and informative structures of Surah al-Falaq and Surah Al-Nas and extracting the elements and techniques used for creating cohesion, we found that the two surahs are, in terms of discourse, on the basis of conversation and question and answer, and the use of Halliday's discourse-based components, i.e. textual metafunction, does not vary across them, but in their textual cohesion a variety of devices are effective. In addition, the two surahs differ in terms of the degree of the utilization of these cohesive (grammatical, lexical, and semantic) devices. The first and the most important cohesive device in the texts of both surahs are verbal and lexical elements, and repetition, taking different forms, is the most frequently-used device.

One of the disputed issues between Mu'tazila and Ash'arites is the problem of the permanence or impermanence of the punishment of the fasiq in Jahannam. Each of these two groups present multiple arguments in favor of their own view and such discussions have found their ways to the linguistics and the terminology of the Holy Qur'an. Whereas Ash'arites believe that the Qur'anic word kholoud means a long residence and stay that ends in the future, the Mu'tazilites believe that this term refers to permanent and eternal residence that does not come to an end. In the present descriptive-analytical study, it was demonstrated that the Ash'arites' relevant theory has deficiencies and the real state of the Qur'anic word kholoud implies permanent residence because Ash'arites' customary and poetic evidence are types of figurative sentences and the Qur'anic application of kholoud also signifies permanent and eternal rather than temporary residence.

This descriptive-analytical study analyzed a number of Fadhil al-Samarrai’s works based on construction theory and explained the signs of the application this theory in his works. Fadhil al-Samarrai is a prominent contemporary grammarian and syntactician whose novel viewpoints on linguistics in general and on syntax in particular have made considerable contributions to Qur'anic studies. He has interpreted all linguistic and syntactic issues citing the noble ayahs of the Holy Qur'an and proved the nuances of Qur'anic expressions and the use of expressive capacity of Arabic language in the Qur'an. The authors believe that in his valuable works, Fadhil al-Samarrai has been influenced by Abdolghher Jorjani’s construction theory, and traces of this theory can be seen in most of his writings. Studies have shown that Samarrai, like Jorjani, has assigned a special role to syntax in rhetoric. Although he is influenced by the construction theory, he has offered numerous other perspectives regarding various issues, which shows his more meticulous attention to syntax. In addition to expanding more on a given topic, he has moved toward modern and advanced syntax and by means of simplifying syntactic issues or in other words, through “criticism of syntax”, he has put many complexities and rigid rules of syntax aside. Therefore, it can be claimed that he outstands Jorjani in this respect, performing syntactic identification of meaning even more comprehensively than what Jorjani did through exact, complete and all-inclusive explanation of syntactic issues and by provision of plenty of evidence.

Cognitive linguistics says that humans are deprived of the ability to think without conceptual metaphor. Using conceptual metaphor, one can know more deeply about the thoughts of language users. Given the way humans think, they need material examples to express spiritual and abstract concepts. Being a means of conveying the states of mystics at some point in time, Persian literature has employed material fields of words to conceptualize most of these states. One of the spiritual matters is “fanā”, which has been conceptualized through the objective domain of “war”. Mysticism has often been described as warfare in Persian literature. It can be said that war and bloodshed in the epic genre have somewhat been reflected in the mystical genre and have become a literary tradition in Persian poetry particularly during the Islamic Era, displaying lasting mystical concepts. To grasp some metaphysical concepts in mysticism would be easier through conceptual metaphors such as “love is war”. The current study thus aims to answer the question of how this metaphor has been formed in the sonnets of Rumi and to what extent has this conceptualization been influenced by the cognitive mechanism of the Qur'an. Thus, having extracted conceptual micro-metaphors from Diwan-e-Shams, matching the findings with ayahs and content analysis, the study provided an answer to the above-mentioned question, taking a "contemporary metaphor theory" approach. The analysis of the metaphor “love is war” showed that this very central metaphor confirms the micro-metaphor that “love is fanā (joining)”. The corpus of this study consisted of a hundred and ten sonnets from Diwan-e Shams and Medinan surahs. The findings indicate that removing this metaphor from Persian poetry (especially in the style of Iraq), will result in shallow mystical texts.

One of the topics that can be investigated when it comes to homonyms in Arabic relates the words denoting two opposite meanings, which are known as auto-antonyms. Some, both old and recent, scholars have supported the existence of such words in Arabic whereas some other scholars have denied the presence of such words or have considered them as limited. Since the presence of such words in the Holy Qur'an can lead to different interpretations of ayahs, it seems quite necessary to explore the interpretive roles of auto-antonyms. The current study, employing a descriptive-analytical approach, therefore, aims to investigate the theoretical approach of philologists regarding auto-antonyms and while introducing well-known auto-antonyms in books of antonyms, it explores their interpretive roles and lexical meanings. The results revealed that philologists have excluded a large number of such words from the lexicon of auto-antonyms for literal and lexical reasons. According to scholars and given the lexical and interpretive examination of such words in the Holy Qur'anic ayahs, it can be said that “the appearance of opposition in the meanings of auto-antonyms” is a phenomenon formed because of different factors, and attention to the function of the words in any given sentence as well as the context and register present in the discourse play key roles in grasping the meanings of such words.