فصلنامه سراج منیر
پیاپی 30 (بهار 1397)

Stylistics as a branch of modern linguistics always strives to examine the text in terms of aesthetics, regardless of history, society and the life of its author, which extratextual matters. Studying the Surahs of the Quran from this point of view indicates that the Quran is a technical, precise, timeless and super-human text and has a unique and consistent structure. The framework of stylistics includes a review of phonology, vocabulary, sequences, definite or indefinite structures, singular and plural words, repetition, nominal or verbal sentences, and types of questions and so on. The present study examines the aesthetic and stylistic aspects of the Surah Al-Qamar through a descriptive-analytical method, while taking into account the unique context of the Surah itself. The result of the study revealed that, given the context of the Surah, words, sentences, and letters have been used artistically in a unique sequence and position. The words serve the meaning perfectly, and the meaning has affected the choice of words, in a way that it would not be possible to modify, move, or make a suggestion in order to alter and transform the text.

One of the most important issues to both sects is the discussion surounding the Ayahs suggesting the greatness and virtues of Imam Ali (AS). As the theological assumptions regarding leadership and guardianship are not the same in Shi’ism and Sunnism, the two sects do not view leadership in the same light. Therefore, the Farsi translations of these Ayahs are affected by theological assumptions. Of course, Sunni translators do not hold a unified opinion regarding this matter. Some of them have employed their own ideological assumptions in their translation. Some others have not implemented such assumptions while translating, and they have taken up a position of silence, preventing sectarial prejudices from being further stirred. The present study aims to refer to valid narratives and the opinions of the interpreters of the two sects about the Ayahs of the leadership and virtues of Imam Ali (AS) in order to study and analyse the most prominent Sunni (Dehlavi, Khorramdel, and Ansari) and Shi’a (Elahi Qamshei, Meshkini, and Makarem Shirazi) interpretive translations. Through this method, possible weaknesses and strengths can be revealed, and the effect of theological assumptions and prejudices in the translations of Sunni translatirs can be shown. Furthermore, through the principles of theology, we can examine whether Shi’a translations have been successful in conveyin the content of the Ayahs.

One of the most important aspects of the miracle of the Quran is its literary miracle that has lead to the Quran to be studied by scholars and linguists. With the growth of linguistic knowledge both in the theoretical and applied fields, Islamic scholars have recognized the importance of this discipline, and they have studied its methods with scruitiny and are contantly striving to implement the methods on the Quran, the most eloquent text. To this end, the present paper aims to perform a stylistic analysis of the Surah Hojorat. The three levels of language, literature, and thought have been considered. On the linguistic level, phonology, morphology, and syntax have been studied. On the literary level, tropes, metaphors, irony, and antitheses have been examined. Lastly, on the intellectual level, the imageries of the Quran regarding back-biting, and also the omniscience of God have been studied.

Cohesion is among elements which are specific to the Holy Quran, with scholars having attached considerable importance to it and extracted its different kinds from the Quran. Inspired by it, Abul Ala Al-Maʿarri has used two kinds of cohesion in Al-Fuṣul wa Al-ghayat. Therefore, the kind of cohesion seen in his book is not an innovation, but a pure imitation of the Quran. This article attempts to examine these two kinds of cohesion in Maʿarri's works and then show their differences with ones in the Holy Quran. The first cohesion is related to the accordance between methods of reporting concerning the names of God and its previous sentences, where, contrary to the Quran, all names of God are based on the meters of fo'oul and fa'eel. Maʿarri's wordplays seem to be what has led him to use names for God in a different way used in the Quran. And the second cohesion is to begin a sentence with a topic with which the previous sentence has ended. Thus, there is an accordance between the beginning of a sentence and the ending of the previous sentence in Maʿarri's works. In the Quran, likewise, a surah continues with a topic with which the previous surah has ended.

Intention is one of the methods of the sciences of eloquence which helps with a deeper understanding of the miracle of the Quran, the structure of the Holy Word, and a correct understaning of the Ayahs. Understanding intentions, its types, and purposes leads to clarification regarding certain Ayahs. The »Al-Tahrir wa Al-Tanwir» interpretation of Ibn Ashur, is one of the interpretations focusing on intention. He has determined intention in pronouns and grammatical number with 188 instances of intention, and 28 instances of compromise, with methods of proving and disproving intention. He has also included and clarfied in his interpretation the interpretive points of intention in different pronouns and grammatical number.

Researchers have mostly attended to the relation between the Quran's literary and religious aspects and the compatibility or incompatibility of these two aspects. Quran, as the final miracle, has been the source for literary eloquence to flourish in the Persian language, while at the same time it is impossible to imitate its own eloquence. Therefore, examples of literary devices like imagery, metaphor, metonym, allegory, emblem, etc. in the Persian language do not have the same nature as the ones in the Quran itself. This holds true the most about personification in the Quran. In the mythical animistic view, the personification of other beings is a kind of imagination. All literary devised in the Quran serve to convey deeper meanings to the human mind, but this explanation does not hold true for personification in the Quran. The main question the present paper strives to answer is how could the metaphorical language in its general sense, as seen in the literary devices such as personification be explained in the text of the Quran?