IBN QUTAYBAH'S CONTRIBUTION TO QUR'ANIC EXEGESIS (CHAPTER III)

Page 1

102

CHAPTER III IBN QUTAYBAH’S TREATISE OF THE PHENOMENA OF FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE In this chapter the phenomena of figurative language in the verses of the Qur‟ān will be dealt with. They will be divided into six categories based on Ibn Qutaybah‟s treatment. They are: metaphor (majāz and isti‘ārah), inversion (maqlūb), ellipsis (h.adhf) and brevity (ikhtis.ār), repetition (takrār) and pleonasm (ziyādah), metonymy (kināyah) and allusion (ta‘rīd.), and the idiomatic expression entitled “the disagreement of the word with its literal meaning” ( ). A. Metaphor Metaphor is the use of words to indicate something different from their basic meanings. For example, if we speak of somebody who is stubborn, merciless or cruel, we can say “he has a heart of stone”. Although Ibn Qutaybah put majāz and isti‘ārah in a separate chapter both are entered here under metaphor, since both are, as we shall see, closely related. He said that many of the majāz fall into the category of isti‘ārah.1 1. Majāz The basic meaning of the term majāz is “a crossing”, “a passage”. It is derived from the verb jāza, yajūzu, meaning “to pass”, “to travel (through)”.2 In classical terminology it means “the way of expression”. Abū „Ubaydah in his Majāz al-Qur’ān used this terminology in this sense rather than its later meaning as figurative speech which is in contrast with h.aqīqah (the real meaning).3 Ibn Qutaybah still used this term in this sense when he said that the Arabs had majāzāt (pl. of majāz) in their expression, meaning “the ways and sources of expression” ( ). Among these majāzāt he mentioned isti‘ārah, tamthīl, - simile, known in modern terminology as tashbīh, which he did not treat in a particular chapter maqlūb, takrār, and others.4 On the other hand, he also used it in contrast with h.aqīqah, as we shall see later. According to Ibn Taymīyah, the division of words into h.aqīqah and majāz was not found in the statements of the salaf, but in those of scholars in later generations. Neither the s.ah.ābah nor the tabi‘īn had ever used these technical terms. They were not found in the statements of early Muslim legists, such as Abū H.anīfah, Mālik, al-Shāfi„ī and al-Awzā„ī, as well as


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.