The philological treatment of Qu'rān similes in the works of the philologists, exegetes, literary and rhetorical theorists

Abstract

This thesis deals mainly with the philological aspects of the similes of the Qur'ān. It also deals with other aspects of Arabic science such as rhetoric, syntax and variant readings of some words in the verses containing similes. The thesis falls into three parts which deal with the philologists, exegetes, rhetorical and literary theorists. It explains how these authors look at the similes of the Qur'ān from all aspects, such as the philological, syntactical, or rhetorical viewpoint, although some of them do not refer specifically to the Qur'ānic simile in their books. The first part of the thesis is divided into three chapters. The first one consists of general notes about the language and the simile and about the Arabs and their use of simile in their speech. The second chapter deals with the work of the philologists and how they treat the simile of the Qur'ān in their books. The third chapter deals with the other philological matters in the Qur'ānic verses containing similes, namely homophone-antonyms and metathesis. The second part of the thesis deals with the studies of the simile of the Qur'ān by some exegeses, although they differ in their way of looking at the verses containing simile. The third part is divided into two chapters, the first deals with the treatment of the Qur'ānic simile by those who study the inimitable style of the Qur'ān in their books. These pure Qur'ānic studies show the miraculous style of the Qur'ān. The second chapter deals with books by literary and rhetorical experts who refer to the similes of the Qur'ān in the course of their study of the poetry and speech of the Arabs or their treatment of other aspects of Arabic science.