LessonsClassifying Metaphor by Its Terms and Common Feature: Concordance, Opposition and InclusionQuiz

وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُمَمًا
And We dispersed them throughout the land as separate communities.

In Qur’an 7:168, the expression *qaṭṭaʿnāhum* portrays the separation of groups. Taqṭīʿ highlights breaking up a connected whole; tafrīq focuses on making a group separate or dispersed.

The shared direction is the removal of togetherness. The source uses the contrast to pursue the subtle question of how an element may contribute to the meanings of the related expressions. Merely declaring “severing” and “dispersing” to be identical fails to capture the nuance.

Opening interactive controls...

Severing and dispersing a group

Classifying Metaphor by Its Terms and Common Feature: Concordance, Opposition and Inclusion

وَقَطَّعْنَاهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أُمَمًا
And We dispersed them throughout the land as separate communities.

In Qur’an 7:168, the expression *qaṭṭaʿnāhum* portrays the separation of groups. Taqṭīʿ highlights breaking up a connected whole; tafrīq focuses on making a group separate or dispersed.

The shared direction is the removal of togetherness. The source uses the contrast to pursue the subtle question of how an element may contribute to the meanings of the related expressions. Merely declaring “severing” and “dispersing” to be identical fails to capture the nuance.