LessonsĪjāz al-Ḥadhf: Forms of Ellipsis and Evidence for Recovering the OmittedQuiz

﴿لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ وَيُبْطِلَ الْبَاطِلَ﴾
So that He might establish truth and abolish falsehood. (Al-Anfāl 8:8)

Where the purpose of actions is expressed, multiple intervening details may be left implicit because the surrounding narrative makes the causal sequence intelligible. A rhetorical reconstruction may use a general phrase like faʿala mā faʿal, “He did what He did,” to identify an unexpressed causal action.

The clue is the relation between cause and intended result, rather than a free license to add whatever events one imagines.

Opening interactive controls...

Omission of a complete causal clause

Ījāz al-Ḥadhf: Forms of Ellipsis and Evidence for Recovering the Omitted

﴿لِيُحِقَّ الْحَقَّ وَيُبْطِلَ الْبَاطِلَ﴾
So that He might establish truth and abolish falsehood. (Al-Anfāl 8:8)

Where the purpose of actions is expressed, multiple intervening details may be left implicit because the surrounding narrative makes the causal sequence intelligible. A rhetorical reconstruction may use a general phrase like faʿala mā faʿal, “He did what He did,” to identify an unexpressed causal action.

The clue is the relation between cause and intended result, rather than a free license to add whatever events one imagines.