LessonsʿIlm al-Badīʿ: Semantic Embellishments, Part IQuiz

«الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى»
“The Most Merciful is established over the Throne.”

«وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ»
“We built the heaven with strength.”

Expressions such as istawā and bi-aydin can appear in lexical and rhetorical discussions of possible senses and their contextual constraints. But assigning the label tawriyah does not by itself settle theological interpretation.

Lexical range, immediate context, and the principles governing scriptural interpretation must remain distinct. In the latter passage, strength is an established Arabic sense, not automatically a pun by mere visual resemblance.

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Scriptural expressions and interpretive care in tawriyah

ʿIlm al-Badīʿ: Semantic Embellishments, Part I

«الرَّحْمَٰنُ عَلَى الْعَرْشِ اسْتَوَى»
“The Most Merciful is established over the Throne.”

«وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ»
“We built the heaven with strength.”

Expressions such as istawā and bi-aydin can appear in lexical and rhetorical discussions of possible senses and their contextual constraints. But assigning the label tawriyah does not by itself settle theological interpretation.

Lexical range, immediate context, and the principles governing scriptural interpretation must remain distinct. In the latter passage, strength is an established Arabic sense, not automatically a pun by mere visual resemblance.