LessonsIndications of Rational Metaphor and the Metaphor-by-Implication DebateQuiz

فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَاضِيَةٍ
He will be in a life of satisfaction. (Al-Ḥāqqah 69:21)

“Rāḍiyah” ordinarily relates to being pleased, an attribute associated with a sentient subject. Here the phrase conveys a life that is satisfying or pleasant. The quality of satisfaction is expressed through the condition of the life enjoyed.

The technical issue is whether to explain this as figurative attribution of satisfaction to life, or through figurative lexical usage and its implications. Competing analyses illuminate different dimensions of the same Arabic expression.

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The Qur’anic phrase “a pleasing life”

Indications of Rational Metaphor and the Metaphor-by-Implication Debate

فَهُوَ فِي عِيشَةٍ رَاضِيَةٍ
He will be in a life of satisfaction. (Al-Ḥāqqah 69:21)

“Rāḍiyah” ordinarily relates to being pleased, an attribute associated with a sentient subject. Here the phrase conveys a life that is satisfying or pleasant. The quality of satisfaction is expressed through the condition of the life enjoyed.

The technical issue is whether to explain this as figurative attribution of satisfaction to life, or through figurative lexical usage and its implications. Competing analyses illuminate different dimensions of the same Arabic expression.