«الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ»
Killing is more effective in preventing killing.
The familiar maxim uses a repeated word for killing to suggest deterrence. The Qur’anic wording instead places ḥayāh, “life,” at the center, shifting attention from a negative prevention to a positive objective.
Preventing murder and preserving life are closely related, but not rhetorically interchangeable. One foregrounds what is stopped; the other foregrounds what is secured.
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Musāwāt and Ījāz al-Qaṣr: Proportionate Wording and the Rhetoric of Qiṣāṣ
«الْقَتْلُ أَنْفَى لِلْقَتْلِ»
Killing is more effective in preventing killing.
The familiar maxim uses a repeated word for killing to suggest deterrence. The Qur’anic wording instead places ḥayāh, “life,” at the center, shifting attention from a negative prevention to a positive objective.
Preventing murder and preserving life are closely related, but not rhetorically interchangeable. One foregrounds what is stopped; the other foregrounds what is secured.