The maxim al-qatlu anfā li-l-qatl repeats the same lexical root. If the first “killing” is meant to denote lawful retribution while the second refers to unlawful murder, that distinction must be supplied from context.
The Qur’anic pairing al-qiṣāṣ and ḥayāh presents two distinct and explicit concepts: the legal measure and its life-preserving outcome. This distinction makes the meaning easier to recover without repeating the same word.
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Musāwāt and Ījāz al-Qaṣr: Proportionate Wording and the Rhetoric of Qiṣāṣ
The maxim al-qatlu anfā li-l-qatl repeats the same lexical root. If the first “killing” is meant to denote lawful retribution while the second refers to unlawful murder, that distinction must be supplied from context.
The Qur’anic pairing al-qiṣāṣ and ḥayāh presents two distinct and explicit concepts: the legal measure and its life-preserving outcome. This distinction makes the meaning easier to recover without repeating the same word.