LessonsSupplementary Practice 19: Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Sūrat al-ʿAṣr and al-TakāthurQuiz

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ
Rivalry for more has distracted you. (التكاثر: 1)

The verse does not overtly state what people were distracted from. The later warning and final questioning indicate neglect of more consequential truths and responsibilities. This lack of an expressed complement can be discussed as purposeful non-specification or contextual ellipsis.

A commentator should not insert one particular phrase, such as “from prayer” or “from learning,” as though it were the sole wording required by the verse. Its breadth is meaningful, while the subsequent context sets the limits within which that breadth should be understood.

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What the distraction is from

Supplementary Practice 19: Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Sūrat al-ʿAṣr and al-Takāthur

أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ
Rivalry for more has distracted you. (التكاثر: 1)

The verse does not overtly state what people were distracted from. The later warning and final questioning indicate neglect of more consequential truths and responsibilities. This lack of an expressed complement can be discussed as purposeful non-specification or contextual ellipsis.

A commentator should not insert one particular phrase, such as “from prayer” or “from learning,” as though it were the sole wording required by the verse. Its breadth is meaningful, while the subsequent context sets the limits within which that breadth should be understood.