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

لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ
If you knew with knowledge of certainty. (التكاثر: 5)

ʿIlma al-yaqīn functions as an accusative verbal noun reinforcing the sense of taʿlamūn, while the genitive construction specifies the quality of that knowledge. Certainty here is not a mere vague possibility; it is a firmness of understanding that would transform the hearer’s response to the warning.

The two words are not purposeless synonymous padding. One describes the kind of knowing intended. The later expression ʿayna al-yaqīn brings direct sight into view and gives the passage a further rhetorical contrast.

Opening interactive controls...

The construction of certain knowledge

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

لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عِلْمَ الْيَقِينِ
If you knew with knowledge of certainty. (التكاثر: 5)

ʿIlma al-yaqīn functions as an accusative verbal noun reinforcing the sense of taʿlamūn, while the genitive construction specifies the quality of that knowledge. Certainty here is not a mere vague possibility; it is a firmness of understanding that would transform the hearer’s response to the warning.

The two words are not purposeless synonymous padding. One describes the kind of knowing intended. The later expression ʿayna al-yaqīn brings direct sight into view and gives the passage a further rhetorical contrast.