References
1 I am grateful to Shaykh Yasir Al-Hanifi, Shaykh Mohammad Idrissi, Salih Hamid Fatih, Mohammed Hijab and Dr. Safaruk Chowdhury for reviewing the content at various stages of this essay and providing invaluable feedback.
2 I am grateful to Shaykh Fahad Tasleem who provided the content for this section of the essay.
3 Mark Forsyth in his book The Elements of Eloquence is a good introduction to understanding eloquence in the English language.
4 Forsyth, Mark. (2013) The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase. London:
Icon Books. Kindle Edition.
5 “Hope Is the Thing with Feathers” (254): – Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1997.
Available at: http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/19729.
6 The Qur’ān, Chapter 2, Verse 23.
7 The Qur’ān, Chapter 52, Verses 33 to 34.
8 Badawi, Esaid M., and Abdel Haleem, Muhammad. (2008) Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 600.
9 Shafi, M. (2005). Ma’riful Qur’an. 2nd Edition. Translated by Muhammad Jasan Askari and Muhamad Shamim. Karachi: Maktaba-e-Darul-Uloom. Vol 1, pp. 139-149.
10 Al-Suyūṭī. J. (2005). Al-Itqan fi ‘Ulum al-Qur’an. Madina: Mujamma Malik Fahad, p. 1875.
11 Cited in Irwin, R. (1999). The Penguin Anthology of Classical Arabic Literature. London: Penguin Books, p. 2.
12 Ibn Khaldun, A. The Muqaddimah. Translated by Franz Rosenthal. Chapter 6, Section 58.
Available at: http://www.muslimphilosophy.com/ik/Muqaddimah/Chapter6/Ch_6_58.htm 13 Ibn Rasheeq, A. H. (2000). Al-‘Umda fī Sinā’atu al-Shi’ar wa Naqdihi. Edited by Dr. Al-Nabwi Sha’lan. Cairo: Maktabu al-Khaniji, p. 89.
14 Al-Qutaybah, A. (1925) ‘Uyūn al-Akhbār. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Arabi. Vol 2, p. 185.
15 Kermani, K. (2006). Poetry and Language. In: Rippin, A. (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, p. 108.
16 Abdul-Raof, H. (2003). Exploring the Qur’an. Dundee: Al-Makhtoum Institute Academic Press, p.64.
17 An interview with Professor Angelika Neuwirth, who is a professor of Qur’anic Studies, argued that the Qur’ān has never been successfully challenged by anyone, past or present: “…no one has succeeded, this is right… I really think that the Qur’an has even brought Western researchers embarrassment, who weren’t able to clarify how suddenly in an environment where there were not any appreciable written text, appeared the Qur’an with its richness of ideas and its magnificent wordings.” A copy of the recording is available on request.
18 Palmer, E. H. (tr.). (1900). The Qur’an. Part I. Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. lv.
19 Wadad Kadi and Mustansir Mir, Literature and the Qur’an, Encyclopedia of the Qur’an, vol.
3, pp. 213, 216.
20 G. Margoliouth. 1977. Introduction to J.M. Rodwell’s, The Koran. Everyman’s Library, p. vii.
21 K. Armstrong. 1993. A History of God: the 4,000 Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Vintage, p. 171.
22 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 239.
23 Al-Mahalli, Jalalu’d-din and As-Suyuti, Jalalu’ud-din. (2007) Tafsir Al-Jalalayn. Dar Al Taqwa Ltd.: Norwich, p. 1357.
24 Sunan An-Nasa’i; sahih (authentic narration).
25 See Al-Baqillani, Abi Bakr Muhammad. (1994) I’jāz al-Qur’ān. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-’Ulūm; Al-Rafi’i, Fakhr al-Dīn. (1990) I’jāz al-Qur’ān wa al-Balāgha al-Nabawiyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Kitāb al-Arabi.
26 Badawi, Esaid M., and Abdel Haleem, Muhammad. (2008) Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 59.
27 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 238.
28 Lane, William Edward. (1863) An Arabic-English Lexicon, Book I. London: Williams & Norgate, pp. 2084-2085. See http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_2084.pdf and http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_2085.pdf.
29 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 238.
30 Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim.
31 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 236 – 237.
32 Verse 6.
33 Anas ibn Malik reported: The Messenger of Godصلى الله عليه وسلمsaid, “None of you have faith until I am more beloved to him than his children, his father, and all of the people.” Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim. Accessed from:
https://www.abuaminaelias.com/dailyhadithonline/2010/12/16/love-for-muhammad-faith/.
34 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 798.
35 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p, 799.
36 Kathīr, Ibn. (2010). Tafsir Al-Quran Al-‘Aḍīm. Riyadh: Dar Ibn Al-Jawzi, vol. 7, p. 671.
37 Ibid.
38 Qāsimi, M. J. Al-. (1957). Maḥāsin Al-Tawīl. Cairo: ‘Īsa Bābi Al-Ḥalabi, vol. 17, p. 6277.
39 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 238.
40 Ibid.
41 Ibid.
42 The Qur’ān, Chapter 6, Verses 162 to 163
43 The Qur’ān, Chapter 6, Verse 121
44 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 342.
45 Al-Bayḍāwi. (n.d.). Anwār Al-Tanzīl Wa Asrār Al-Tawīl (M. A. Al-Mar’ashli, Ed.). Beirut: Dar Al-‘Iḥyā Al-Turāth Al-‘Arabi, vol. 1, p. 28.
46 Abdul-Raof, H. (2003). Exploring the Qur’an. Dundee: Al-Maktoum Institute Academic Press; Abdul-Raof, H. (2001). Qur’an Translation: Discourse, Texture and Exegesis. Richmond, Surrey:
Curzon.
47 Abdel Haleem, M. (2005). Understanding the Qur’an: Themes & Styles, p. 185.
48 Ibid, p. 188.
49 Chowdhury, S. Z. (2010). Introducing Arabic Rhetoric. Updated Edition. London: Ad-Duha, p.
99.
50 Ibid.
51 Robinson, N. (2003). Discovering The Qur’an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text, 2nd Edition. Washington: Georgetown University Press, p. 254.
52 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 921.
53 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 496.
54 Lane, William Edward. (1863) An Arabic-English Lexicon, Book I. London: Williams & Norgate, p. 1603. See http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_1603.pdf.
55 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 805.
56 Lane, William Edward. (1863) An Arabic-English Lexicon, Supplement to Parts VII and VIII.
London: Williams & Norgate, p. 3000. See http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_3000.pdf.
57 The Qur’ān, Chapter 49, Verse 7.
58 Lane, William Edward. (1863) An Arabic-English Lexicon, Book I. London: Williams & Norgate, p. 149.. See http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_0149.pdf.
59 Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage. Brill: Leiden, p. 75.
60 Lane, William Edward. (1863) An Arabic-English Lexicon, Book I. London: Williams & Norgate, p. 149.. See http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_0149.pdf.
61 Ibid.
62 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 241.
63 Rāzī, F. Al-. (2004). Nihāyat Al-I’jāz Fi Dirāyat Al-I’jāz. Beirut: Dar Ṣādir, pp. 241.
64 Abdul-Raof, H. (2003). Exploring the Qur’an. Dundee: Al-Maktoum Institute Academic Press, p. 401.
65 “Say, ‘If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins; God is most forgiving, most merciful.’” The Qur’ān, Chapter 3, Verse 31
66 See The Quranic Arabic Corpus: https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=kvr#(108:1:3).
67 See The Quranic Arabic Corpus: https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=nHr#(108:2:3).
68 See The Quranic Arabic Corpus: https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=$nA#(108:3:2).
69 See The Quranic Arabic Corpus: https://corpus.quran.com/qurandictionary.jsp?q=btr#(108:3:4).
70 Ibn ‘Ādil, (1998). Al-Lubāb Fi ‘Ulūm Al-Kitāb. Beirut: Dar Al-Kutub Al-‘Ilmiyya, vol. 20, p.
521.
71 Cited in Qadhi, Y. (1999). An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an. Birmingham:
Al-Hidaayah, p. 269. The original translation has been amended; the name Allah has been replaced with God.
72 Kermani, K. (2006). Poetry and Language. In: Rippin, A. (ed.). The Blackwell Companion to the Qur’an. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, p. 110.
73 Islahi, A. A. (2007). Pondering Over the Qur’an: Tafsir of Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Baqarah. Vol 1. Translated by Mohammad Saleem Kayani. Kuala Lumpur: Islamic Book Trust, pp. 25-26.
74 Cited in Islahi, A. A. (2007). Pondering Over the Qur’an: Tafsir of Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Baqarah. Vol 1, p. 26.
75 Van Gelder, G. J. H. (2013). Classical Arabic Literature: A Library of Arabic Literature Anthology.
New York: New York University Press, pp. 31-33.
76 McAuley, D. E. (2012). Ibn `Arabi’s Mystical Poetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.93.
77 Ibid, p. 94.
78 Cited in D. E. (2012). Ibn `Arabi’s Mystical Poetics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p.94.
79 Bonebakker, S. A. (1984). Hatimi and his Encounter with Mutanabbi: A Biographical Sketch.
Oxford: North-Holland Publishing Company, p.47.
80 Ibid, p.15; and see Ouyang, W. (1997). Literary Criticism in Medieval Arabic Islamic Culture: The Making of a Tradition.Edinburgh University Press.
81 Ibid, p. 44.
82 Forsyth, Mark. (2013) The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase.
London: Icon Books. Kindle Edition.
83 Ibid.
84 Mabillard, A. (1999). Shakespearean sonnet basics: Iambic pentameter and the English sonnet style.
Available at: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetstyle.html.
85 Holland, P. (2013). Shakespeare, William (1564–1616). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Oxford University Press. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/25200.
86 The Qur’ān, Chapter 10, Verse 37.
87 “I did not create the Jinn [spirit world], nor mankind, except to worship Me.” The Qur’an, Chapter 51, Verse 56.
88 Tzortzis, Hamza. The Divine Reality: God, Islam & The Mirage of Atheism. Newly Revised Edition. Chapter 15. Sapience Institute. Available at:
www.sapienceinstitute.org/the-divine-reality.