التفسير البياني لسورة الفرقان بالتركيز على الاستعارة

Abstract

This research aims to study the rhetorical-expressive exegesis (tafsīr bayānī) of the blessed Sūrat al-Furqān, with special emphasis on the rhetorical device of “metaphor” (al-istīʿārah). As one of the lengthy Meccan sūrahs rich in fundamental themes of monotheism (tawḥīd), eschatology (maʿād), and ethics, Sūrat al-Furqān is distinguished by its exceptional rhetorical and expressive richness. In it, Allah Almighty has employed – extensively and with exquisite artistry – various types of metaphor (explicit, implicit, inverted, derivative, and imaginative/fantastic).

The study adopts a descriptive-analytical methodology based on the bayānī approach, relying on the views of prominent classical and contemporary exegetes. More than twelve prominent metaphorical examples from the sūrah were analysed, including: 

 Hell seeing and raging (verse 12)، The resting place of the people of Paradise (verse 24)، The sky splitting open with clouds (verse 25)، The extension and withdrawal of shadow (verse 45)، The winds as bearers of glad tidings (verse 48)، The revival of a dead town (verse 49)، The merging of the two seas (verse 53)، The establishment upon the Throne (verse 59)، The constellations, the lamp, and the illuminated moon (verse 61)، The alternation of night and day (verse 62), and others.

The findings demonstrate that metaphor in Sūrat al-Furqān is not merely verbal ornamentation but a cognitive and emotional tool for embodying unseen realities, arousing awe and longing, bringing eschatological scenes closer to the recipients’ minds, and most profoundly realising the sūrah’s title “al-Furqān” by separating truth from falsehood in the most eloquent and impactful manner. This research represents the first independent work to comprehensively address the rhetorical-expressive exegesis of Sūrat al-Furqān with a focused axis on metaphor, and it can serve as a foundation for further studies on the remaining rhetorical devices in this sūrah or comparative analyses with similar sūrahs.