Shahrur links Qur’anic eloquence to the rejection of rhetorical padding and synonymy. For this reason, the Revelation is not read in his view as poetry is read: poetry is a linguistic art that may reach meaning through aesthetic devices, whereas the Revelation is an eloquence that grounds knowledge and guidance, and its repetitions or expressions should not be treated as ornament or padding.
The Relation’s Components
- Synonymy
- Poetry
- the Wise Revelation
- Eloquence rests on conveying meaning with the fewest words
- The rejection of synonymy among the terms of revelation
- Al-Haqqah 41
The Meaning of the Relation
If every word in the Revelation operates within a specific semantic field, then there is no poetic padding in the text and no excessive synonymy. The rejection of poeticness here does not mean demeaning poetry as an art; rather, it means that the criterion for reading the Revelation is not the criterion of poetry, but the criterion of eloquence, knowledge, and guidance.
Its Effect on Reading
This relation blocks two mistaken paths:
- Turning the Revelation into a poetic text whose words are read as embellishment or repetition.
- Turning the Qur’an’s critique of the poets into a prohibition of poetry or art as such.