What Is Attributed to Shahrur
Shahrur defines rhetoric as the conveyance of the speaker’s intended meaning to the listener, and states that rhetoric is unrelated to verbal beauty. He then describes the Wise Revelation as the highest form of rhetoric, because its meaning reaches the listener or reader “with the fewest number of words,” with “no synonymy or padding.”
Atlas Explanation
This definition makes the criterion of rhetoric functional: the successful conveyance of meaning, rather than mere embellishment of expression. Brevity here is not a claim independent of meaning, but part of the description of how meaning is conveyed. Thus, this atom relates to Language serves meaning and to the path of The contemporary reading method.
Conclusion
This passage shows that, in Shahrur’s framework, rejecting synonymy and padding within the Revelation helps explain its rhetoric: every non-functional addition conflicts with the description of conveying meaning with the fewest number of words. This atom supports The method of reading and renewed interpretation.
Open Question and Limitation
This text alone does not explain how synonymy between every pair of words is to be tested, nor does it lay down detailed rules for distinguishing brevity from omission, or padding from functionally meaningful repetition. Moreover, the description of the highest rhetoric applies to the Wise Revelation in the available evidence, and should not be generalized without further evidence to every text.