Ijaz al-Quran wa al-Balagha al-Nabawiyya li al-Rafii
- Author died
- 1356 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kitāb al-‘Arabī
Ijaz al-Quran wa al-Balagha al-Nabawiyya (The Inimitability of the Qur'an and Prophetic Eloquence) is a seminal treatise on the stylistic and linguistic inimitability (i‘jaz) of the Qur'an and the rhetoric of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, authored by the Egyptian man of letters Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i (1298–1356 AH / 1881–1937 CE; also dated 1297 AH / 1880 CE) .
Origin and Composition
The work was originally conceived as the third part of al-Rafi'i's larger historical-literary project, Tarikh Adab al-Arab (History of Arabic Literature) . Recognizing its distinct thematic focus and aiming to make it widely accessible to readers, al-Rafi'i published it as an independent volume under its own title . It came to be regarded as the first comprehensive independent monograph on Qur'anic inimitability produced in the modern era .
Structure and Content
Al-Rafi'i confined his inquiry primarily to the linguistic foundations of the Qur'an—its lexicography, syntax, compositional structure, and phonetic organization—and how these elements interact with human sensory and psychological perception . The book encompasses several major areas:
- History and Transmission of the Qur'an: Covers the revelation of the text, its gradual descent, scribes of the revelation, compilation and codification into codices (masahif), orthography (rasm), variant recitation modes (qira'at), and the biographical traditions of the early readers (al-qurra') .
- Theories of Inimitability: Surveys classical theological debates regarding the nature of i‘jaz, including the doctrine of al-sarfa (divine turning away of human capability) maintained by Ibrahim al-Nazzam and al-Sharif al-Murtada, alongside the critical stances of scholars such as al-Jahiz and Ibn Hazm . It also examines the historical challenge (al-tahaddi) issued to the Arabs and critiques historical figures reputed to have attempted opposition to the Qur'an, such as Musaylima, Ibn al-Muqaffa, and Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri .
- System of Composition (Nazm): Analyzes Qur'anic inimitability hierarchically, beginning with individual letters and their acoustic harmony, proceeding to words and their morphological fitness, and culminating in the syntactic harmony of entire verses and sentences .
- Prophetic Eloquence (al-Balagha al-Nabawiyya): Analyzes the innate eloquence of the Prophet ﷺ, the hallmarks of his speech—characterized by conciseness, precision, and freedom from artificiality—and demonstrates how Prophetic speech, while reaching the pinnacle of human eloquence, remains distinctly separate from the divine rank of Qur'anic discourse .
Reception
The book received significant acclaim upon its release. The Egyptian statesman Saad Zaghloul lauded the work, writing to al-Rafi'i that its defense of Qur'anic rhetoric was conveyed in prose that seemed "as if it were a revelation from the Revelation, or a ray from the light of the Wise Remembrance" . The scholar and editor Ya'qub Sarruf asserted that every Muslim with a copy of the Qur'an ought to possess a copy of the treatise .
The Islamic reformer Muhammad Rashid Rida contributed a preface to the second edition, describing it as the loftiest and most lucid of al-Rafi'i's writings . While the work also encountered pushback from traditionalist scholars who disputed certain aspects of its literary methodology, al-Rafi'i vigorously defended his arguments in the introduction to its third edition .
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