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Secret Knowledge of the Qur‘an
By S.M. Zakir Hussain (Bangladesh)
Chapter VIII
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Secret Knowledge
of the Qur‘an
8. Enriched Ellipses:
Ellipsis is the act of removing or avoiding redundancy from language as it is used to communicate ideas. We are always using this technique in our speech and writing. Using this technique consciously in speaking or writing is technically known as maintaining economy of expressions or avoiding redundancy. Here is an example:
A: When have you come back home?
B: Yesterday.
B does not say “I have come back home yesterday. / I came back home yesterday”. Rather, only one word serves the purpose. The rest of the sentence is implied and is clear from the context.
God has used this technique in the Qur’an in a hitherto unseen way. Let us see some examples.
8.1. Just have a bird’s eye view of the following verses:
12: 7. Certainly in Joseph and his brethren are signs (of Allah's Sovereignty) for the inquiring minds.
12: 8. When they said: Certainly Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, many though we be. Look! our father is in plain aberration.
12: 9. (One said): Kill Joseph or cast him to some (other) land, so that your father's favor may be all for you, and (that) you may afterward be righteous folk.
12:10. One among them said: Kill not Joseph but, if you must be doing, throw him into the depth of the pit; some caravan will find him.
[...]
12:11. They said: O our father! Why will you not trust us with Joseph, when Look! we are good friends to him?
12:12. Send him with us to-morrow that he may enjoy himself and play. And Look! we shall take good care of him.
12:13. He said: Look! in truth it saddens me that you should take him with you, and I fear less the wolf devour him while you are heedless of him.
The context is clear from the verses. Also, we have already considered this context earlier in this book. Now we will discover what is implied between the verses 10 and 11.
Read the two verses one by one. Now await a surprise and verbally implicit between these two verses but which is contextually very explicit.
The ellipsis has been marked by three dots.
In the verse No. 10 the story of the plotting of Joseph’s (May God shower blessings on him) step-brothers against him has been referred to. This verse represents them in their conversation. The verse No. 11 shows that they are arguing with their father. Now, what happened between the two instances of conversations is not described here, although we can easily infer it. We can infer that the missing conversation could be like this: the sons wanted to motivate their father saying: “Father, can we take with us Joseph for an outing?” Then perhaps their father said, “But I do not trust you about Joseph because you have already proved that you envy him.” Conversations of this type would be presented in between the two verses if anything were to be presented here at all.
We can pay attention to another important thing in this context. If a human being composed these verses, then they would most probably have been arranged in this order: first the verse No. 10, then the verse No. 12, then the verse No. 13, and at last the verse No. 11. Let us see what they could look like:
12: 7. Certainly in Joseph and his brethren are signs (of Allah's Sovereignty) for the inquiring.
12: 8. When they said: Certainly Joseph and his brother are dearer to our father than we are, many though we be. Look! our father is in plain aberration.
12: 9. (One said): Kill Joseph or cast him to some (other) land, so that your father's favor may be all for you, and (that) you may afterward be righteous folk.
12:10. One among them said: Kill not Joseph but, if you must be doing, fling him into the depth of the pit; some caravan will find him.
12:12. [They said to their father] Send him with us tomorrow that he may enjoy himself and play. And Look! we shall take good care of him.
12:13. He said: Look! in truth it saddens me that you should take him with you, and I fear less the wolf devour him while you are heedless of him.
12:11. They said: O our father! Why will you not trust us with Joseph, when Look! we are good friends to him?
Obviously, people like Benjamin Franklim, Girish Chandra and others failed to see these aspects of the organization of the verses of the Qur’an.
8.2. Now consider the small example below:
21:68. They cried: Burn him (Abraham) and stand by your gods, if you will be doing.
[...]
21:69. We said: O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham,
21:70. And they wished to set a snare for him, but We made them the greater losers.
Notice that the main event is implicit between the verses 68 and 69, but the fact is clearly understood from the context. The event which is implied is: “Then they came to a consensus about throwing Abraham into fire and made a huge fire and threw him into it.” The text could look like this:
21:68. They cried: Burn him (Abraham) and stand by your gods, if you will be doing.
<< Then they came to a consensus about throwing Abraham into fire and made a huge fire and threw him into it.>>
21:69. We said: O fire, be coolness and peace for Abraham,
21:70. And they wished to set a snare for him, but We made them the greater losers.
8.3. Let us consider another example of the same type. Just pore over the following verses. No meticulous perusal is necessary.
26:10. And when your Lord called Moses, saying: Go to the wrongdoing folk,
26:11. The folk of Pharaoh. Will they not ward off (evil)?
26:12. He said: My Lord! Lo! I fear that they will deny me,
26:13. And I shall be embarrassed, and my tongue will not speak plainly, therefor send for Aaron (to help me).
26:14. And they have a crime against me, so I fear that they will kill me.
26:15. He said: Nay, verily. So go you twain with Our tokens. Lo! We shall be with you, Hearing.
26:16. And come together to Pharaoh and say: Lo! we bear a message of the Lord of the Worlds,
26:17. (Saying): Let the Children of Israel go with us.
[...]
26:18. (Pharaoh) said (unto Moses): Did we not rear you among us as a child? And you didst dwell many years of your life among us,
26:19. And you didst that your deed which you didst, and you wast one of the ingrates.
What is implied between the verses 17 and 18 is this: “ Then Moses and Aaron went to the Pharaoh according to my instruction and proposed him to set the people of Israel free.” There was a bit more altercation after it. However, the implications are clear from what has been stated.
8.4. Here is another example:
27:20. And he sought among the birds and said: How is it that I see not the hoopoe, or is he among the absent?
27:21. I verily will punish him with hard punishment or I verily will slay him, or he verily shall bring me a plain excuse.
27:22. But he was not long in coming, and he said: I have found out (a thing) that you apprehends not, and I come to you from Sheba with sure tidings.
27:23. Lo! I found a woman ruling over them, and she has been given (abundance) of all things, and hers is a mighty throne.
27:24. I found her and her people worshipping the sun instead of Allah; and Satan makes their works fairseeming to them, and debars them from the way (of Truth), so that they go not aright;
27:25. So that they worship not Allah, Who brings forth the hidden in the heavens and the earth, and knows what you hide and what you proclaim,
27:26. Allah; there is no Allah save Him, the Lord of the Tremendous Throne.
27:27. (Solomon) said: We shall see whether you speakest truth or whether you are of the liars.
27:28. Go with this my letter and throw it down to them; then turn away and see what (answer) they return,
[...]
27:29. (The Queen of Sheba) said (when she received the letter): O chieftains! Lo! there has been thrown to me a noble letter.
27:30. Lo! it is from Solomon, and lo! it is: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful;
27:31. Exalt not yourselves against me, but come to me as those who surrender.
Can you guess what has been kept implied between the verses 28 and 29? Like before, the central event has been kept hidden in this case too, but it is very clear.
8.5. In the following example, one sentence is kept implied: The implied sentence is: “And I said to him”.
38:36. So We made the wind subservient to him, setting fair by his command whithersoever he intended.
38:37. And the unruly, every builder and diver (made We subservient),
38:38. And others linked together in chains,
38:39. [...]: This is Our gift, so bestow thou, or withhold, without reckoning.
38:40. And lo! he has favor with Us, and a happy journey's end.
8.6. And this example is also very interesting:
38:71. When your Lord said to the angels: Lo! I am about to create a mortal out of mire,
38:72. And when I have fashioned him and breathed into him of My Spirit, then fall down before him prostrate,
[...]
38:73. The angels fell down prostrate, every one,
38:74. Saving Iblis; he was scornful and became one of the disbelievers.
The main allusion to the event is kept implicit between the verses 72 and 73.
8.7. In the following example, the symbol ‘...’ represents an ellipsis of a sentence, which has made the presentation mysterious.
69:18. On that day you will be exposed; not a secret of you will be hidden.
69:19. Then, as for him who is given his record in his right hand, he will say: Take, read my book!
69:20. Surely I knew that I should have to meet my reckoning.
69:21. Then he will be in blissful state
69:22. In a high garden
69:23. Whereof the clusters are in easy reach.
69:24. [...]: Eat and drink at ease for that which you sent on before you in past days.
8.8. The ellipsis in the following example is so mysterious that it is beyond the ability of the author to elucidate the mystery in its real depth. Just look over the verses.
43:57. And when the son of Mary is quoted as an example, behold! the folk laugh out,
43:58. And say [you]: Are our gods better, or is he? They raise not the objection except for argument. Nay! but they are a contentious folk.
43:59. He is nothing but a slave on whom We bestowed favor, and We made him a pattern for the Children of Israel.
43:60. And had We willed We could have set among you angels to be viceroys in the earth.
43:61. And [...] (Jesus) shall be the sign of the Hour (of Judgement). So doubt you not concerning it, but follow me . This is the right path.
43:62. And let not Satan turn you aside. Lo! he is an open enemy for you.
In the verse No. 57, God addresses the Prophet (PBUH) as ‘you behold!’. In the verse No. 60, God speaks to us all. In the verse No. 61, the verb (imperative) ‘tell them / look’, which is implied, shows that the Prophet [PBUH] is shown something which is not being expressed. Here the ‘you’ refers to us all. Read the verse No. 61 with these pieces of information in mind, you will see something interesting.
8.9. In this case also, the symbol ‘...’ stands for the ellipsis of a complete event:
51:31. (Abraham) said: And (afterward) what is your errand, O you sent (from Allah)?
51:32. They said: Lo! we are sent to a guilty folk,
51:33. That we may send upon them stones of clay,
51:34. Marked by your Lord for (the destruction of) the wanton.
51:35. [...] Then we brought forth such believers as were there.
Author of:
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp
