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Ilm al-Badi'
Surah: Al-Ahzab (37)
Epanalepsis — Returning the End to the Beginning
Definition:
Epanalepsis (radd al-'ajz 'ala al-sadr): ending speech with what it began — either the same word or something similar. A rhetorical figure achieving balance and embedding meaning in memory.
Quranic example: "You feared the people, while Allah has more right that you should fear Him." (Surah 33:37)
The beauty:
The verb "you feared" opens and closes the expression — but the one feared changes: people at the start, Allah at the end. This return makes comparison inevitable: who is more worthy of fear? The sonic repetition carries a semantic correction — as if the verse redirects the heart from misplaced fear to its rightful object.
Epanalepsis (radd al-'ajz 'ala al-sadr): ending speech with what it began — either the same word or something similar. A rhetorical figure achieving balance and embedding meaning in memory.
Quranic example: "You feared the people, while Allah has more right that you should fear Him." (Surah 33:37)
The beauty:
The verb "you feared" opens and closes the expression — but the one feared changes: people at the start, Allah at the end. This return makes comparison inevitable: who is more worthy of fear? The sonic repetition carries a semantic correction — as if the verse redirects the heart from misplaced fear to its rightful object.
Source: Al-Zarkashi, Al-Burhan (4/12); Al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan (3/348)
Test Yourself
What changes in the word "fear" between the beginning and end of the verse?
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