Intermediate Quranic Sciences Surah: Ar-Rahman (13)

Definition:
Al-Mutashabih al-Lafzi: verses that share similar or identical wording but differ in context, order, addition, or omission — making it difficult for the memorizer to distinguish them.

Examples:

• "Give good tidings to those who believe" recurs with slight wording differences in Al-Baqarah, Al-Kahf, and others.
• "Then which of your Lord's favors will you deny?" — repeated 31 times in Surah Ar-Rahman.
• "Indeed Allah is Knowing of all things" resembles "Indeed Allah is over all things capable" in multiple places.

Difference from creedal mutashabih: Verbal similarity is a linguistic-memorization issue. Creedal mutashabih refers to verses with multiple possible meanings regarding divine attributes.

Major works:

• Durrat al-Tanzil — Al-Khatib al-Iskafi (d. 420 AH) — first systematic work
• Milak al-Tawil — Ibn al-Zubayr al-Gharnati (d. 708 AH) — most comprehensive

Value: Distinguishing verbally similar verses and understanding the reason for each variation — every textual difference in the Quran has a rhetorical or semantic wisdom.

Source: Ibn al-Zubayr al-Gharnati, Milak al-Tawil (1/3); Al-Zarkashi, Al-Burhan (1/116); Al-Suyuti, Al-Itqan (2/68)

Tags: المتشابه اللفظيعلوم القرآنالحفظالبلاغةالتكرار