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Rhetoric
Surah: Al-Baqarah (179)
Prepositions in the Quran — "Fi", "Ala", "Min" and the Secrets of Their Selection
وَلَكُمۡ فِي ٱلۡقِصَاصِ حَيَوٰةٞ يَٰٓأُوْلِي ٱلۡأَلۡبَٰبِ لَعَلَّكُمۡ تَتَّقُونَ
— البقرة الآية 179
Prepositions and the secret of selection:
Scholars of balaghah pay close attention to why one preposition was chosen over another — each carries a semantic nuance added to the sentence.
"Fi" (in) — containment: Indicates total inclusion and encompassment: "Those who believe in the unseen" (2:3) — if it said "of the unseen" it would be partial. "Fi" encloses all of the unseen within their belief. "In qisas there is life for you" (2:179) — life is embedded entirely within qisas.
"Ala" (upon) — superiority: Literal and figurative: "Upon Allah place your trust" (5:23) — trust as full reliance. "Upon them and upon vessels you are carried" (23:22) — literal mounting of animals and ships.
"Min" (from/of) — origin and partition: "Among the believers are men who were true" (33:23) — partition: they are a subset. "From a drop of fluid" (75:37) — origin: the starting point of creation. "He created from water" (25:54) — the original material.
Tadmin (semantic loading): A verb carries the meaning of another verb that takes a different preposition — "the servants of Allah drink with it (bi)" meaning they are satisfied by it — "drink" is loaded with the meaning of "be quenched."
"Fi" (in) — containment: Indicates total inclusion and encompassment: "Those who believe in the unseen" (2:3) — if it said "of the unseen" it would be partial. "Fi" encloses all of the unseen within their belief. "In qisas there is life for you" (2:179) — life is embedded entirely within qisas.
"Ala" (upon) — superiority: Literal and figurative: "Upon Allah place your trust" (5:23) — trust as full reliance. "Upon them and upon vessels you are carried" (23:22) — literal mounting of animals and ships.
"Min" (from/of) — origin and partition: "Among the believers are men who were true" (33:23) — partition: they are a subset. "From a drop of fluid" (75:37) — origin: the starting point of creation. "He created from water" (25:54) — the original material.
Tadmin (semantic loading): A verb carries the meaning of another verb that takes a different preposition — "the servants of Allah drink with it (bi)" meaning they are satisfied by it — "drink" is loaded with the meaning of "be quenched."
Source: Al-Zamakhshari, Al-Kashshaf (1/68); Ibn Hisham, Mughni al-Labib (pp.155–200); Abu Musa al-Maraghi, Dilalat al-Huruf; Ibn Ashur, Al-Tahrir (2/170)
Test Yourself
What does "fi" signify in "in qisas there is life for you" (2:179)? Why was "min" not used instead?
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