Implicit Simile and its Quranic Examples in the Scholarship of Eloquence between Acceptance and Rejection

Abstract

This study aims to prove that the so-called implicit simile among scholars of eloquence was not classified in its correct eloquence category, and that this type of simile is in fact an attempt of some poets to use a pattern of proof that deceives the recipient that there is a similarity between two elements. The study also aims to prove that what has been mentioned in some recent studies as examples of implicit simile from the Qur’an cannot be classified as such, by testing these Qur’anic examples against the established definitions of simile by eloquence scholars, and by reviewing these examples based on the Qur’anic approach and its method of determining facts.

The study relied on the descriptive analytical approach. This is done by reviewing the definitions and examples provided by the scholars of eloquence studies for this type of simile, and by reviewing the Qur’anic examples that are supposed to be illustrations of this type of simile. The study then provides a critical review of these definitions and examples.

The most important result of this study is the need to reconsider the classification of "implicit simile" and place it in an eloquence category other than the category of simile, and to reconsider the Qur'anic examples cited by some scholars as illustrations of this type of simile.