Did Ibn 'Abbas speak of metaphor in the Qur'an?

The questioner : Is the opinion of Ibn 'Abbas preferred in tafsir? And is his opinion preferred regarding the statement that the Qur'an contains metaphor?

The Shaykh : Did he speak of metaphor in the Qur'an? Who is this 'Abbas who spoke of its metaphor? Where is he? I mean, it requires proof. The author of *al-Rawdah* lived in the sixth and seventh centuries; there are vast deserts between him and Ibn 'Abbas. We do not know if he established it for us. Then, regarding metaphor, Shaykh al-Islam said that what is mentioned in the words of Imam Ahmad and others means that this is something the Arabic language permits, as Imam Ahmad (may Allah have mercy on him) said regarding the word of Allah the Exalted, "Indeed, We are the inheritors of the earth," saying, "This is a metaphor of the language." Shaykh al-Islam said that the meaning of his statement "a metaphor of the language" is something the language permits, and the intended meaning is not the technical term for metaphor, because dividing speech into literal and metaphorical did not occur until after the three blessed centuries.

The presenter : And as for the term for what the Arabic language permits, it is *majaz* with a closed *mim*, whereas what is the opposite of the literal is...

The Shaykh : It is possible, it is possible, I mean, but when he said *majaz*, meaning what the language permits, from its usages, meaning what it permits, and *majaz* can be appropriate,