The Implication of Allah’s Saying: “And Ask the Town” Regarding Metaphor in the Qur’an
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. Regarding His saying “And ask the town,” is this evidence for what some people say about the existence of metaphor in the Noble Qur’an?
Answer:
No, there is no evidence for that in it. By “the town” is meant the people of the town, and “taqri” means gathering. So those who gather are called a town; they are called a town when they gather, meaning from “taqri,” which is gathering. Yes, asking the town means asking the people of the town, not asking the buildings and clay, but asking its people. They are called a town from “taqri,” which is gathering. For this reason, it is said “the town of the ants.” Do the ants have buildings? No, it means the gathering of the ants. Yes.
Honorable Shaykh, may Allah grant you success. Regarding His saying “And ask the town,” is this evidence for what some people say about the existence of metaphor in the Noble Qur’an?
Answer:
No, there is no evidence for that in it. By “the town” is meant the people of the town, and “taqri” means gathering. So those who gather are called a town; they are called a town when they gather, meaning from “taqri,” which is gathering. Yes, asking the town means asking the people of the town, not asking the buildings and clay, but asking its people. They are called a town from “taqri,” which is gathering. For this reason, it is said “the town of the ants.” Do the ants have buildings? No, it means the gathering of the ants. Yes.
Source
شرح إغاثة اللهفان من مصائد الشيطان لابن القيم، تتمة فصل وأما المقام الثاني الذي وقع فيه الغلط — islamhouse.com (42:34)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.