Is there any metaphor in the Qur'an, and what is the explanation of His saying, “And the head blazed with white hair” (Surat Maryam 4)?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is there any metaphor in the Qur'an or the Shari'ah? Knowing that some people have a view similar to the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Maryam 19:4]
Answer:
There is no metaphor in the Qur'an, nor is there any metaphor in the Arabic language. Rather, this is something introduced by non-Arabs who did not know Arabic before they adopted it; whatever they did not understand, they called a metaphor. So there is no metaphor, praise be to Allah. The Arabs understand their language, and the Qur'an was revealed in the language of the Arabs, and it contains no metaphor. “The head blazed with white hair”—the meaning of blazing is the appearance of whiteness in the head, just as light appears in wood. Blazing differs according to things; it is not specific to the blazing of fire. Blazing is the appearance of a color in a place where it was not before. Yes, and Allah the Exalted knows best. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family.
Honorable Shaykh, the questioner asks: Is there any metaphor in the Qur'an or the Shari'ah? Knowing that some people have a view similar to the saying of Allah the Exalted:
and my head has filled with white
وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْبًاAnswer:
There is no metaphor in the Qur'an, nor is there any metaphor in the Arabic language. Rather, this is something introduced by non-Arabs who did not know Arabic before they adopted it; whatever they did not understand, they called a metaphor. So there is no metaphor, praise be to Allah. The Arabs understand their language, and the Qur'an was revealed in the language of the Arabs, and it contains no metaphor. “The head blazed with white hair”—the meaning of blazing is the appearance of whiteness in the head, just as light appears in wood. Blazing differs according to things; it is not specific to the blazing of fire. Blazing is the appearance of a color in a place where it was not before. Yes, and Allah the Exalted knows best. May Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad and his family.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، هل هناك مجاز في القرآن، وما توجيه قوله ﴿وَاشْتَعَلَ الرَّأْسُ شَيْباً﴾ سورة مريم 4؟ صالح الفوزان — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.