Do you hold to the theory of metaphor, O Shaykh?
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The questioner :
The Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, attributed the action to the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is what is called metaphor here: that this Qur'an, which is the speech of Allah, relates to you such and such.
The questioner : Do you hold to the theory of metaphor, O Shaykh? ... The second verse is based on metaphor.
The Shaykh : I hold to the theory of metaphor, but not according to their definition, rather according to the definition where metaphor in some contexts is the literal meaning. When they divided speech into literal or metaphorical, they said the literal is the meaning that comes to mind first when one hears the speech. If they turn away from it to a non-immediate meaning, they call it interpretation (ta'wil). And for the transition to interpretation in this case, there must be a sign, as they say, either a transmitted sign or a rational sign. But when the sentence they call metaphorical has the meaning that comes to mind being the one called metaphorical, then it is the literal. An example of this, from what I have memorized of the words of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), is the noble verse: Here, the meaning they call literal, namely the village with its soil, mountains, and rivers, does not come to mind for any Arab. Rather, the meaning that comes to mind from the Qur'anic text is the one they call metaphorical. So their naming of such a meaning as metaphor is a specific convention that does not differ from the meaning that is literal in their specific convention. What they call metaphorical in some contexts is the literal.
So here, it does not come to mind that the Qur'an is an entity that speaks and relates. But what comes to mind is the meaning I mentioned earlier. And so, for example, Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) gave another example: if an Arab says, "I traveled with the moon", they say this is metaphor because the moon is in the sky and he is on the earth. But does anyone understand or come to mind that he traveled with the moon beside him, placing his hand in its hand, or similar meanings understood if he said, "I traveled with so-and-so" of the humans? Of course not. If the literal meaning is appropriate to the subject being spoken about in a fitting manner and matches reality, then here, "I traveled with the moon" is a metaphor, a metaphor in their convention, because it is not the literal. The literal is that it is in one place on one earth. But this meaning does not come to mind at all, and there is only one meaning, which is the one they called metaphorical, and it is the literal that Allah intended when it came as a verse like[Al-Fajr 89:22] [Al-Ma'arij 70:4] and so on. This verse is similar to these verses. We call it metaphor in their convention, but it is the literal in the convention of the people of the Sunnah and the people of hadith.
other than that
Indeed, this Qur'an relates
إن هذا القرآن يقصThe Shaykh : Yes
The questioner : Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, attributed the action to the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh : Yes, this is what is called metaphor here: that this Qur'an, which is the speech of Allah, relates to you such and such.
The questioner : Do you hold to the theory of metaphor, O Shaykh? ... The second verse is based on metaphor.
The Shaykh : I hold to the theory of metaphor, but not according to their definition, rather according to the definition where metaphor in some contexts is the literal meaning. When they divided speech into literal or metaphorical, they said the literal is the meaning that comes to mind first when one hears the speech. If they turn away from it to a non-immediate meaning, they call it interpretation (ta'wil). And for the transition to interpretation in this case, there must be a sign, as they say, either a transmitted sign or a rational sign. But when the sentence they call metaphorical has the meaning that comes to mind being the one called metaphorical, then it is the literal. An example of this, from what I have memorized of the words of Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him), is the noble verse:
And ask the village
واسأل القريةSo here, it does not come to mind that the Qur'an is an entity that speaks and relates. But what comes to mind is the meaning I mentioned earlier. And so, for example, Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) gave another example: if an Arab says, "I traveled with the moon", they say this is metaphor because the moon is in the sky and he is on the earth. But does anyone understand or come to mind that he traveled with the moon beside him, placing his hand in its hand, or similar meanings understood if he said, "I traveled with so-and-so" of the humans? Of course not. If the literal meaning is appropriate to the subject being spoken about in a fitting manner and matches reality, then here, "I traveled with the moon" is a metaphor, a metaphor in their convention, because it is not the literal. The literal is that it is in one place on one earth. But this meaning does not come to mind at all, and there is only one meaning, which is the one they called metaphorical, and it is the literal that Allah intended when it came as a verse like
And your Lord has come and the angels, rank upon rank,
جاء ربك والملك صفا صفاThe angels and the Spirit will ascend to Him
إليه تعرج الملائكة والروحother than that