Discussion of the addition of the letter kaf in the noble verse

The Shaykh : Know that the grammarians have engaged in much discussion regarding His saying , where they stated that the letter kaf is included with "misl" (like), and its apparent meaning is that Allah has a like, which He does not have, because He did not say: the letter kaf entered upon "misl" so its apparent meaning is that Allah has a like which has no like, because He did not say "there is nothing like Him" . Here, there is a like that has no counterpart. The answers of the grammarians conflict on this. Look, if the verse were: "There is nothing like Allah," would there be a problem or not? There is no problem, it is clear. And if the verse were: "There is nothing like His like," is there a problem? No. The verse came as , so the letter kaf entered upon "misl," which necessitates that Allah has a like that has nothing like it, or does it? Or is it "there is nothing like His like"? The parallel is if I say "There is nothing like your garment." Look, it came with a tangible object: "There is nothing like your garment." Does the meaning become "There is nothing like you"? The letter kaf entered upon what? Upon the garment. The letter kaf in "there is nothing like His like" entered upon "misl" (like). This necessitates that Allah has a like that has no like, is that not so? This is the apparent meaning of the verse. This is the apparent meaning of the verse in terms of wording, not in terms of meaning. And I say in terms of wording, not in terms of meaning, because if we said this is its apparent meaning in terms of meaning, then the apparent meaning of the Qur'an would be disbelief, and this is impossible. Therefore, the expressions of the grammarians differed in deriving this verse based on opinions:
Some of them said: The letter kaf is superfluous, and the intended meaning of the speech is "There is nothing like Him." This opinion is comfortable. Estimate the addition of the letter kaf and it ends. The addition of letters in negation is common, is it not? As passed to us: and the like. They say that the addition of letters in the Arabic language for emphasis is a consistent rule. So make the letter kaf superfluous and say that the intended meaning of the verse is "There is nothing like Him." This is one.
The second approach is the opposite. They said: The superfluous word is "misl" (like), and the intended meaning is "There is nothing like Him," meaning "There is nothing like Allah," and delete "misl." But this is weak. It is weakened by the fact that the addition of nouns in the Arabic language is very rare or scarce, but the addition of letters is common. So if we must say there is an addition, let the added element be the letter, which is the kaf.
The third opinion: That "misl" means "attribute," like the attribute of this thing, meaning its attribute. And the meaning is "There is nothing like its attribute." They said that "al-mithl," "al-mathl," "al-shibh," and "al-shabah" in the Arabic language mean the same thing. And Allah the Exalted said: , meaning the attribute of Paradise which the righteous are promised, in which are pleasant rivers. And this is also not far from the truth. Good.
The fourth opinion: He said that this "misl" is as it is, but if I say "There is nothing like the like of the like," it necessitates the negation of the like. If I say "There is nothing like the like of His like," it necessitates the negation of the like. If there is no like for the like, then what exists is one. And on this basis, there is no need to estimate anything, as long as there is no like for His like, its meaning is that He is One with no counterpart. They said that this has been found in the Arabic language, where people emphasize the negation of a counterpart with this expression, and there is no need. So if you want the Arabic style, this is a known Arabic style where they bring this to negate a counterpart. And if you want reason, it is the same. If it is said "There is no like for the like," its meaning is that what exists is one, and this is what is required. That is to say, if it is assumed that He has a like, then there is no like for His like. And if the like has no like, what about the original? Yes, this means there is something of philosophy in it. But we say, I say: "There is nothing like His like." They say that this is a style in the Arabic language, its meaning is the negation of similarity, and it is consistent in the Arabic language, and there is no need to strain for it from the rational side. They say that if you negate the like of the like, its meaning is restricting to one, which is the original. And if the like has no like, what about the original? Yes.
The truth is that if these studies had not been presented to you, the meaning of the verse would be clear to you. And what is its meaning? That Allah has no counterpart. But the problem is that these exist in the books. You are now, in the passing colloquial language, saying "This man has no one like him."
And another form: "This man has no one like him." And people see that the first expression is stronger in the like. So as long as this is a followed Arabic style, there is no need to strain. But as long as it is written in the books, we must know something about it.