ISLQUOT: Islamic Quotation
| ISLQUOT: Islamic Quotation | |
|---|---|
| Category | Linguistic Embellishments (‘ilm al-badī‘) |
| Subcategory | Intertextuality |
| Balaghascore.com | |
| Code | ISLQUOT |
| BalaghaBase.org | |
| Code | Q270 |
| OpenAlex.org | |
| ID | W4415376878 |
| Cite this page | |
| 🔗 DOI | 10.64393/balagha.Q270 |
| Download PDF | |
| Taxonomy | |
| ARDT | v0.1.0, v0.1.1 |
Definition
Islamic Quotation (al-iqtibās) is an Arabic rhetorical device in which the communicator incorporates recognizable wording from the Qur'an or prophetic hadiths into a new composition without explicit attribution.[1][2][3][4][5]
Classical sources treat Islamic Quotation, Poetic Incorporation, and Allusion with considerable overlap, and the same instance may be classified differently across sources.
To support operational identification, this encyclopedia distinguishes between:
- Intertextuality where wording from an earlier text is incorporated into a new composition (Islamic Quotation & Poetic Incorporation), and
- Intertextuality where an earlier text is evoked without reproducing its wording (Allusion).
| Device | Primary rhetorical act |
|---|---|
| Islamic Quotation (al-iqtibās) | Embedding recognisable wording from the Qurʾān or hadith into a new composition, without attribution. Invoking the authority of the Qur’ān or ḥadīth lends authority to the new text. |
| Poetic Incorporation (al-taḍmīn) | Carrying over recognisable wording from an existing poem into a new composition. Reusing poetry while preserving its recognisability makes the new text more memorable. |
| Allusion (al-talmīḥ) | Making an indirect referential gesture toward a known story or poem, without carrying over its wording. Linking the next text to an established text makes the new text more memorable. |
Mechanism
- The speaker includes (yataḍammanu) in their speech words or phrases from the Qur'an or the hadith.[1][2]
- The borrowed material is not attributed to its original source — the speaker does not signal the borrowing (e.g. with qāla Allāhu taʿālā). Naṣīf et al. (2012) specify this as incorporating the borrowed material lā ʿalā annahu minhu — without indicating that it is from it.[2][4][5]
- The borrowed elements are so integrated into the new text that their their provenance is absorbed into the new text.[3]
- Islamic Quotation permits changes in form and meaning or in such aspects of texture as word order.[3] Minor change to the borrowed wording is permissible — whether for the sake of metre or for other reasons.[5]
In this encyclopedia, the mechanism is described as follows: the borrowed wording is woven into the new composition so that it functions as part of it rather than standing apart as a citation. Formal adaptation may occur, provided the borrowed wording remains recognisable.
The boundary between Islamic Quotation and Allusion turns on whether wording is carried over from the source. Islamic Quotation requires that recognisable wording from the Qurʾān or hadith be present in the new composition. Formal adaptation is permitted provided the borrowed wording remains recognisable. Where no wording is carried over and only a referential gesture is made toward a Qurʾānic or hadith source, the device is Allusion rather than Islamic Quotation.
Classical rhetoricians evaluated instances of Islamic Quotation on a three-point scale:
- Accepted (maqbūl) — the most praiseworthy category.[1]
- Permissible (mubāḥ) — where no impropriety is present.[1]
- Rejected (mardūd) — where the sacred text is used frivolously or irreverently.[1]
Recognition
Islamic Quotation may be present when:
- There are phrases that echo Qurʾānic diction or known hadith formulas without formal attribution.[1][2]
- In poetry, Islamic Quotation often manifests as allusion rather than direct verbatim quotation, due to the constraints of metre.[4]
The following diagnostic tests aid identification:
- Test 1: Can the phrase be traced to a specific Qurʾānic verse or hadith? If yes, and no attribution marker is present, iqtibās is likely operative.
- Test 2: Does the borrowed phrase retain its original meaning in the new context (Type I), or has it been transposed to a new referent (Type II)?
Diagnostic Rhetorical Effects
- It strengthens the speaker's discourse, refines its structure, and lends it authority.[2]
- It is particularly effective in sermons, homilies, wisdom sayings, and persuasive letters, and in articles of advocacy and guidance.[2]
- Integrated authority: Because the borrowed wording is woven into the new composition without attribution, the sacred text operates from within the utterance rather than appearing as an external citation. This gives the new discourse an internalised authority and resonance distinct from that of explicit quotation.
- Transferred evaluative force: Where the original meaning is retained (Type 1), the new text inherits the moral, emotional, or doctrinal force already attached to the Qurʾānic or hadith source. The audience's prior valuation of the sacred text is transferred onto the new utterance, strengthening its persuasive or affective force.
- Expressive displacement: Where the borrowed wording is shifted to a new referent (Type 2), the tension between the original sacred context and the new application generates irony, contrast, satire, intensification, or shock.
- Participatory recognition: Because the source is not explicitly named, the audience must recognise the borrowed wording for themselves. This act of recognition turns reception into participation and reinforces a sense of shared textual and cultural memory between speaker and audience.
Applying the Recognition Framework
The information on this page can be used to evaluate whether this device is present in a candidate lexical item using the Specific Device Recognition part of the Universal Framework for Identifying Arabic Rhetorical Devices:
Types of Islamic Quotation
Hatim (2010) distinguishes two analytical forms of Islamic Quotation according to the relationship between the borrowed wording and its original meaning.[3]
Type 1: Meaning retained (الاقتباس مع الإبقاء على المعنى الأصلي)
That in which the form taken over does not relinquish its original meaning.[3]
- Source Example
لَئِنْ أَخْطَأْتُ فِي مَدْحِكَ — مَـا أَخْطَأْتَ فِي مَنْعِي
لَقَدْ أَنْزَلْتُ حَاجَاتِي — بِـوَادٍ غَيْرِ ذِي زَرْعٍ
- ابن الرومي"If I have erred in praising you as you have erred in denying me [my reward], then I have made my hopes dwell in a valley where there is no sown land." — Ibn al-Rūmī
- Explanation
- The last phrase is taken from Sūra 14:40 ("Our Lord [says Abraham], I have made some of my seed to dwell in a valley where there is no sown land"). The Qurʾānic phrase retains its meaning and resonance as Ibn al-Rūmī borrows it to express the barrenness of his patron's generosity.[4][2]
- Source Example
قَدْ كَانَ مَا خِفْتُ أَن يَكُونَا
إِنَّا إِلَى اللهِ رَاجِعُونَا"What I feared has come to pass — / Verily, unto God are we returning."
- Explanation
- The second hemistich adapts Sūra 2:156 (innā li-Llāhi wa-innā ilayhi rājiʿūn) with a minor formal change: the opening phrase innā li-Llāhi wa- is omitted and the wording shortened to fit the metre. The original Qurʾānic meaning — resignation and return to God in the face of loss — is retained. Naṣīf et al. (n.d.) cite this as an instance of permissible minor change to the borrowed wording for metrical purposes.[5]
- Constructed Example
قال أحد المعلمين مخاطباً طلابه المستعدّين للامتحان: "لقد بذلتم جهدكم وأخلصتم في طلب العلم، فَمَن يَعْمَلْ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ خَيْرًا يَرَهُ، وسيُجزى كلٌّ منكم على ما قدَّم."
"You have striven and been sincere in seeking knowledge — 'whoever does an atom's weight of good shall see it' — and each of you will be rewarded for what they have put forth."
- Explanation
- The phrase is drawn from Sūra 99:7. The original eschatological meaning — that no deed, however small, escapes divine reckoning on the Day of Judgement — is retained in full. The teacher deploys it to assure students that their efforts will not go unrewarded, relying precisely on the Qurʾānic resonance of absolute, unfailing recompense to lend weight to the encouragement.
Type 2: Meaning shifted (الاقتباس مع تحويل المعنى)
That in which the form taken over is shifted from its original meaning.[3] This subtype attracted the greatest scholarly criticism when it gave an irreverent or frivolous twist to the sacred original — for instance when Qurʾānic language was applied to obscene or blasphemous purposes.[4]
- Source Example
حَمَلْنَاكُمْ عَلَى الْجَارِيَةِ
"We carried you on the running [ship]."
- Explanation
- Van Gelder (1998) cites this as an example of Qurʾānic wording being transferred into an obscene context, illustrating a semantic shift from the original sacred usage.[4]
- Constructed Example
قال أحد الكتّاب ساخراً من المتملّقين: "هؤلاء القوم يَسْمَعُونَ وَلَا يَعْقِلُونَ، يُصفِّقون لكل كلمةٍ دون أن يفهموا معناها."
"These people 'hear but do not reason' — they applaud every word without understanding its meaning."
- Explanation
- The phrase echoes Qurʾānic language describing those who reject faith, but is transposed here into a social and satirical context targeting intellectual passivity. The original theological referent has shifted.
Notes
- The term al-iqtibās appears relatively late in Arabic rhetorical criticism. Van Gelder (1998) notes this and observes that earlier discussion of the phenomenon was conducted under the rubric of taḍmīn.[4]
- ʿAbd al-Ghanī, 2011 extends the definition of al-iqtibās to include, beyond the Qurʾān and hadith, well-known proverbs, sayings of great orators, and lines of famous poets. This is a minority expansion not found in the other sources and has not been incorporated into the core definition above.
- The three-point evaluative scale (maqbūl / mubāḥ / mardūd) given by ʿAkkāwī (1996) is an evaluative typology, distinct from the two-part semantic typology (meaning retained / meaning shifted) given by Hatim (2010). These are independent schemes and are not merged in this account.
- Hatim (2010) discusses Islamic Quotation within a broader intertextual framework alongside Poetic Incorporation (al-taḍmīn) and versification of prose (al-ʿaqd). The primary Arabic sources (ʿAkkāwī 1996; ʿAbd al-Ghanī 2011) treat it as an independent badīʿ device. This encyclopaedia follows the majority framing of the primary Arabic sources.[3][1][2]
- Hatim (2010) notes that Islamic Quotation occurs across genres, with differing evaluative judgments depending on context.[3]
- Naṣīf et al. (2012) define Islamic Quotation as incorporating material from the Qur'an or hadith lā ʿalā annahu minhu — "without indicating that it is from it." This phrasing explicitly locates the non-attribution condition at the level of signalling rather than merely omitting a formal citation marker, and is consistent with the definitions given by the other sources.[5]
References
- ↑ a b c d e f g Inʿām Fawwāl ʿAkkāwī, Al-Muʿjam al-Mufaṣṣal fī ʿUlūm al-Balāgha: Al-Badīʿ wa-al-Bayān wa-al-Maʿānī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1996), 194-195.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Ayman Amin Abd Al-Ghani, Al-Kāfī fī al-Balāgha: Al-Bayān, wa al-Badiʿ wa al-Maʿānī (Cairo: Dār al-Tawfīqiyya lil-Turāth, 2011), 307-314.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Basil Hatim, Arabic Rhetoric: The Pragmatics of Deviation from Linguistic Norms, LINCOM Studies in Communication 04 (Munich: Lincom Europa, 2010), 184-185, ISBN 9783929075731.
- ↑ a b c d e f g G.J.H. van Gelder, ‘Iqtibās’, in Encyclopedia of Arabic Literature, ed. Julie Scott Meisami and Paul Starkey (London: Routledge, 1998), 396-397, ISBN 0415068088.
- ↑ a b c d e Ḥafnī Nāṣif, Muḥammad Diyāb, Sultan Muḥammad and Muṣṭafā Ṭammām, Durūs al-Balāgha (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 2012), 125-126, ISBN 9786144162798.
Page history
- 2026-02-06 - Page created by splitting CG-4: Quotation & Poetic Incorporation into ISLQUOT: Islamic Quotation and POETINC: Poetic Incorporation due to their distinct rhetorical mechanisms, to improve analytical granularity.
- 2025-11-20 - Page incorporated into the Arabic Rhetorical Device Taxonomy (v0.1.1).
