A Formalist Approach to Surah al-Kahf from the Perspective of Non-Normativity

Non-normativity, understood as departures from linguistic norms and standards, has been notably articulated in modern linguistics and, in a serious scholarly manner, by formalists. The Qur’an, as the preeminent symbol of manifestations of beauty, perfection, and coherence of the Arabic language, transcends the framework of norms and standards, thereby placing itself at the apex of eloquence and rhetoric. This sacred text, aimed at institutionalizing monotheistic rationality, eradicating manifestations of polytheism, and instilling thoughts contrary to pre-Islamic (al-jāhilī) norms, has crossed the boundaries of pre-Islamic tradition with a distinctive literary language, generating a revolution in Arabic language. The present study, adopting an analytical-descriptive approach, examines non-normativity in Surah al-Kahf at three levels: phonological, syntactic, and semantic. The findings indicate that at the phonological level, devices such as al-ikhfāʼ (concealment), al-idghām (assimilation), and al-madd (prolongation) serve to harmonize sound and musicality with meaning and the situational context of the surah. It is as if the scenes and events are unfolding and the audience perceives them with the faculty of hearing. At the syntactic level, phenomena such as al-ḥadhf (ellipsis), al-taqdīm (preposing), al-taʾkhīr (postponing), al-taḍmīn (conflation), and al-iltifāt (shifts in person) enable the reader to apprehend God’s focal points with the most complete concepts expressed in the briefest phrases. At the semantic level, non-normativity manifested through metaphors and figurative language fosters vivid imagery of various situations and dynamic reader cognition; so much so that the reader appears to observe all these elements and finds themselves in the scene of events. Consequently, with these aesthetics, the sacred text of the Qur’an is better understood, and its sweetness is savored.

کلیدواژه ها:

the Qur’an ، Surah al-Kahf ، Semantic implication ، Phonological non-normativity ، Syntactic non-normativity ، Semantic non-normativity