The Three Branches
‘Ilm al-Bayan (Clarity): The science of expressing a single meaning through multiple modes — literal (haqiqa) and figurative (majaz). Types of figurative language:
- Tashbih (simile): explicit comparison using ka’ or mithl
- Isti’ara (metaphor): implicit comparison without a connector
- Kinaya (metonymy/allusion): expressing meaning through a related term
Example of isti’ara in the Quran: “We sent down the night’s garment upon you” — the night is a garment; darkness clothes as fabric clothes.
‘Ilm al-Ma’ani (Meanings): The science of how sentence structure, word order, deletion (ellipsis/hadhf), and emphasis (tawkid) alter meaning. The Quran’s use of word order — placing the predicate before the subject, or the object before the verb — is analyzed to reveal layers of emphasis.
‘Ilm al-Badi’ (Ornament): Rhetorical devices that beautify speech — tawriya (double meaning), tanasuq al-alfaz (parallel construction), jinas (paronomasia — near-rhyme of two words with different meanings).
I’jaz al-Quran: The Inimitability Argument
The ultimate purpose of balagha study in the Islamic sciences is understanding why the Quran cannot be imitated. Classical scholars like Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 1078 CE) in Dala’il al-I’jaz argued that the Quran’s inimitability lies not in any single feature but in its nazm — the specific arrangement and selection of every word in relation to every other word, a coherence that is total, not piece-by-piece.
In Ismaili and Bohra tradition, the zahir (outer) excellence of the Quran’s language is inseparable from its batin (inner meaning) — the balagha is the outer face of the ta’wil.
See also: Quran Sciences, Sufi Stations Maqamat, Understanding Walayah, Ilm Al Huruf, Nubuwwa Prophethood, Tawhid Sifat