In the series titled “Literary Elegance of the Noble Qur’an,” today we are looking onto the 17th post.
In this series, what we have been doing is this: in the Qur’an there are verses where words are not used in their direct literal meaning but are used with an alternative or figurative meaning. We take such verses and explain why a figurative meaning is given and what that alternative meaning is. That is what we have been explaining.
That is what is called literary elegance.
What does literature mean? Literature means using a word not in its direct meaning but intending another meaning through it.
Among such verses, if we ask what is something that is used very frequently in the Qur’an, it is this: when Allahﷻ speaks about the pleasures of Paradise, He describes it as beautiful gardens, lush groves, and then He adds the phrase:
Underneath them rivers flow
Whenever Allahﷻ describes Paradise, He often adds this phrase as well. In numerous verses that speak about Paradise, Allahﷻ mentions this idea — that beneath those gardens rivers flow.
Why is this mentioned? Because if a garden exists in a place where there is water scarcity, even if trees grow there, the garden would depend on someone bringing water. But Allahﷻ describes Paradise in such a way that the water source itself is within it. So He says that rivers flow beneath them.
Allahﷻ says this in many places in the Qur’an.
Rivers were flowing in it
In a few places, the same expression is also used for things in this world. For example, it may say: suppose you had a garden and rivers were flowing in it. That expression appears in two or three places regarding worldly gardens. But in most places it refers to Paradise.
Similarly, even Pharaoh uses this expression. In Qur’an 43:51, he boasts: “Are not these rivers flowing beneath me?”
He claims that the rivers are flowing under his control.
Now, if we look at the phrase “rivers flow”, we cannot take it in a strictly literal sense. No one really interprets it literally. But everyone uses that expression. When we speak, we say “the river flows.” We do not say “water flows in the river.”
But if we examine it carefully, what is a river?
A river is a path. It is the channel through which water flows. The river itself does not move. The channel remains where it is. What actually moves is the water within it. When students study geography, they learn that a river and water are different. The river is the pathway; the water is what flows through it. So when we say “the river flows,” how can a pathway flow?
Grammatically, if you analyze it strictly according to dictionary logic, you might ask: how can a river run? It cannot.
But people say “the river runs” because water runs within it.
When people observe it, it appears as though the entire river itself is moving. The ground and water together seem to be moving. Because of that visual impression, people use the phrase “the river flows.”
This is not something used only in the Qur’an.
It is not something used only in Arabic. It exists in many languages. In any language people say, “the river flows.” In Tamil they say, “Kaveri flows,” “Ganges flows.” But the meaning is actually water flows in the river.
Therefore whenever we hear the phrase “rivers flow,” we understand it figuratively, not literally.
Yet the moment it is said, everyone understands the meaning without needing an explanation. If someone simply says “the river flows,” people understand that water is flowing.
This type of expression exists abundantly in Tamil, and also abundantly in Arabic. I do not know how much it exists in other languages, but in the Qur’an it appears very frequently.
If we ask how frequently it appears, the phrase “beneath which rivers flow” occurs in many places in the Qur’an — such as 2:25, 2:266, 3:15, 3:136, 3:195, 3:198, 4:13, 4:57, 4:122, 5:12, 5:85, 5:119, 6:6, 7:43, 9:72, 9:89, 10:9, 13:35, 14:23, 16:31, 18:31, 20:76, 22:14, 25:10, 29:58, 39:20, 43:51, 47:12, 48:5, 48:17, 57:12, 57:21, 58:22, 61:12, 64:9, 65:11, 66:8, 85:11, and many more.
In all these places Allahﷻ says that they will have gardens in Paradise beneath which rivers flow.
When scholars explain Paradise in literary works, they do not give long explanations for this phrase. It is something that everyone immediately understands. People naturally know that it refers to water flowing, so no further explanation is required.
Now let us look at another point. When describing something extremely small, words such as an atom’s weight, a mustard seed, a date seed, or the thin skin covering a date seed are used. We have already seen such examples earlier. These expressions are used to indicate something very tiny.
Similarly, there are expressions used to indicate very short time. Instead of directly saying a specific time, people use certain phrases to indicate that the time is extremely brief.
For example, the phrase “the blink of an eye.”
If someone says something happens in the blink of an eye, it means the event happens very quickly. Allahﷻ uses this expression in the Qur’an.
In Qur’an 16:77, Allahﷻ says that the coming of the Day of Judgment will not take a long time.
It will occur like the blink of an eye. The moment Allahﷻ gives the command, the process will begin immediately. The Day of Judgment will occur in an instant. Allahﷻ says it will happen like the blink of an eye, or even faster than that.
Humans did not have more precise expressions for extremely small time intervals in those days. Today we might say microseconds or nanoseconds, but such terminology did not exist at that time.
So the smallest example people could easily understand was the blink of an eye.
Blinking happens very quickly — perhaps one-fortieth of a second. That is extremely short. Allahﷻ says the Day of Judgment will occur within such a short moment, even faster. Once Allahﷻ commands, everything will happen rapidly.
In this world, when a command is issued, it takes time for it to be processed and carried out. But with Allahﷻ , once He commands, everything happens instantly. That is why Allahﷻ uses the phrase “like the blink of an eye.”
The point is not that someone will literally blink and at that exact moment the event occurs. Rather, it means an extremely short time.
Allahﷻ also uses the same expression in Qur’an 54:50, saying that Our command is only one — like the blink of an eye. When Allahﷻ speaks about the destruction of the world, He indicates that it will happen in an extremely brief moment.
This is one example.
There is another example involving Prophet Sulayman (Alahis Salam).
During the time of Prophet Sulayman, there was a queen ruling a neighboring land. She did not believe in Allahﷻ and followed polytheism. Through the bird Hudhud (the hoopoe), Sulayman sent her a message inviting her to accept Islam and submit to Allahﷻ . The message also warned that if she refused, he might come with an army.
When the queen consulted her advisors, they said that fighting Sulayman would bring great destruction and loss. So, she began considering accepting the message. At that time, Sulayman wanted to demonstrate the greatness of his kingdom.
He gathered the jinn and asked: “Who among you can bring me the queen’s throne before she arrives here?”
Among the jinn was one called Ifrit. Just as humans have individual names, jinn also have names. It is not necessary for us to know them, but Allahﷻ mentions it.
That jinn said: “I will bring it to you before you rise from your seat.” Meaning before Sulayman could even stand up from where he was sitting.
Standing up from a seat takes only a few seconds. The jinn said that bringing the throne would take even less time than that. Jinn are created from fire, and because of that their movement is extremely fast. The Qur’an indicates that jinn once used to travel even into the heavens to overhear conversations of angels. Humans cannot reach those realms without machines and technology, but jinn had the ability to travel swiftly.
So the jinn said: “I am powerful and trustworthy; give me this task.”
This kind of statement is similar to how people exaggerate about speed in everyday speech. Someone may say “I will finish it in one second,” but they do not literally mean one second — they simply mean very quickly.
Similarly, another jinn said: “I will bring it to you before you blink your eye.”
Even faster than the first claim. This is another figurative expression indicating extreme speed.
When examples like this appear in the Qur’an, we must understand that the purpose is to illustrate how quickly something could happen.
Night is a sign for people – We strip away the day from it
Another example relates to night and day. Between night and day, which is the original state? The original state is night. Darkness is the natural state of the earth. Day occurs only because the sun shines upon it. If the sun did not shine for a whole year, the earth would remain dark the entire year. So the natural state of the earth is darkness, and daylight is something added.
Allahﷻ describes this in the Qur’an with a vivid literary image. In Surah Yasin (36:37), Allahﷻ says that night is a sign for people, and that We strip away the day from it.
The Arabic word used means to skin or peel, like removing the skin from an animal. Imagine an animal — like a sheep — whose body represents night, and the skin covering it represents daylight. When the skin is removed, what remains is the flesh underneath.
Similarly, when daylight is stripped away, darkness appears. Normally humans think the opposite — that darkness covers light.
But Allahﷻ describes the true reality: darkness is the original state, and daylight is like a covering placed over it. When that covering is removed, darkness returns. This literary imagery shows that night is the fundamental state, and daylight is something placed over it.
Shaytan & Iblis
Finally, consider the word Shayṭān (Satan).
All Muslims understand that Shayṭān is an unseen being who enters human hearts and instills evil thoughts.
The Qur’an and Hadith contain many references to this. Whenever we say “Aʿūdhu billāhi min ash-shayṭān ir-rajīm,” we seek protection from Shayṭān. Shayṭān refers to the descendants of Iblīs. Iblīs was the one who refused to bow to Adam and was expelled by Allahﷻ .
After being expelled, he asked Allahﷻ to give him respite until the Day of Judgment so that he could mislead humans.
Allahﷻ granted him that time but said he would not be able to mislead sincere believers.
Iblīs belongs to the jinn, and his descendants are called shayāṭīn (satans). Unlike humans or other jinn, who may be good or bad, the descendants of Iblīs are entirely devoted to misguiding people.
They whisper evil thoughts, discourage good deeds, and tempt people toward sin. This is the usual meaning of the word Shayṭān wherever it appears in the Qur’an and Hadith.
However, in some places in the Qur’an, the word Shayṭān is used with other meanings as well. The word is used in multiple senses in different contexts.
About 95% of the places, the word Shayṭān indeed refers to the real Shayṭān. When it says Shayṭān, it means Shayṭān, and we should not give another meaning. Only in a few places does it come in a context where that usual meaning cannot apply. In such places, if we think carefully, we will understand why another meaning is intended.
For example, during the time of the Prophetﷺ in Madinah, there were people called munāfiqūn (hypocrites). Who were they? After Islam began to grow and gain strength, some people realized that if they openly opposed Islam they could not live comfortably in that society. But if they pretended to be believers, they could live among Muslims, receive assistance, receive zakat, and enjoy the benefits of being part of the community. So they decided to act like believers outwardly while not believing inwardly.
At the beginning, there were no hypocrites. When the Muslims were weak, no one would pretend to join them. If Muslims had no power, why would someone pretend to be one of them? But once the Prophetﷺ gained strength and the Muslim community became large and influential, these people thought: if we live under their protection, we can live comfortably. So they began pretending to be Muslims.
They would go to the Muslims and act like believers. Outwardly they behaved exactly like Muslims. They prayed with the Muslims, participated in Islamic duties, and even joined military expeditions. Think about it: joining prayer is easy, but joining a battle is dangerous. Yet they still went to battle, because if they wanted to maintain the act of being Muslims, they had to do everything properly so people would believe them.
When they went to battle, they would stay behind in the last rows. After the victory, they would come forward and claim the spoils, saying they were part of the success. But if defeat seemed likely, they would run away. This is how they behaved.
Allahﷻ describes them in the Qur’an. When they meet the believers, they say, “We believe.” They say to the Muslims, “We are with you.” But when they go to their Shayṭāns, they say, “We are actually with you; we are only mocking them.”
Here Allahﷻ uses the word Shayṭān. What does it mean in this context? It does not refer to the unseen Shayṭān that we normally speak about. Instead, it refers to their leaders, the leaders of the hypocrites. The hypocrites had leaders, organizers, and groups guiding them. Allahﷻ calls those leaders Shayṭāns.
So when they meet believers they say, “We believe.” But when they return to their Shayṭāns, meaning their leaders, they say, “We are with you; we are only deceiving them.”
Now we must not take this and say that every place where Shayṭān appears means “evil people.” No. In this verse we clearly know it does not refer to the unseen Shayṭān we normally believe in. Why? Because the Qur’an itself tells us that you cannot see Shayṭān, nor speak to him directly. Allahﷻ says Shayṭān sees you from where you cannot see him. That is his nature.
But here the hypocrites are going to their Shayṭāns, speaking with them, and interacting with them. That shows that the word Shayṭān here cannot refer to the unseen Shayṭān. Instead it refers to human leaders who perform the work of Shayṭān.
The reason Allahﷻ calls them Shayṭān is because they are doing the work of Shayṭān. Shayṭān’s job is to mislead people. These leaders were training others to deceive Muslims and mislead people away from Islam. Because they took up the work of Shayṭān, Allahﷻ calls them Shayṭān.
This occurs in Qur’an 2:14.
Shayṭāns who taught magic
Similarly, in Qur’an 2:102, Allahﷻ mentions Shayṭāns who taught magic. The verse says Shayṭāns taught people sorcery. But can the unseen Shayṭān come and personally teach magic to people face-to-face? That is not how Shayṭān works. Shayṭān cannot be seen, and Allahﷻ has already told us that humans cannot see him.
So when the verse says Shayṭāns taught magic, it means evil human teachers, people who spread those practices. Allahﷻ calls them Shayṭān because they were performing Shayṭān’s work.
Another example appears in Qur’an 6:112. Allahﷻ says that for every Prophet, He appointed enemies — enemies from among the Shayṭāns of humans and the Shayṭāns of jinn.
Here the phrase appears as “Shayṭāns from humans and Shayṭāns from jinn.”
When it says Shayṭāns from jinn, it refers to the real Shayṭān from the jinn. But when it says Shayṭāns from humans, it means evil human beings who oppose the Prophetﷺs, mislead people, fight against the message of tawḥīd, and try to prevent Islam from spreading. Such people are called Shayṭān because they behave like Shayṭān.
So when the Qur’an says Shayṭāns among humans, we must understand it as evil humans, not the literal Shayṭān.
The word is used this way because of their characteristic of misguiding others.
We can even see this usage in everyday speech. If someone behaves extremely badly, people may say, “He is a real Shayṭān.” Everyone understands that he is not the literal Shayṭān from whom we seek refuge by saying Aʿūdhu billāhi min ash-shayṭān ir-rajīm. We simply mean he is acting like Shayṭān.
Prophetﷺ used the word Shayṭān
There are also examples in Hadith where the Prophetﷺ used the word Shayṭān in this figurative sense.
For instance, the Prophetﷺ said that if someone passes in front of a person who is praying, the praying person should stop him. When someone prays, the area between where he stands and where he places his forehead in prostration is considered his prayer space. Others should not cross that space.
If someone tries to cross, the praying person should stop him with a hand gesture. If he insists, stop him again. If he still insists, then resist him strongly. Then the Prophetﷺ said: “He is a Shayṭān.”
Does that mean the person is literally Shayṭān? No. That person may even be a Muslim who came to the mosque to pray. But at that moment he is doing the work of Shayṭān by disturbing someone’s prayer. Because of that action, he is called Shayṭān in that context.
This narration appears in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Hadith 3274).
Another example appears in a Hadith about Prophet Ibrāhīm (Alahis Salam).
It is reported in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī (Hadith 3358). The narration explains that Prophet Ibrāhīm (Alahis Salam) once entered a land with his wife. In that land there was a corrupt king who had a habit: whenever he saw a beautiful woman, he would seize her.
If the woman arrived with her husband, he would kill the husband and take the woman. But if she arrived with a brother, he might spare the brother and take only the woman.
When Ibrāhīm learned about this, he told his wife Sara (Alahas Salam) : if the king asks who I am, say that I am your brother, not your husband. The reason he said this was to protect the mission of faith. He said that besides the two of them, there were no believers in that land; if he were killed, the message would disappear.
The Prophet Ibrahim (Alahis Salam) lied on this three Occasions
“I am sick”: When his people invited him to a festival of idols, he said “I am sick” to avoid participating in shirk and to break their idols.
“But it was the big one amongst them which has done that”: When asked who broke the idols, he pointed to the largest idol to make them realize the absurdity of worshipping them.
“She is my sister”: When passing through a territory with a tyrant ruler, he told them Sarah was his sister to prevent the ruler from taking her, referring to her as his sister in faith.
So, when the king tried to approach her, Allahﷻ prevented him. Each time he tried to approach, he collapsed and fell back. Eventually he realized that some divine protection was present.
Then the king said, “Take this woman away; she is a Shayṭān!” Here he called her Shayṭān. Did he mean she was literally Shayṭān? No. In his perspective, she was Shayṭān because she prevented him from fulfilling his desire. Later he even gave Hājara (Alahas Salam) as a servant to her, and that is how Hājar(Alahas Salam) later became the wife of Prophet Ibrāhīm and the mother of Prophet Ismāʿīl.
This story is mentioned to show how the word Shayṭān can be used figuratively.
The Prophetﷺ also used this word when speaking about certain situations involving women. He said that when a woman appears in a way that attracts men strongly, she comes in the form of Shayṭān and returns in the form of Shayṭān. This does not mean that women are literally Shayṭān. It means that when someone becomes a source of temptation that distracts people from remembrance of Allahﷻ , that effect resembles the work of Shayṭān.
The work of Shayṭān is to divert a person from the remembrance of Allahﷻ , to stir desire, confusion, and temptation. So, when such distraction occurs, the Prophetﷺ used the word Shayṭān figuratively.
Corrupt Poets as Shaytan
Another incident occurred during a journey. A poet was reciting poetry while traveling with the group. The Prophetﷺ heard it and became angry. He said, “Seize the Shayṭān!”
Here the poet himself was called Shayṭān because the poetry he was reciting contained corrupt ideas. This does not mean all poetry is bad. In fact, the Prophetﷺ ﷺ appreciated good poetry. For example, he listened to the poetry of Umayyah ibn Abī al-Ṣalt and praised certain lines of poetry by Labīd, even saying that one of Labīd’s verses was among the most truthful words spoken by a poet: that everything besides Allahﷻ will perish.
So, poetry itself is not condemned. Only corrupt poetry is criticized.The point of all these examples is this: sometimes the word Shayṭān is used figuratively to describe a person performing the work of Shayṭān.
Therefore, although in about 95% of places the word Shayṭān refers to the real Shayṭān, in certain contexts it refers to evil human beings or actions resembling Shayṭān’s work.
Heads of Shayṭāns
Similarly, another matter is this. When Allahﷻ speaks about a tree that exists in Hell, He mentions a tree called Zaqqūm. Allahﷻ says that for the people of Hell, as food, He will give them the tree called Zaqqūm. When describing that tree, Allahﷻ says that the top of that tree, the part that spreads out at the top, is like the heads of Shayṭāns.
Now think about this carefully. What does it mean to say “like the head of Shayṭān”? Have you ever seen Shayṭān? If someone says something looks like the head of Shayṭān, we would need to have seen Shayṭān and know what his head looks like in order to imagine such a comparison. But no one has ever seen Shayṭān. Even if we know Shayṭān exists, who knows what his head looks like? No one has seen him. Allahﷻ has created Shayṭān in such a way that he is not visible to our eyes.
So if we take that phrase literally and say it refers to the actual head of Shayṭān, how could we understand it? How can anyone identify what Shayṭān’s head looks like? Since Shayṭān is not visible to us, we cannot say his head has a particular shape.
What it actually means is this? In common language, when something looks horrible or disgusting, people describe it by comparing it to Shayṭān. If someone appears very ugly or frightening, people say, “He looks like Shayṭān.” It is simply an expression used to indicate something repulsive or terrifying.
Based on that usage, Allahﷻ says that the Zaqqūm tree, which grows from the depths of Hell, has fruits or clusters whose tops look like the heads of Shayṭāns. This verse appears in Surah As-Ṣāffāt (37:65).
Here we must not think it literally refers to Shayṭān’s head. Rather, it means that when people see that tree, they will find it extremely disgusting and repulsive. Normally, when we look at trees in nature, they appear attractive. Green trees usually draw us in and please us. But this tree will be the opposite. When someone sees it, they will feel disgusted and recoil from it. To convey that ugliness, Allahﷻ uses the expression “like the heads of Shayṭāns.”
So again this is an example where the word Shayṭān is used figuratively, not in its literal sense.
As mentioned earlier, such cases are very few. Even in the Qur’an and Hadith, these uses probably do not even reach five percent. In about ninety-five percent of places, when the word Shayṭān appears, it refers to the real Shayṭān — the one who enters human hearts and misguides them. It does not refer to human beings.
Even if we search extensively, we can only find a handful of places where it is used figuratively like this. If you search for the word Shayṭān in the Qur’an, you will see that most of the time it clearly refers to the actual Shayṭān.
So these rare cases should be understood properly and kept in mind. Even in everyday language, when we call someone “Shayṭān,” we do not literally mean the real Shayṭān. We mean that the person is behaving badly. It is simply a figure of speech. That is also a form of literary expression.
Word of Allahﷻ
Now another important literary example is this. When we speak, what exactly is speech? Speech itself has no physical form. Right now I am speaking — can you see my speech? You can hear it, but you cannot see it. Can you describe what shape my speech has? Does it have a form? No. Speech has no physical shape. It can only be heard with the ears.
But when Allahﷻ speaks about Prophet ʿĪsā (Jesus), Allahﷻ calls him “Kalimatullāh” — the Word of Allahﷻ . In several verses Allahﷻ describes ʿĪsā as the Word of Allahﷻ . The word kalima means “word.”
How can a human being be a word? A human being is a visible creation. Normally, we would use words appropriate for a human being. But here Allahﷻ says the Word of Allahﷻ . Christians also use this expression. When they refer to Jesus, they call him “the Word.” That expression appears in their scriptures as well. Similarly, in the Qur’an, Allahﷻ calls ʿĪsā Kalima — a word.
But we must not take that literally and think that ʿĪsā himself is literally a word. A word has no physical dimensions. It has no form. It does not exist in three dimensions so that we can see it. It cannot even be drawn. Speech has no shape. It is only something we hear.
So when Allahﷻ calls ʿĪsā Kalima, it cannot mean he is literally a word. What does it mean then? Every human being normally comes into existence through material means. For a human being to be born, the sperm of a man is required. All human beings are created through that process.
But in the case of ʿĪsā, that process did not exist. Allahﷻ created him without the involvement of a man. There was no male seed involved in his creation. Instead, Allahﷻ created him simply by issuing the command “Be.”
That command — “Be” — is the meaning of Kalima here. The command of Allahﷻ . When Allahﷻ says “Be,” something comes into existence.
So the meaning is that ʿĪsā was created by the command of Allahﷻ alone, without the usual biological means.
All other human beings come into existence through a chain of material causes. Even if we consider Hawwa (Alaihas Salam), she was created from the rib of Adam(Alahis Salam) — still a material origin exists. If we consider Adam, he was created from clay — again a material origin exists.
But for ʿĪsā, there was no material origin at all. Allahﷻ simply commanded and he came into existence. Because of that, Allahﷻ describes him as Kalima — one brought into existence by the divine command. So, we must not say he is literally the Word of Allahﷻ . Rather, he is created through the Word of Allahﷻ , meaning through Allahﷻ ’s command.
Similarly, Allahﷻ also calls him “a spirit from Him.” Some people misunderstand this phrase. They say: if he is a spirit from Allahﷻ , then he must be part of Allahﷻ . That misunderstanding led some people to claim he is the son of God. But that is not the correct meaning.
In language, when we say something is “mine,” it can mean two different things. For example, I can say “my shirt.” The shirt belongs to me, but it is not part of my body. It is just my possession.
But when I say “my hand,” that is different. My hand is part of me. It is an organ of my body.
Both phrases use the word “my,” but the meaning is different. One refers to ownership, and the other refers to a part of oneself.
So when Allahﷻ says “My spirit,” it does not mean that a part of Allahﷻ has been separated and given to someone. It means a spirit created by Allahﷻ , belonging to Allahﷻ in the sense that Allahﷻ is its creator and owner.
Just as we say my house, my pen, my book, it simply indicates ownership. It does not mean those things are parts of us.
Likewise, when Allahﷻ says “a spirit from Him,” it means a spirit created by Allahﷻ , not that Allahﷻ divided His own being and gave a part of it.
Some people misunderstood these expressions because they did not understand the literary style of the language. They misunderstood phrases like Kalima and Rūḥ, and from that misunderstanding they developed the idea that ʿĪsā is divine or the son of God.
But if we read the Qur’an carefully, Allahﷻ clearly says in many verses that Allahﷻ has no son. Allahﷻ strongly rejects the idea of having children. If we think about those verses carefully, we will not misuse these expressions.
So the correct understanding is that ʿĪsā is created by the command of Allahﷻ and that the spirit within him is a spirit created by Allahﷻ , just like the spirits in all human beings.
In shāʾ Allāh, we will continue to examine more such examples in the upcoming posts.