Recurrences in the Qur'an

Taken from Yasmin H. Hannouna’s article, “Assessment of Translating Recurrence in Selected Texts from the Qur’an,” in Journal of Translation and Technical Communication Research, 2010, vol. 3, issue 1:

1 In general, recurrence, in English, is considered one of the most important devices of cohesion with its contribution to the processing efficiency of a text. Arabs knew this style (i.e., recurrence) long time ago, as it was a prominent feature in their poetry and literary language. It is an impressive way of expression and a rhetorical figure that is widely used in the Qur’an. It is also used to indicate textual coherence and effectiveness.

2 Recurrence in English and Arabic is not always motivated and used to serve a specific function or intention within a text, i.e., trivial recurrence with no clear intention or rhetorical function decreases informativity and textual efficiency. In Arabic, verbosity is one of the various modes of recurrence putting aside other terms pertinent to the non-functional type, such as الاطالة ’al-’itaala ‘tautology’ or اسھاب Ishab ‘prolixity’. Some of the main purposes of using verbosity in the Qur’an are: (a) to highlight the importance of a specific concept, (b) to confirm warnings and (c) to show clarity after ambiguity.

3 In both English and Arabic, recurrence takes two basic forms, i.e., restating almost the same meaning in another expression, i.e., partial recurrence and repeating almost the same meaning with the same expression i.e., complete recurrence. There is also ’parellel recurrence‘ represented by repeating the same structure (e.g., in Pickthall’s translation of example 30 in this study). Nevertheless, recurring the same elements of the ST may or may not seem redundant in the TT. Many rhetoricians indicate that the essence of repetition lies not in the partial, but in the complete repetition of the lexical items and expressions.

4 Recurrence is one of the most effective and persuasive means of expression that is used in the Qur’an and contributes to its splendour. It occurs in various contexts and serves many functions like: praise, guidance, warning and threatening, forgiveness, etc., not only on the level of lexical items, but also on the level of whole expressions.

5 The Qur’anic verses analyzed and compared in this study show different forms and functions of recurrence in various contexts. This occurs on the level of: (a) lexical items within the same context either at the beginning or at the end of the same Qur’anic verse, i.e., inseparable recurrence; والسابقون السابقون أولئك المقربون Waalssabiqoona alssabiqoona ‘ulaaika almuqarraboona ‘And the foremost in the race, the foremost in the race’, (b) the repetition of the same verse one part immediately follows the other, i.e., also instances of inseparable recurrence فَإِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْراً . إِنَّ مَعَ الْعُسْرِ يُسْر اً Fa inna m’aa al’ausri yusran. Inaa m’aa al’ausri yusran ‘So, verily, with every difficulty, there is relief: Verily, with every difficulty there is relief’ or (c) in the form of a complete verse that is repeated many times throughout the same Qur’anic Chapter Sūra or throughout the whole Qur’an, i.e., separable recurrence فبأي آلاء ربكما  كذبان Fa bi-ayyi alaa'i Rabbi-kuma tukadhiban ‘Which is it, of the favours of your Lord, that you deny?’ (Al-Rahmān, where it is repeated 31 times).

6 The same notions and topics are repeated in the Qur’an, although they are differently worded and styled to avoid monotony and are couched in a beautiful and dignified language to achieve impressive effects. By contrast, no such motivations appear to be there in English to encourage the use of recurrence. This is attributed to the fact that each notion has its own means of expression which are compatible to its environment and which may or may not correspond to other such means that are used in other languages.