“And [mention] the Day when We will resurrect among every nation a witness over them from themselves. And We will bring you, [O Muhammad], as a witness over your nation. And We have sent down to you the Book as clarification for all things and as guidance and mercy and good tidings for the Muslims.” (An-Nahl: 89)
There is no discourse as profound as the Quranic one, addressing all the components and inner dimensions of a human being:
- It addresses the intellect with scientific and dialectical speech, presenting equations, logical analogies, and demonstrative arguments that range from the simple to the complex, and from the accessible to the elusive. It awakens the mind from its heedlessness and neglect, lifting it from its depths and liberating it from its shackles and chains. In doing so, it employs an overpowering, captivating rhetorical force, penetrating the human mind's command centers. It assumes control and leadership, directing external senses and inner faculties to explore the signs and proofs of the universe and the self. This process transforms the person into someone who sees, hears, and feels what they could not before. It compels them to full submission, conscious acknowledgment, and deliberate consideration of the signs and evidence they once overlooked or ignored.
“If We had sent down this Qur'an upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled and coming apart from fear of Allah. And these examples We present to the people that perhaps they will give thought.” (Al-Hashr: 21)
When addressing the human intellect—its most challenging aspect—the Quran softens and refines it through a torrent of emotive words and heartfelt expressions. These take the form of warnings at times and assurances at others, instilling fear or hope alternately. This is done through gentle reminders or stern reprimand, heavily intertwined with promises and warnings.
The Quran threatens punishment and offers rewards, warns of loss and promises success, reminds of blessings and cautions against calamities. All of this is directed at an intellect that has failed to engage properly with Allah’s revealed signs or His observable signs in the universe. It is a call to uncover the fundamental truths of existence—primarily the knowledge of Allah—and to follow His straight path.
“Indeed, this Qur'an guides to that which is most suitable and gives good tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds that they will have a great reward.” (Al-Isra: 9)
The Quran does not stop at stimulating fear or hope. It goes beyond merely activating the mind and imagination by providing practical, sensory examples and realistic evidence for the good it enjoins or the evil it warns against. It takes the individual on a temporal journey—whether to the past or the future—to present these examples and proofs, moving them from the abstract to the tangible and from the imaginary to the lived reality.
When taking them to the past, it acquaints them with the lives of previous nations, immersing them in their assemblies and dialogues, their disputes and conflicts. It compels them, willingly or not, to be part of their narratives, laying out the choices to align with either group and thus share their outcomes. It reveals the destruction of disbelievers and the triumph of the believers, declaring unmistakably that no one sees salvation and avoids it, or sees destruction and chooses it, except those blinded in sight and insight.
“So have they not traveled through the earth and have hearts by which to reason and ears by which to hear? For indeed, it is not eyes that are blinded, but blinded are the hearts which are within the breasts.” (Al-Hajj: 46)
When the Quran takes them to the future, it does so not as mere spectators or participants but as creators of that future. It shows them, vividly, the outcomes of their deeds and the results of their actions, emphasizing the fundamental principle of this existence: causes lead to effects, and outcomes are the product of causes. This reinforces the law of responsibility and its basis in reward and punishment.
If it embarks on a journey of warning, it places them amidst the fate of the punished, as if they themselves are among them, suffering their torment. At times, it even abandons symbolic language and shifts its address directly to the individual, as though caught red-handed in the prohibited act, deserving punishment.
“But as for he who is given his record in his left hand, he will say, 'Oh, I wish I had not been given my record. And had not known what is my account. I wish my death had been the decisive one. My wealth has not availed me. Gone from me is my authority.’ [Allah will say], 'Seize him and shackle him. Then into Hellfire drive him. Then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits insert him.'” (Al-Haqqah: 25-32)
If it embarks on a journey of encouragement, it allows them to share in the rewards of the successful, as if they themselves are among the winners, enjoying their gains. It brings the rewards so close that they can almost feel and touch them.
“That Day, you will be exhibited [for judgement]; not hidden among you is anything concealed. So as for he who is given his record in his right hand, he will say, 'Here, read my record! Indeed, I was certain that I would be meeting my account.' So he will be in a pleasant life, in an elevated garden, its [fruit] to be picked hanging near. [They will be told], 'Eat and drink in satisfaction for what you put forth in the days past.'” (Al-Haqqah: 18-24)
In its expressive styles—whether of encouragement or warning—the Quran ensures two essential principles that enhance these methods to their utmost without allowing hope to breed complacency or fear to lead to despair.
The first: Encouragement and warning are accompanied by constant reminders of the monitoring and recording that accompany every moment and action of the individual, instilling absolute certainty that they alone shape their destiny, whether salvation or destruction.
The second: The vivid representation of one’s fate, as though it has already occurred, is a merciful call from a Merciful Lord to His servants. For the obedient, it is a reassurance that the reward is near—closer than the jugular vein. For the disobedient, it is a reminder to repent, as punishment is equally near.
“And We have already created man and know what his soul whispers to him, and We are closer to him than [his] jugular vein. When the two receivers receive, seated on the right and on the left. Man does not utter any word except that with him is an observer prepared [to record].” (Qaf: 16-18)
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