Qur’anic īǧāz about prophet Ilyās

Abstract

The paper deals with the stylistic and narratological analysis of the Qur’anic narration about Prophet Ilyās in the light of certain commentary literature (tafsīr). The approach is based on a careful reading that observes linguistic structures, patterns and uses. The article begins with introductory considerations on Qur’an prophetology, which is not chronologically presented in the Islamic holy book. In the works of qaṣaṣ al-anbiyāʼ (tales of the prophets), the Qur’anic exegetes tried to chronologically present the history of the world as sacred history. Such narrations usually begin with the creation of man and end with Muḥammad, the historical age of the author of the work, or the eschaton. Allah’s speech about the messengers is narrative in nature and, in terms of the scope of expressiveness, it is in the form of concise (īǧāz) and extensive (iṭnāb) sayings about the messengers of God. The article concludes with some comments on the style and composition of the Ilyās narrative. The story of Ilyās is narrated in a concise manner. He belongs to the category of prophets about whom God spoke in the Qur’an. He is mentioned three times in the Qur’an. In the 37th sūra (Rows/aṣ-Ṣāffāt) he was called a „messenger” with a monotheistic mission to the people of the idolatrous cult of Baʻl spread over a wider area of the ancient Near East.