A Stylistic Study of the Phonetic Level of the Holy Surah al-Anbiyā

Stylistics, as a branch of linguistics for criticizing literary works, uses various levels to analyze texts, one of which being the phonetic level. In this study, the most prominent features of rhythmic composition, which become stylistic features for their being “marked” were studied, and their aesthetic aspects were identified. The climax of rhythmic beauty in literary works can be found in the Quranic ayahs in which the words arrangement and their precise alignment has created congruence and coherence attracting readers’ attention to the text. As rhythm has a matchless function in the Holy Quran, in the present study the most significant aspects of rhythmic composition in Surah al-Anbiyā were put into our focus of attention. In this holy Surah, different evidence contribute to rhythmic composition, some of which have been turned into a stylistic feature owing to high frequency. Here three categories of internal, spiritual and mental rhythm were analyzed taking a descriptive-analytic approach. Making congruence, coherence, and agreement between word and meaning to attract readers, visualizing exhilarating scenes experienced by paradise-dwellers and agonizing ones by hell-dwellers through features of letters and fixing meanings in mind through applying antonymous concepts are considered as major rhythmic functions in this Surah.