An Aesthetic Analysis of the Function of Water and Wind in the Quranic Allegorical Similes based on Linguistic Context Theory

Allegorical simile is one of the expression modes of the Holy Quran that Allah, the almighty, has used to make rational concepts sensible and to unveil their metaphysical meanings. Natural elements such as wind and rain have a strong application in the Quranic allegories due to human's direct contact with them. This article seeks to study positive or negative functions of these elements in Quranic allegorical similes relying on Linguistic Context Theory (at levels of phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) and to answer the question that what roles these two natural elements play in the pseudo-image transfer raised from these allegories and how the Quranic linguistic context influence the explication of the functions of these two elements in the pseudo transfer. The results indicate that the two elements of wind and rain have a positive function in the Quranic allegories and although they are used in sentences that appear to have negative connotations, the linguistic context of the Quran is in such a way that these two elements have an indirect positive function in making the similarity understandable as well as in illuminating the concepts of this world's instability, the vitiation of the acts of infidels and polytheists, the result of spending in the way of Allah as well as the destruction of the reward of boasting and annoying donators.