and His words:

“Inform My servants that it is I who am the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful”

[Sūrat al-Hijr: 49];

“And We removed from you your burden, which weighed heavily upon your back”

[Sūrat al-Sharh: 2, 3];

and similar passages.

Rather, the eloquence enjoined in passages such as His words, exalted is He:

“And speak to them concerning themselves with penetrating words”

[Sūrat al-Nisā: 63],

consists in mastery of meaning and expression. Thus, the meanings best suited to the objective are set forth(1), and the words that most perfectly express those meanings are used(2).

Eloquence, then, consists in reaching the furthest extent of what is sought—or the furthest extent possible—in meaning, with the fullest possible clarity of expression. One who possesses it combines bringing the intended meanings to completion with expressing them in the finest manner. Some people devote their efforts to meanings but fail to do them justice through clear wording. Others clearly articulate the meanings within themselves(3), yet those meanings do not achieve the intended objective in that context.

The aim of one who conveys information is to establish the truth of what he reports. If he sets it forth clearly(4) and explains what confirms its truth, he is not like one who neither substantiates what he reports nor explains how its truth may be known.

The aim of one who issues a command is to attain the intended wisdom. Thus, one who issues a command without ensuring the soundness of what he commands, or without explaining its wisdom, is not like one who commands what is wise and explains wherein its wisdom lies.

As for laboriously contriving rhymed prose and meters, paronomasia, antithesis, and other similar devices that