Figurative Language of Metaphors in the Holy Quran

As a system of communication, language has literal and figurative meanings. In the case of literal language, words are used to express meaning as defined, while in the case of figurative language, words are used to provide room for interpretation. A profound contemplation done by some linguists shows that Holy Qur'an uses two kinds of meanings, they are haqiqi (literal language) and majazi (figurative languages). In this case, metaphors or figurative language is used as a persuasive device to strengthen Muslims' faith in God and convince disbelievers to believe in God.

out what is intended by speaker or writer.

Form of Figurative Language
In order to understand precisely a figurative statement such as "that man is a lion," a person must interpret it. In this case he or she may refer the word elephant to brave, strong, charismatic, frightening and sharp eyes. Use of the word lion in here to describe the man deviates from its usual or proper meaning. It is a product of creative Tracing the word metaphor, Al Jumah finds it originate in the Greek metaphora, amalgamating the word meta which means "transfer, carry over," and the word pherein, which means "to bear, or carry." Thus, metaphor stands for conveyance of some kind of change, which then recognized as rhetorical devices that compare two seemingly different objects. Metaphor is a comparison between two dissimilar things without using the word "like" or "as" to make the comparison. This occurs when certain distinct attributes of one object are attributed to the other, thus describing the latter with the qualities intrinsic to the former. 7 The use of metaphor has been studied as well as celebrated. In their book, More Than Cool Reason, Lakoff

D. Typologies of Metaphor
It is accepted that typologies of metaphor are plenteous. To refer back to one hinted at earlier, scholars have recognized that metaphors can be either "active" or "dead." Forms pass from the former to the latter category with the passage of time, as some expressions whose originally metaphorical uses became accepted as literal meanings. They are described as "dead," because it is said that they have lost their metaphorical nature. In contrast, active metaphors are forms which still carry metaphorical force.
People who used these expressions are aware of their being metaphors. Goatly 15 used the terms "active" and "inactive" metaphors to refer to active and dead metaphors. In drawing the distinction between the two, he maintained that whereas the latter "may become lexicalized and acquire a new conventional semantic meaning, the former, on the other hand are highly dependent on inferential pragmatic principles to do with language use and users in contexts".

E. The Essentials of Metaphor
Richards ~ approximate Lakoff and Johnson's "target" and "source," terms that have become more familiar in the recently developed field of cognitive linguistics. The former (the 'tenor' or the 'target') is the object to which the characteristics are attributed, while the latter (the 'vehicle' or the 'source') is the object from which some characteristics are borrowed, to be attributed to the object being referred to. These two concepts can be further scrutinized on the basis of similarities and differences. 17 Scholars discuss issues such as 'tension,' which pertains to the divergences between the target/tenor and the source/vehicle, while the term 'ground' purports to the resemblances between the two. 18 For the sake of convenience, since the present study relies on the cognitive linguistic framework, the terms 'target' and 'source' used in preference to the traditional literary terms.

F. Functions of Metaphor
The definition of metaphor as a "power of transfer" has been used by linguists, semanticists and discourse analysts to achieve many different functions. Lakoff Lakoff,20 Lakoff and Tuner. 21 Lakoff and Johnson asserted the fact that metaphor is a matter of experience of everyday life rather than a matter of language and argued that metaphor pervades "our way of conceiving the world" and is reflected in our "language, thoughts, and actions" and has influence on how people   As Firestone declares that some scholars of the Qur'an point to the inspiring beauty of qur'anic metaphor to argue inimitability unmatched by any human composition (the term is i`jãz, a root form that also means "impossible" or "miracle"). 36 In reference to the requirement of caring for elderly parents, for example, the Qur'an commands, "Never speak to them harshly, and do not rebuff them, but speak to them in kindly terms, and lower the wing of humility to them out of compassion and say, 'My Lord, have mercy on them as they nurtured me when I was small.' 37 The rationalist school known as the Mu`tazila deemed them metaphors, but Hanbalis and others took the creedal position that the Qur'an must be read literally.  This was so that God Himself attaches His name and agency to those deeds; thus, declaring the high status of such actions in God's reckoning. Note that these effects are not particular to the Last Prophet as might be suggested by the wording of the above ayah.
In the opening section of this ayah (right before the quoted one), Allah Ta'ala attributes the general actions of the Muslim army against the enemy to Himself in the same manner .

I. Conclusion
It proved that a profound contemplation by linguists of the nature of two modes of using language in the Holy Quran has generated affirmation that the Holy Qur'an recognizes the division of literal or haqiqi and figurative or majazi languages. Metaphors are used in the Holy Quran as a persuasive device to convince disbelievers to have faith in God and, at the same time, to strengthen the faith of believers in God.