Using the third person singular instead of the first person singular is among the rhetorical styles of the Quran

30-3-2006 | IslamWeb

Question:

Why is it that Allaah speaks in the Quran with the following style (which means): {He is Allaah, beside whom none has the right to be worshipped but He.}[Quran 59:22], and does not say for instance "I am Allaah and there is none beside me who has the right to be worshipped." In most of the verses of the Quran, we find the same style even though the speaker is Allaah?

---

Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger. We ask Allaah to exalt his mention as well as that of his family and all his companions.

 

What you have mentioned is one of the rhetorical styles of the Quran, and this is what is known by moving from the first person, or second person or third person into another pronoun, as a way of beautifying and refining the speech, and using different styles of speech. Al-Baydhaawi said: 'When the speech moves from one style to another, it renders it tenderer for the listener and makes him listen more attractively, as confirmed in rhetoric.'

Finally, it should be noted that Allaah, the Exalted, Says (what means): {Indeed, I am Allaah. There is no deity except Me.}[Quran 20:14].

Allaah Knows best.