Shaykh Suhaib Webb highlights another miracle of the Quran while answering a question

“Indeed, the balagah, rhetoric, of the Qur’an is an important part of what makes the Qur’an a miracle. It is important for Muslims in non-Arab lands to gain a mastery of Arabic in our order to taste the sweet quenching nature of the Quranic expression. Come take my hand as we walk through this lush garden and find the fruit, which will cure, inshallah our sorrows.

One of the most common phrases found in the Qur’an is, “My lord” or “Our Lord.” However, if you pay attention you will notice that there is something missing in these phrases? What’s missing is what is known has, harf nida, a word[6] which signifies a call. Usually, but not always, it is done with the letter ya. For example, Allah calls on the believers:

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا

“Oh you who profess faith.”

The Prophets:

وَقُلْنَا يَا آدَمُ اسْكُنْ أَنْتَ وَزَوْجُكَ الْجَنَّةَ (35)

“And We said, Oh Adam reside with you wife in Paradise.[7]”

In addition Allah (swt) uses this form of address with the Prophet (sa), His wives (ra), the hypocrites and people of other faiths. However, when the believer is calling on Allah one finds that the harf, word, ya is missing?

Let’s Partake Of The Fruit

As we said, the word ya, oh, is used to call someone. For example, if you were in one room and your friend, let’s say his name is Wassim, was in the next room, how would you call him? You would say, “Ya, oh, Wassim!” However, if our dear Wassim was on the other side of a large field and you wanted to call him, how would you do it? You would raise your voice and yell, “YA WASSIM!” However, if Wassim was sitting right next to you, extremely close to you, how would you call him? Of course you would just turn to him and say, “Wassim.” There would be no need for the ya because Wassim was so close to you.

The scholars of Balagha say that, “The Ya used for the calling of Allah by the servant is hidden on purpose in order to illustrate the intense closeness Allah shares with them, by His knowledge. In fact, if you were to look at every single supplication made to Allah (swt) in the Qur’an you would only find the word ya, oh, used twice! Thus a believer should never feel alone once he has comprehended this.[8]

Understanding the rhetoric miracles requires some knowledge of the Arabic language. If you are interested, please consider SunniPath’s Arabic Courses: SunniPath Miftah Curriculum.