Literally as Recited — A Divine Hiatus from the Tongue of Shaykh ‘Antar

Abstract

This article examines the rhetorical juncture between malikūn li… and yawma al dīn as recited by Shaykh ‘Antar and attested by three canonical qurrāʾ. Far from a grammatical anomaly, the pause between the possessive particle li and its delayed complement yawma al dīn stages a deliberate rupture — one that dramatises divine infinity through textual suspense. Expected grammar would demand yawm i (kasra, genitive, jar majrūr) as the complement of li; instead, the recitation gives yawm a (fatḥa, accusative, mansūb). This is a clear violation of the grammatical norm of the highest order — but for excellent reasons, as we will see. Three macro processes unfold: first, cohesion الفصاحة collapses, as the expected syntactic bond is withheld to resist enumeration and listing (i.e. that God possesses X & Y حاشى لله); second, the MiniMax principle falters, forcing maximal interpretive effort from minimal sense-making; and third, coherence البلاغة is restored through a circumstantial adverbial (yawma al dīn) that seals the deal. This rhetorical choreography — rooted in recitation, ratified by tradition, and stylised through ‘informativity’ (the element of surprise مبدأ المباغتة الأسلوبية) — invites a rethinking of appropriateness, effectiveness, and the grammar of divine dominion (Beaugrande 1980).