abd-al-qahir al-jurjani and dionysius of halicarnassus on “word-order”: a comparative study

“word-order” is one of the most central concepts in ancient rhetoric and islamic ilm-al-balagha. this article attempts to compare this concept in these two rhetorical systems. in the first section, “word-order” as part of a more pervasive concept of “composition” is discussed. since dionysius of halicarnassus’ “on literary composition” represents the most comprehensive attitude to “word-order”, most of the first section is devoted to an exposition of this work. the second section is dedicated to the concept of “nazm” in islamic rhetoric and its most acknowledged representative, al-jurjani. after addressing the similarities and differences of the islamic and western approaches to this concept, the article concludes that there is nothing original in jurjani’s views, and all he has said about “nazm” can be found in a more coherent way in the ancient western rhetoric. in fact, contrary to what scholars hold about al- jurjani, his approach not only did not result in the flourishment of the islamic rhetoric, but also led to its stagnation and ossification.