The Stylistics of the Sermons of Nahj al-Balagha and their Persuasive Function in Shaping Social Action

Within the Islamic intellectual framework and the Arabic literary tradition, Nahj al-Balagha is not merely a showcase of eloquence and rhetoric; rather, it is an identity-forming, orienting, and agentic text. Emerged from the political and social crises of early Islam, it leverages its linguistic and rhetorical capacities for persuasion, consciousness-raising, and social mobilization to guide its audience. The primary objective of this research is to examine how the stylistic components of the sermons in Nahj al-Balagha contribute to their persuasive efficacy and, consequently, shape the social action of the audience.

The research adopts a descriptive-analytical approach, employing a qualitative corpus-based methodology. Accordingly, a purposive selection of socio-political sermons—specifically sermons 3, 27, 93, 192, and 216 from the Sobhi Salih edition—was analyzed across phonological, lexical, syntactic, and rhetorical levels. Furthermore, to elucidate the mechanism of persuasion, the framework of persuasive rhetoric was applied, with an emphasis on three core components: source credibility (ethos), emotional arousal (pathos), and logical reasoning (logos).

The rhetorical and literary findings reveal that through the use of parallelism, saj’ (rhymed prose), semantic oppositions, imperatives and prohibitions, vocatives, rhetorical questions, allegories, and metaphors, these sermons construct a framework that is profoundly effective not only in conveying meaning but also in generating motivation, consolidating moral legitimacy, and directing collective behavior. From this perspective, style in Nahj al-Balagha is not merely a set of superficial or lexical ornaments; it is an intrinsic part of its guidance-oriented and social function.