An Analysis of Similarities and Differences in the Narrative Pattern of Quranic Stories and Aristotelian Dramatic Pattern

Document Type : Original Article

Author

English Department, Faculty of Letters and Languages, Arak University, Arak-Iran

10.22077/jcrl.2025.7672.1127

Abstract

This paper employs a qualitative approach, drawing on primary and secondary historical sources. It compares and analyzes the similarities and differences between the narrative patterns of Quranic stories and Aristotle's Poetics, with a particular focus on the six components of literary works. The general assumption is that Quranic stories exhibit literary characteristics. It is evident that muthos in Aristotle's work shares both similarities and differences with mimesis in Quranic stories. In both Quranic stories and Aristotle's Poetics, muthos encompasses the meaning of the story and its narrative style. In Quranic narratives, the term "qisas" also denotes both the conventional meaning of the story and the optimal method of storytelling, as noted in the phrase "Ahsan al-Qisas." Meanwhile, in Aristotle's Poetics, muthos pertains to the method of mimesis, character (ethos), thought (dianoia), spectacle (opsis), as well as aspects such as length, size, beginning, middle, end, tripartite unity, catharsis, hamartia (tragic flaw), and the transformation of fate from good to bad, alongside changes in the character's circumstances and recognition. This paper argues that the narrative structure of Quranic stories exhibits a relative correspondence with certain elements of Aristotle's proposed narrative framework for tragedy, while also possessing distinctive characteristics.

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Journal of Ritual Culture and Literature
Volume 3, Issue 2 - Serial Number 6
December 2025
Pages 113-132

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