Three words against a proverb: the concision of Al-Baqarah 2:179

Alongside the miraculous arrangement of words (naẓm), classical Arabic rhetoric recognized a second criterion for inimitable eloquence: ījāz — the ability to pack maximum meaning into a minimum of words without losing any clarity. No verse is cited in classical sources as proof of this more often than Surah al-Baqarah 2:179.

The comparison classical linguists drew

Pre-Islamic Arabs took pride in a saying they considered the height of concision: "القتل أنفى للقتل" — al-qatlu anfā li-l-qatl, "killing is the most effective deterrent to killing." Classical linguists explicitly compared this proverb to the Quranic verse and concluded the Quran surpassed it on several counts:

1. Shorter, yet richer. The Arabic proverb contains 14 letters; the relevant portion of the Quranic verse ("القصاص حياة") only 10 — yet it expresses more.
2. More precise in meaning. The proverb literally states that killing is the cause of killing's non-existence — a circular claim, something causing its own absence. The Quranic verse is sharper and logically coherent: a specific kind of killing (namely qiṣāṣ, lawful retribution) is the cause of life — the life of a future victim, deterred by knowing retribution will follow.
3. The word "life" (ḥayāh) is left indefinite — no article, no restriction — so it covers both the life of the would-be offender (who is deterred) and of future victims. One word, two lives saved.

Why this counts as iʿjāz

This is exactly what al-Jurjani's theory of naẓm predicts: what matters isn't which word is prettiest in isolation, but how the exact choice and placement of every word carries the logical structure of the message. Replace "qiṣāṣ" (specific, lawful retribution) with the more general "qatl" (killing), and the entire argumentative force of the verse collapses — you're left with precisely the circular reasoning of the Arabic proverb.