al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Quran
- Author died
- 794 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ihya al-Kutub al-Arabiyyah Isa al-Babi al-Halabi wa-Shurakah
al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Quran (The Proof Concerning the Sciences of the Quran) is a comprehensive classical manual on Quranic studies by the Shafi'i scholar Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi (745–794 AH / 1345–1392 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
In the introduction to the work, al-Zarkashi stated that while earlier scholars had produced comprehensive handbooks dedicated to the sciences of Hadith, they had not compiled a single comprehensive volume encompassing all the diverse branches of Quranic sciences . He composed the book to synthesize the scattered discussions of scholars across these disciplines, intending it to serve as a guide and essential resource for exegetes (mufassirūn) seeking to uncover the subtle meanings and rulings of the Quran . Noting that exhausting every individual discipline would consume a lifetime, al-Zarkashi explained that he restricted his coverage of each genre to its foundational principles and selected chapters .
Structure and Scope
The work is organized systematically into forty-seven distinct disciplines or categories (anwāʿ), each dedicated to a specialized field of Quranic study . Among these disciplines are:
- Occasions of revelation (maʿrifat asbāb al-nuzūl), which forms the first category .
- Thematic correlations between verses (maʿrifat al-munāsabāt bayn al-āyāt) .
- Verse endings and rhyme patterns (maʿrifat al-fawāṣil) .
- Polysemy and homonyms (maʿrifat al-wujūh wa-l-naẓāʾir) .
- Ambiguous expressions and non-explicit entities (ʿilm al-mutashābih and ʿilm al-mubhamāt) .
- The secrets of surah openings (asrār al-fawātiḥ) and closings (khawātīm al-suwar) .
- Meccan and Medinan revelations (al-Makkī wa-l-Madanī) and the chronology of revelation .
- The compilation of the text, its dialects, and linguistic features .
Method and Sources
In assembling the material, al-Zarkashi gathered the conclusions of exegetes, traditionists, jurists, legal theorists, grammarians, and rhetoricians, dividing each topic into structured sections, observations (tanbīhāt), and benefits (fawāʾid) . His method typically involves defining the specific discipline concisely, citing prior treatises written on the subject—such as referencing Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli and Ibn Asakir in the section on al-mubhamāt—and faithfully attributing positions to earlier authorities .
Reception and Editions
Al-Burhan served as the primary model and foundation for Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti's encyclopedic work al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran . Al-Suyuti encountered al-Zarkashi's book after beginning his own research, praised its extensive scope, and adopted its structural outline while condensing many discussions and expanding the overall classification into eighty categories .
A widely used critical edition of al-Burhan was prepared by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim and published in Cairo in four volumes in 1376 AH / 1957 CE .
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