al-Jadwal fi Irab al-Quran
- Author died
- 1405 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Rashid
al-Jadwal fi I'rab al-Qur'an (Arabic: الجدول في إعراب القرآن, lit. 'The Stream in Quranic Syntax and Morphology') is a modern reference work on the comprehensive grammatical parsing (i'rab) and morphological analysis (sarf) of the Quran, authored by the Syrian scholar Mahmud 'Abd al-Rahim Safi (d. 1405 AH / 1985 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
Safi spent approximately six years preparing the work, examining classical Arabic lexicons, authoritative Quranic commentaries, and major treatises on Arabic grammar . He completed the manuscript in Homs on 8 Shawwal 1399 AH / 30 August 1979 CE . In his introduction, the author stated that following Abu Hayyan al-Andalusi's commentary al-Bahr al-muhit ("The Encompassing Ocean"), he formulated this book as a concise "stream" (jadwal) intended to provide a full grammatical and morphological analysis of the Quranic text in a simplified pedagogical style for students of the language and religious sciences .
Methodology and Structure
The book is organized sequentially according to the surahs and verses of the Quran, employing a clear instructional method (uslub madrasi) :
- Syntactic Parsing (I'rab): Safi restricted his analysis to the single canonical recitation (qira'ah) of Hafs from 'Asim, aiming to spare beginners the complexities of divergent readings and because it is the standard recitation in widespread use . When a word carries multiple valid grammatical interpretations within this recitation, he selects the one that corresponds to the clearest and most evident meaning, referencing alternative syntactic possibilities in the footnotes when necessary .
- Morphological Study (Sarf): At the end of each verse, the author appended a derivational and morphological analysis (dirasah sarfiyyah ishtiqaqiyyah) of its vocabulary, examining root patterns, vocalic mutations (i'lal), consonant substitutions (ibdal), letter elisions (hadhf), and metrical weights (wazn) . To avoid redundancy, recurrent terms are cross-referenced to their initial occurrences, with a dedicated morphological index compiled in the thirty-first part .
Publication and Additions
The original manuscript was structured across thirty parts corresponding to the thirty divisions (ajza') of the Quran . When Dar al-Rashid prepared the work for publication around the time of Safi's death, the publisher commissioned specialists to append sections on rhetoric (al-balaghah) and beneficial grammatical notes (al-fawa'id) to satisfy reader requests, noting in the preface that these additions were not part of Safi's original text . The expanded edition was published under the title al-Jadwal fi I'rab al-Qur'an wa-Sarfihi wa-Bayanih ma'a Fawa'id Nahwiyyah Hammah .
Answer updated