al-Naba al-Azim
- Author died
- 1377 AH
- Editions
- t Amr al-Sharqawi · T al-Qalam
al-Naba' al-'Azim (al-Nabaʾ al-ʿAẓīm: Naẓarāt Jadīda fī al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, "The Great News: New Perspectives on the Noble Qur'an") is a work on Qur'anic studies and the inimitability (iʿjāz) of the Qur'an by the Egyptian scholar Muhammad ibn Abdullah Daraz (d. 1377 AH / 1958 CE) .
Genesis and Composition
The material that formed the book originated as university lectures dictated in segments over twenty years prior to its full publication, beginning around 1352 AH (1933 CE) . Students initially urged Daraz to print short fascicles as they were delivered, but the work was interrupted when he was sent on an academic mission by al-Azhar to European universities from Rabi' al-Awwal 1355 AH to Rabi' al-Thani 1367 AH (May 1936–March 1948 CE) . Following his return to Egypt, teaching assignments in the history of religions at Cairo University and the philosophy of ethics at al-Azhar further postponed its completion . Daraz finalized the expanded text and penned the introduction in Sha'ban 1376 AH (March 1957 CE) . The book was published in Cairo at Matba'at al-Sa'ada (first printed in 1957 and 1960) and later republished by Dar al-Qalam .
Structure and Content
The core objective of al-Naba' al-'Azim is to establish the divine origin of the Qur'an and refute claims of human authorship through logical argumentation and literary analysis . Daraz organizes the defense of the Qur'an's divine origin into two categories of evidence:
- External arguments (ḥujaj khārijiyya): Examining the historical circumstances, the persona of the Prophet Muhammad, and the nature of the revelation phenomenon to show that the text could not have been produced by him or borrowed from human sources .
- Internal arguments (ḥujaj dākhiliyya): Analyzing the intrinsic characteristics of the Qur'anic text itself, including its linguistic definitions, phonetic rhythm, and rhetorical distinctions .
Daraz begins by defining the terms Qur'an and Kitab linguistically and technically, and differentiating the Qur'an from prophetic hadith and divine hadith (ḥadīth qudsī) . He discusses three facets of inimitability—linguistic, scientific, and legislative—placing primary emphasis on the literary and rhetorical aspects . He identifies distinctive rhetorical qualities of the Qur'anic style, such as addressing both the general public and the intellectual elite simultaneously, conciseness of expression combined with depth of meaning, and clarity paired with comprehensive brevity .
A central section of the book is devoted to demonstrating the structural and thematic coherence (al-waḥda al-mawḍūʿiyya) of an entire chapter, using Surat al-Baqarah as a comprehensive case study . Daraz argues that despite its diverse topics and staggered revelation, the surah constitutes a unified, cohesive whole whose themes interconnect like the organs of a single living body .
Reception and Influence
al-Naba' al-'Azim was widely praised by contemporary scholars for its methodology and literary style. Muhammad al-Ghazali credited Daraz's analysis of Surat al-Baqarah as an inspiration for thematic exegesis, describing it as the first complete thematic commentary on an entire surah . Yusuf al-Qaradawi lauded the work for its original perspectives on literary inimitability . The literary critic Muhammad Rajab al-Bayumi compared Daraz's work with Mustafa Sadiq al-Rafi'i's I'jaz al-Qur'an, observing that while al-Rafi'i excelled in phrasing established concepts, Daraz introduced fresh intellectual horizons, sound logic, and clear arguments .
The book has been incorporated into higher education curricula, including graduate programs at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca and the Islamic University of Madinah, as well as study circles and institutes in Egypt and Syria .
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