al-Tadmin al-Nahwi fi al-Quran al-Karim
- Author died
- 1446 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Zamān
al-Tadmin al-Nahwi fi al-Quran al-Karim (Grammatical Implication in the Holy Quran) is a specialized linguistic and exegetical study by Muhammad Nadim Fadil (d. 1446 AH / 2024 CE) examining the phenomenon of syntactic and semantic implication (tadmin) in the Quran.
Origin and Composition
The work was originally prepared and defended as a doctoral dissertation at the University of the Holy Quran and Islamic Sciences in Khartoum. The author completed his introduction in Medina on 25 Ramadan 1425 AH. It was published in its first edition in 1426 AH / 2005 CE by Dar al-Zaman in Medina in three parts, consisting of two main volumes of text and a third part designated for indices and corrections.
Structure and Method
The book is structured into two primary sections: a theoretical section (al-qism al-nazari) and an applied section (al-qism al-tatbiqi).
In the theoretical section, the author outlines the definition, purpose, and utility of tadmin, describing its function as casting two words together such that one word conveys the meanings of both simultaneously for the sake of conciseness and rhetorical nuance. He addresses whether tadmin is restricted to transmitted usage (sama'i) or analogical (qiyasi), adopting the position that it is analogical and permissible for those versed in Arabic eloquence. Fadil vigorously defends the doctrine of tadmin occurring in verbs and nouns rather than prepositions (huruf), rejecting the notion of prepositional interchange (tanawub al-huruf) and characterizing claims of prepositions substituting for one another as an evasion of deeper contextual meaning.
The applied section is devoted to surveying and analyzing textual attestations of tadmin across the verses of the Quran, demonstrating how verbs govern unexpected prepositions to convey composite semantic nuances.
Reception and Critique
In a review of the work, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Kharrat praised it as an exceptionally thorough theoretical and applied study of tadmin grounded in classical linguistic sources. However, al-Kharrat observed that the title al-Tadmin al-Nahwi ("Grammatical Implication") was slightly restrictive because the core topic centers on semantic and lexical transitivity rather than formal grammatical chapters. The author himself acknowledged this consideration in his conclusion, promising to retitle any subsequent edition Zahirat al-Tadmin fi al-Quran al-Karim (The Phenomenon of Implication in the Holy Quran). Al-Kharrat also noted that while the applied part was confined to the Quran in accordance with the dissertation's scope, incorporating examples from hadith and classical Arabic poetry would have further strengthened the argument.
Answer updated