Irab al-Quran - Ismail al-Asbahani
- Author died
- 535 AH
- Editions
- Without publisher (King Fahd National Library cataloging)
Irab al-Quran (Grammatical Analysis of the Quran) is a grammatical treatise on the Quran attributed to the Shafi'i traditionist and exegete Abu al-Qasim Ismail ibn Muhammad al-Taymi al-Asbahani, known as Qawam al-Sunna (457–535 AH / 1065–1141 CE) .
Attribution and Authenticity
Classical biographical accounts record that Ismail al-Asbahani possessed extensive mastery of Arabic grammar and authored a treatise titled Irab al-Quran, as attested by his student Abu Musa al-Madini .
However, modern critical scholarship has refuted the attribution of the surviving, published text to al-Asbahani. Researchers—notably Abd al-Hadi Hamitu in Majallat al-Hikmah and Yusuf ibn Khalaf al-Isawi—demonstrated that the extant manuscript belongs instead to the grammarian Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Faddal al-Mujashi'i al-Qayrawani (d. 479 AH) . The main evidence against al-Asbahani's authorship includes:
- Chronological gaps in transmission: The author transmits directly from scholars who died decades before al-Asbahani was born in 457 AH, including Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Hufi (d. 430 AH) and Makki ibn Abi Talib (d. 437 AH) .
- Internal genealogy: The author cites his own lineage six times through the chain "from his father, from his paternal grand-uncle Ibrahim ibn Ghalib," whereas al-Asbahani’s documented ancestral lineage is Ismail ibn Muhammad ibn al-Fadl ibn Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Tahir, containing no ancestor named Ghalib .
- Theological divergence: The text interprets divine attributes figuratively according to speculative theology (kalam), such as interpreting ثُمَّ اسْتَوَى عَلَى الْعَرْشِ as conquest and subjugation (al-qahr wa-l-istila'), which directly contradicts al-Asbahani’s traditionalist creed expounded in his authentic works .
Manuscripts and Publication
The published work was edited and introduced by Faiza bint Umar al-Muayyad and printed in one volume in 1415 AH / 1995 CE in Riyadh . It was prepared from a unique surviving manuscript preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin (MS 3672), of which a photographic facsimile is held at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh .
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