Irab al-Quran lil-Nahhas
- Author died
- 338 AH
- Editions
- منشورات محمد علي بيضون، دار الكتب العلمية
I'rab al-Qur'an (Linguistic and Grammatical Analysis of the Quran) is a classical work on Quranic syntax and linguistic parsing by the Egyptian grammarian and philologist Abu Ja'far al-Nahhas (d. 338 AH / 950 CE; another report gives 337 AH) . The book provides a surah-by-surah grammatical examination of the Quranic text, clarifying syntactic structures, variant readings (qira'at), and associated lexical variants .
Purpose and Methodology
In his introduction to the work, al-Nahhas explains that his aim is to elucidate the grammatical parsing of the Quran and to examine variant readings that require grammatical clarification and justification ('ilal) . His method includes:
- Documenting differences of opinion among grammarians, highlighting what certain scholars permitted and what others disallowed .
- Explaining contextual meanings (ma'ani) along with morphological forms, plural patterns (jumu'), and dialectal variants (lughat), attributing each linguistic variant to its respective Arab tribe .
- Maintaining conciseness by presenting core grammatical insights without unnecessary elongation, occasionally deferring exhaustive discussion of repeated syntactic constructions to other designated passages .
Reception and Transmission
The biographer Abu Bakr al-Zubaydi observed that in I'rab al-Qur'an, al-Nahhas gathered widespread sayings and assembled multiple grammatical perspectives rather than strictly pursuing personal preference (ikhtiyar) and theoretical rationalization .
The text was transmitted directly from al-Nahhas by his student Abu Bakr al-Udfuwi, whose transmission formed the primary lineage of the work recorded in Andalusian and North African bibliographical registers, including the index (Fahrasah) of Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili .
Editions
I'rab al-Qur'an has been published in modern print, including an edition with annotations and commentary prepared by Abd al-Mun'im Khalil Ibrahim, issued by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah in Beirut .
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