Jamaliyat al-Mufrada al-Quraniya
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dar Al-Maktabi
Jamaliyat al-Mufrada al-Quraniya (The Aesthetics of the Quranic Word) is a rhetorical and stylistic study of Quranic vocabulary by the Syrian scholar Ahmad Yasuf, examining the artistic and literary dimensions of individual words in the Quran across classical and modern works of inimitability (iʿjāz) and rhetorical exegesis (al-tafsīr al-bayānī).
Background and Purpose
Originally prepared as an academic thesis while the author served as a teaching assistant in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Aleppo, the work features a commendation (taqrīẓ) by Nur al-Din 'Itr, who praised its synthesis of classical rhetorical heritage with modern literary criticism. It was published by Dār al-Maktabī in Damascus in 1415 AH / 1995 CE.
Yasuf composed the book to address a perceived gap in Quranic studies: while classical and modern scholars frequently addressed the aesthetic value of vocabulary in discussions of iʿjāz and rhetorical exegesis, their observations remained dispersed across disparate chapters. The author chose the term mufrada (individual word) rather than lafẓa to emphasize the unique artistic value of each specific word within its context. He adopted the plural form jamālīyāt (aesthetics) to encompass diverse facets of artistic portrayal, including both uplifting scenes and depictions of distressing realities—such as the states and punishments of disbelievers—rendered through precise rhetorical imagery.
Structure and Contents
The work opens with an introductory section followed by four main chapters and a conclusion:
- Preliminary Discourse on Islamic Conceptions of Beauty: Surveys early Muslim scholars' perspectives on beauty and aesthetic appreciation, notably examining views from al-Jahiz, Abu Hayyan al-Tawhidi, and Abu Hamid al-Ghazali regarding sensory perception—especially hearing and sight as channels to the heart—and the link between objective beauty and utility.
- Chapter 1: The Word in Literature and the Quran: Explores how literary diction transcends neutral dictionary definitions (al-marḥala al-muʿjamiyya) to carry emotional resonance. It examines the relationship between individual words and composition (al-naẓm), balances the word's independent weight against Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's strict focus on syntactic arrangement, rejects absolute synonymy (al-tarāduf) within the Quran in favor of fine semantic distinctions (al-furūq), and highlights the auditory impact of Quranic phrasing.
- Chapter 2: The Word and Visual Imagery: Examines how Quranic words construct visual scenes through the concretization of abstract concepts (tajsīm), references to animate and inanimate nature, personification (tashkhīṣ), and the depiction of fast and slow motion, highlighting analytical contributions from exegetes such as al-Zamakhshari.
- Chapter 3: Musical and Acoustic Aesthetics: Analyzes phonetic harmony and articulation points (talāʾum al-makhārij) in the views of Ali ibn Isa al-Rummani, Ibn Sinan al-Khafaji, and Ibn al-Athir. It also treats vowel lengths, diacritics, word length, delicacy (riqqa) versus gravity (jazāla), and sound symbolism and onomatopoeia, drawing on Ibn Jinni's phonological principles in al-Khaṣāʾiṣ.
- Chapter 4: Psychological Undertones and Contextual Meaning: Discusses morphological patterns (ṣiyagh) and their semantic implications, moral refinement and euphemistic decorum in Quranic phrasing (such as expressions concerning relations between men and women), and semantic density and conciseness (iḫtizān al-maʿnā / ījāz).
In the conclusion, Yasuf summarizes that Quranic vocabulary functions simultaneously on visual, auditory, and psychological levels, acting as an irreplaceable building block that aligns artistic expression with the Quran's primary purpose of guidance.
Answer updated