Maani al-Quran lil-Akhfash
- Author died
- 215 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Khānjī
Maani al-Quran lil-Akhfash (The Meanings of the Quran by al-Akhfash) is an early grammatical commentary on the Quran composed by the Basra grammarian al-Akhfash al-Awsat (d. 215 AH / 830 CE) .
Composition and Context
The work was written during the lifetime of al-Kisa'i (d. 189 AH / 805 CE) . According to a report transmitted from al-Akhfash, after meeting al-Kisa'i in Baghdad, al-Kisa'i requested that he compose a work on the meanings of the Quran; al-Akhfash wrote the book, which al-Kisa'i subsequently adopted as an exemplar and built his own Maani al-Quran upon, after which al-Farra' (d. 207 AH / 822 CE) composed his work based on both .
Method, Structure, and Contents
Despite its title, the book functions primarily as a treatise on Arabic grammar (nahw) and morphology (sarf) rather than lexical exegesis, reflecting al-Akhfash's intent to demonstrate his grammatical doctrine . In the course of discussing verses, he incorporates formal grammatical chapter headings, such as the chapters on the particle fa', genitive annexation (idafah), the particle waw, the active participle, and the annexation of temporal nouns to verbs .
The text features several core methodological elements:
- Variant Readings (Qiraat): Al-Akhfash engages extensively with Quranic readings, directing them primarily through grammatical and morphological analysis . He accepted readings that conformed to attested dialects of Arabic .
- Poetic Evidence (Shawahid): Poetic citations constitute a central pillar of the work, occurring over three hundred times across the manuscript, though al-Akhfash rarely named the poets he cited, leaving the majority unattributed in the text .
- Rhetorical Aspects: The work addresses various rhetorical devices, including interrogatives (istifham) and their figurative shifts, word order transposition (al-taqdim wa-l-takhir), grammatical shift (iltifat), ellipsis (ijaz al-hadhf), simile (tashbih), and metaphor (istiarah) .
Reception and Editions
Al-Akhfash's student Abu Hatim al-Sijistani described the book as generally sound (suwaylih), but criticized it for incorporating theological remarks aligned with Mu'tazilite views on divine decree (qadar) . Abu Hatim also observed that al-Akhfash was a master of grammatical analogy (qiyas) rather than a lexicographer of rare vocabulary (gharib) . The text became a fundamental source for later Quranic commentators and grammarians such as Abu Ja'far al-Nahhas and Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani .
The work has been edited and published in modern scholarly editions, including those by Fa'iz Faris (Kuwait, 1979/1981), Abd al-Amir Muhammad Amin al-Ward (Beirut, 1985), and Huda Mahmud Qara'ah .
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