Majaz al-Quran

Majaz al-Quran (lit. 'The Idiomatic Expressions of the Quran') is a pioneering work of Quranic philology and exegesis by the Basran grammarian and philologist Abu Ubayda Ma'mar ibn al-Muthanna (110–209 AH / 728–824 CE) al-Tafsir al-Basit+1. It focuses on the linguistic interpretation of difficult vocabulary (gharib al-Quran) and the rhetorical and syntactic patterns of Quranic discourse through pre-Islamic and early Arabic poetry al-Shahid al-Shiri fi Taf…+1.

Composition and Naming

According to Abu Ubayda, the impetus for writing the work occurred in 188 AH when he was summoned from Basra to Baghdad by the Abbasid vizier al-Fadl ibn al-Rabi' Tafsir al-Thaalibi = al-J…+1. A scribe present at the assembly—identified in historical reports as Ibrahim ibn Isma'il al-Katib—inquired about the meaning of the verse: طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُؤُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ ("Its emerging fruit is as the heads of devils") [As-Saffat: 65], asking how God could invoke a threat using something unfamiliar to humans Majaz al-Quran+1. Abu Ubayda replied that God addressed the Arabs according to their customary speech, citing a verse by the pre-Islamic poet Imru' al-Qays that referenced the fangs of ghouls ( ومسنونة زرق كأنياب أغوال ), even though the Arabs had never seen a ghoul Inayat al-Muslimin bi al-…. Following this encounter, Abu Ubayda resolved to author a work explicating such linguistic usages in the Quran, which he titled al-Majaz upon returning to Basra Inayat al-Muslimin bi al-….

The work has also been referred to under titles such as Gharib al-Quran, Ma'ani al-Quran, and I'rab al-Quran al-Tafsir al-Lughawi lil-…+1. Scholars observe that these titles reflect descriptions of its contents, while Majaz al-Quran became the most prevalent title because Abu Ubayda repeatedly used the phrase majaz throughout his explanations al-Tafsir al-Lughawi lil-…+1.

The Concept of Majaz

In Abu Ubayda's usage, majaz did not denote the later rhetorical concept of figurative trope as opposed to literal meaning (haqiqa) al-Tafsir al-Lughawi lil-…+1. Rather, it referred to the idiomatic paths of expression permissible in the Arabic language (ma yajuz fi lughat al-Arab), the syntactic phrasing of a verse, and how its meaning is conveyed in customary Arabic speech al-Tafsir al-Lughawi lil-…+1. As noted by Ibn Taymiyya, Abu Ubayda was the earliest known scholar to use the term majaz systematically in this context, meaning the phrasing or paraphrase by which a verse's sense is expressed Majallat al-Jami'a al-Isl….

Structure and Methodology

Abu Ubayda grounded his exegesis primarily in the rules, habits, and idioms of Arabic speech, proceeding verse by verse across the Quranic chapters Majaz al-Quran+1. His principal authority in philology and poetic transmission was his teacher Abu 'Amr ibn al-'Ala' al-Shahid al-Shiri fi Taf…+1.

The work is characterized by several methodological features:

• Poetic Evidence (Shawāhid): It is among the earliest and most prolific works of gharib exegesis to substantiate Quranic meanings through Arabic poetry, containing 952 poetic citations al-Tafsir al-Basit+1. It cites 159 identified poets, including 65 pre-Islamic (Jahili) poets and 41 transitional (Mukhadram) poets such as Labid and Hassan ibn Thabit al-Shahid al-Shiri fi Taf….
• Rhetorical and Stylistic Analysis: Abu Ubayda discussed various stylistic phenomena, such as ellipsis and omission (hadhf), syntactic transposition (taqdim wa-ta'khir), pronominal shifts (iltifat), metonymy (kinaya), similes (tashbih), and addressing an individual in the plural or vice versa Majaz al-Quran+1.
• Arabic Purity: Abu Ubayda strongly maintained that the Quran was revealed entirely in pure Arabic, denying the presence of non-Arabic loanwords (mu'arrab) and maintaining that apparent correspondences with foreign words were linguistic coincidences al-Tafsir al-Lughawi lil-….

Reception and Influence

Because Abu Ubayda relied primarily on philological reasoning and largely omitted transmitted traditions from early exegetes (tafsir al-salaf), his methodology provoked sharp opposition from several contemporary scholars Majaz al-Quran+1. The Kufan grammarian al-Farra' expressed strong outrage at the work, reportedly saying that Abu Ubayda deserved twenty lashes for it Majaz al-Quran+1. Al-Asma'i criticized him for interpreting the Quran through personal opinion (ra'y) Majaz al-Quran+1. His student Abu Hatim al-Sijistani initially remarked that it was not permissible to write or read al-Majaz unless one corrected its errors, though he later transmitted it to his own students Majaz al-Quran+1. Later, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari criticized Abu Ubayda for his lack of familiarity with traditional exegetical reports, and Ali ibn Hamza al-Basri wrote a treatise pointing out errors in his transmissions al-Shahid al-Shiri fi Taf…+1.

Despite these criticisms, Majaz al-Quran became a foundational text for subsequent Arabic lexicography and Quranic commentary Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1. Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Bukhari drew heavily upon it for the exegetical chapter headings of his Sahih Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1. It was also extensively cited by Ibn Qutayba, al-Tabari, al-Zajjaj, Ibn Durayd, Abu Bakr al-Sijistani, al-Nahhas, Abu Mansur al-Azhari, Abu Ali al-Farisi, and al-Jawhari Majaz al-Quran+1.

The work has been published in a modern critical edition in two volumes edited by Fuat Sezgin al-Tafsir al-Basit+1.