Mufradat al-Quran lil-Farahi
- Author died
- 1349 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Gharb al-Islami
Mufradat al-Quran (Vocabulary of the Quran, subtitled Nazarat Jadidah fi Tafsir Alfaz Qur'aniyyah) is a specialized lexicon of Quranic terminology authored in Arabic by the Indian scholar Abd al-Hamid al-Farahi (1280–1349 AH / 1863–1930 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Farahi authored the work as a foundational linguistic reference intended to serve his overarching commentary, Nizam al-Quran wa-Ta'wil al-Furqan bi-l-Furqan . It forms the first of three books he designed to establish the linguistic principles necessary for understanding the Quran from the text itself, alongside Asalib al-Quran (Styles of the Quran) and al-Takmil fi Usul al-Ta'wil (The Completion in the Principles of Interpretation) . By treating difficult vocabulary in a separate work, he sought to eliminate the need to repeat lexical examinations in his commentary, reserving discussion there only for rare instances where the correct meaning diverged from common understandings .
Rather than offering an exhaustive dictionary, al-Farahi restricted the work to terms requiring specific clarification, particularly where lexical errors risked obscuring the structural coherence (nazm) of verses or misdirecting the interpretation (ta'wil) of the text . Everyday words adequately treated in general Arabic lexicons were intentionally omitted .
Method and Content
In analyzing individual vocabulary items, al-Farahi sought to define their precise semantic boundaries (hudud), necessary connotations (lawazim), related meanings, distinctions, affinities, and opposites . His hermeneutical method emphasizes:
- Cautioning against attributing later or modernized meanings to classical Quranic terms .
- Comparing Arabic roots with cognate Semitic languages, such as Hebrew and Syriac, to elucidate obscure meanings, as in his examination of terms such as 'asr and al-ala' .
- Relying on pre-Islamic poetry and classical Arabic usage to establish the core meaning of a root .
Composition and Publication History
Al-Farahi died before finalizing or editing the material, leaving the text as an unfinished draft . The draft contained the author's opening sermon, three near-complete introductory essays, and unfinished notes on subjects such as the disjointed letters (al-huruf al-muqatta'at) and the general and specific (al-'amm wa-l-khass) .
Following his death, his student Akhtar Ahsan al-Islahi prepared the draft for publication under the auspices of al-Da'irah al-Hamidiyyah in India, where it was first printed in 1358 AH (1939 CE) . A later critical edition, edited and annotated by Muhammad Ajmal Ayyub al-Islahi, was published in Beirut by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in 2002 CE .
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