Nuzhat al-Ayun al-Nawazir fi Ilm al-Wujuh wa al-Nazair
- Author died
- 597 AH
- Editions
- Mu’assasat al-Risālah
Nuzhat al-Ayun al-Nawazir fi Ilm al-Wujuh wa al-Nazair (The Excursion of Gazing Eyes in the Science of Polysemy and Verbal Parallels) is a treatise on Quranic polysemy by the Baghdadi Hanbali polymath Ibn al-Jawzi (d. 597 AH / 1201 CE) . The work gathers, refines, and classifies words across the Quran whose identical verbal forms carry multiple distinct contextual meanings .
Purpose and Definition
In his introduction, Ibn al-Jawzi observed that earlier authors on al-wujuh wa al-nazair had largely copied their predecessors without critical scrutiny, often multiplying categories and semantic facets (wujuh) excessively . He composed the book to select the finest material from earlier works while eliminating what he considered unfounded additions and errors .
Ibn al-Jawzi defined the discipline by stating that a single word may appear in several Quranic passages with the same phrasing and voweling, yet intended in each place with a distinct meaning; al-nazair (parallels) refers to the shared verbal forms, whereas al-wujuh (facets) designates the differing meanings . He reviewed earlier works in the genre, citing transmissions traced to Ikrima from Ibn Abbas and Ali ibn Abi Talha from Ibn Abbas, as well as compositions by Muqatil ibn Sulayman, Abu al-Fadl al-Abbas ibn al-Fadl al-Ansari, Matruh ibn Muhammad ibn Shakir (from Abdullah ibn Harun al-Hijazi from his father), Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Naqqash, Abu Abd Allah al-Damaghani, Abu Ali ibn al-Banna, and Abu al-Hasan ibn al-Zaghuni .
Structure and Method
The work examines 324 Quranic terms arranged in alphabetical order according to their initial letters (excluding the definite article al-), without reducing words to their root consonants . Within each alphabetical section, entries are sequenced from those with fewer facets (such as terms with two meanings) to those with more .
For each entry, Ibn al-Jawzi provides a preliminary linguistic overview drawn from Arabic lexicography—frequently citing Ibn Faris—before listing the interpretive facets recorded by commentators . He supports each facet with one to three illustrative Quranic verses . At the close of the book, he notes that he selected the best material from previous compilations while discarding unsuitable material, acknowledging that he was lenient in recording some distinctions from exegetes that a strict investigator could combine into a single facet . In scope, the work expands upon the 177 terms treated in Muqatil ibn Sulayman's al-Ashbah wa al-Nazair by approximately 154 additional terms .
Reception and Transmission
Ibn al-Jawzi prepared an abridgment of the work titled Muntakhab Qurrat al-Uyun al-Nawazir fi al-Wujuh wa al-Nazair (also referenced as al-Wujuh al-Nawadir fi al-Wajh wa al-Nazair) . A work attributed to Abu Mansur al-Tha'alibi containing 83 terms follows the same ordering and was identified by researchers as an abridgment of Ibn al-Jawzi's text . Ibn al-Jawzi's terminology was later evaluated by Quranic scholars, including Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, who discussed his definitions of al-wujuh and al-nazair .
Surviving manuscripts include Chester Beatty Library MS 4955 (copied in 724 AH by Yusuf ibn Ali), Chester Beatty Library MS 4389 (copied by Darwish Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mahini), and Alexandria Municipal Library MS 3572 J (copied in 939 AH by Ali ibn Ahmad al-Muzani) . The text was published in Hyderabad by Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-Uthmaniyya in 1394 AH (1974 CE), edited by Mahrunnisa, and later edited by Muhammad Abd al-Karim Kazim al-Radi .
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