Grammatical Terminology in Abu al-Saud's Commentary: A Study

Abstract

         This research aims to demonstrate the choices of one of the most famous later commentators regarding grammatical terminology in his exegesis, in order to understand his grammatical approach or school of thought in dealing with grammatical phenomena within his commentary. This is because a commentator who delves into exegesis must be knowledgeable in the language, particularly in grammar.

          Because the interpreter who engages in interpretation must be knowledgeable about the language, especially grammar, since it is through grammar that one learns about structures and the meanings and rules that are based on them. Knowing Abu Al-Saud’s choices of grammatical terminology helps in knowing his grammatical doctrine, and thus we will know the direction that the interpreter took in dealing with Qur’anic structures.

Most of the terms used by Abu al-Sa'ud in his commentary are Basran terms, such as his use of the terms "lam al-ibtida'" (the initial lam), "la al-nafiya lil-jins" (the negation of the entire class), and "al-nafy" (negation), among others. The Kufan ​​terms appear only sparingly in this commentary, which is a manifestation of Abu al-Sa'ud's Basran leanings. Although the Basran tendency is evident in Abu al-Sa'ud's commentary, he sometimes combines Basran and Kufan ​​terminology, which demonstrates the breadth of his scholarly perspective and his lack of adherence to any particular school of thought. Examples include his use of the terms "al-badal" (substitution) and "al-tabyeen" (clarification), "al-sifa" (attributive adjective) and "al-na't" (descriptive adjective), and "al-jarr" (genitive case) and "al-khafd" (genitive case) to denote a single concept.