The specificity of the Quranic use of Arabic words - a study in the book “The Strange Vocabulary of the Quran” by Al-Raghib Al-Isfahani (502 AH)

Abstract

It becomes clear from contemplating the Qur’anic style that words are often used in their original meanings in the Arabic language, according to what is established in the linguistic terminology. However, they may sometimes deviate in limited places from this apparent meaning to another connotation.The new meaning is closely related to the original meaning. Context is a crucial factor in directing the meaning and determining whether the word has been used in its true sense or has been transferred to a different metaphorical or idiomatic meaning.

What I have reached through this research is that some words have been mentioned in the language with one meaning, and their use in the Qur’anic context was in accordance with that meaning without expansion or displacement, while other words have been mentioned with several meanings in the linguistic dictionaries, and were used in the Holy Qur’an in a way that suits the various connotations according to the context. The main goal of this study was to detail these words and explain their semantic aspects, according to what is mentioned in the books of language interpretation, with attention and focus on what Al-Raghib Al-Asfahani mentioned in his book.