Grammar of the Holy Quran

There is no doubt that the best knowledge to which ambitions have been devoted, minds have been tired, and minds have hastened to attain is the knowledge of the Book of God Almighty, for it is the straight path, the clear religion, the strong rope, and the illuminating truth.

One of the most important things that a student of the Qur’anic sciences must do, who desires to improve its pronunciation, understand its meanings, and have a good understanding of its recitations and dialects, is to know its i’rab and understand the conjugation of its vowels and consonants, so that he will be free from mistakes in it, aware of the meanings that may differ according to the vowels, and understanding what Allah intends for His servants. For by knowing the facts of i’rab, most meanings are known, difficulties are clarified, benefits become apparent, the message is understood, and the truth of what is intended is known. Among the common sayings in this regard is: “I’rab is a branch of meaning; whoever clarifies its i’rab for us will reveal to us its meanings.”

It was narrated that the Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, heard a man making mistakes in his speech, so he said: “Guide your brother, for he has gone astray.” It was also narrated that one of the governors of Umar, may God be pleased with him, wrote him a letter in which he made mistakes, so Umar wrote back to him: “Give your scribe a whip.” It was narrated from the hadith of Ali, may God be pleased with him, with the Bedouin to whom the reciter recited: “God and His Messenger are disassociated from the polytheists,” until the Bedouin said: “I am disassociated from the Messenger of God.” Ali, may God be pleased with him, denounced that, and prescribed for Abu Al-Aswad the same grammar work that he prescribed.

Al-Suyuti - in his book “Al-Itqan fi Ulum Al-Quran” - considered syntax to be one of the important sciences of the Qur’an, saying: “The forty-first type: in knowing its syntax.”

And I quote here some of what Al-Suyuti said in explaining the importance of this science: “Among the benefits of this type is knowing the meaning, because syntax distinguishes meanings and indicates the purposes of speakers. Abu Ubaid narrated in his book, “Fada’il,” on the authority of Umar ibn Al-Khattab, who said: “Learn the grammar, the obligatory duties, and the Sunnahs as you learn the Qur’an.” And he narrated on the authority of Yahya ibn Atiq, who said: “I said to Al-Hasan: ‘O Abu Saeed, a man learns Arabic in order to seek through it the beauty of speech and to establish his recitation with it.’ He said: ‘Good, my nephew, so learn it, for a man reads a verse and is overwhelmed by its meaning and is destroyed by it. And it is upon the one who looks into the Book of God Almighty, revealing its secrets, to look into the word, its form, and its position, such as whether it is a subject or predicate, an agent or an object, or at the beginning of a sentence or in a response, and so on.”

Al-Suyuti mentioned some of the etiquettes that must be taken into account when parsing the Qur’an, saying:

He must take into account the following matters:

One of them: It is his first duty to understand the meaning of what he wants to parse, whether singular or compound, before parsing, because it is a branch of meaning... Ibn Hisham said: The feet of many of the parsers have slipped, as they took into account the apparent meaning of the word in their parsing and did not consider the meaning.

Second: He should take into account what the industry requires, as the translator may take into account a correct aspect without considering its correctness in the industry, and thus make a mistake.

Third: He must be well-versed in Arabic (i.e., knowledgeable in it) so that he does not cite something that has not been proven.

Fourth: To avoid distant matters, weak aspects, and strange languages, and to go to the close, strong, and eloquent. If only the distant aspect appears, then he has an excuse. If he mentions all of them for the purpose of grammar and multiplication, then it is very difficult, but to clarify the possible and train the student, then it is good in words other than the Qur’an. As for the revelation, it is not permissible to go to except what is most likely intended. If nothing is most likely, then let him mention the possible aspects without arbitrariness.

Fifth: It must include all the apparent meanings that the word may contain.

Sixth: He must take into account the different conditions according to the chapters. If he does not consider them, the chapters and conditions will become confused for him.

Seventh: In each arrangement, one should take into account what is similar to it, as one might use a statement about one thing and witness another use in a similar context, but in a different way.

Eighth: He takes into account the drawing.

Ninth: To reflect upon the occurrence of doubtful matters.

Tenth: That it does not go against the original or against the apparent meaning without justification.

Eleventh: To search for the original and the extra (meaning in the structure of the word).

For all the above, one of my greatest dreams was to write a simplified and complete grammar of the Holy Quran, with the grammar of every word in it, and for the grammar to be in the margin of the page of the Holy Quran and on the page facing it, so that it would be easy to carry the book everywhere and for it to be a companion to everyone who wants to know the grammar of the Quran, so that it would be with the teacher in his school and the student in his university and a companion for the professor who can return to it whenever he wants. So the grammar came out, by the grace and blessings of God, in a wonderful edition that was produced and published by Dar Al-Sahwa in Cairo (may God bless its owners).

I ask God Almighty to make this work beneficial and to place it in the balance of good deeds of everyone who participated in it with effort.