Arabic Grammar and Qur’ānic Exegesis in Early Islam

Book excerpt: In this volume the author examines the origins of Arabic linguistics on the basis of the earliest Qur’ānic commentaries (1st half of the 8th century A.D.). The material used includes both edited texts and manuscript commentaries. Various chapters analyze the exegetical methods of the early commentators (such as Muqātil and Muḥammad al-Kalbī) and their use of grammatical terminology. These data are compared with the earliest grammatical treatises (Such as Sābawayhi and Farrā’). The material presented here constitutes an important source of evidence for the development of linguistic thinking in Islam and the origin of the grammatical schools of Basra and Kufa.