The Book of Meanings of the Qur’an by Al-Akhfash (d. 215 AH) to Investigate and Compare Three Different Publications - A Comparative Study

Associate professor Ahmed Hadi Zaidan 12-55

Abstract

    The current research dealt with (The Meanings of the Qur’an),  an important Arabic-Islamic cultural publication by Abu al-Hasan Saeed bin Masada al-Akhfash al-Awsat (d. 215 AH). According to that, this comparative research was held under the name (The Book of  Meanings of the Qur’an by Al-Akhfash (d. 215 AH) to investigate and compare three different publications - a contrastive research) written by several authors over the years to clarify the feature of each publication that differentiate it from others, and what is intertwined with the others. The research results introduced several differences and similarities between each publication.
This research aims to show the distinction between the book›s previous manuscript editings and how each is distinguished. The distinction is made by shedding light on four aspects of the book, the first of which was devoted to (The Meanings of the Qur›an) in its three editions, the second is concerned with its manuscript versions, whilst the third deals with the book›s previous studies that are written by other manuscripts editors, then the fourth aspect detected to the three manuscripts editing of the book. It is evident that each manuscript editing has a method that aims to present the the book in a manner consistent with its scientific and historical significance as a means of comprehending the Book of God Almighty and interpreting its verses. These objectives and means were demonstrated not only through the book›s study but also through the material analysis that followed, locating the manuscript, and creating its indexes.