The Role of Context in Grammatical Analysis (Iʿrāb) in Al-Durr al-Maṣūn by Al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī: Selected Examples

Abstract

This research examines the role of context in grammatical analysis (i‘rāb) within Al-Durr al-Maṣūn—one of the most significant works dedicated to the grammatical analysis of the Holy Quran—authored by Al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī. The study aims to demonstrate how context determines the appropriate grammatical interpretation. It comprises an introduction and four sections. The introduction outlines the research's significance, objectives, and methodology, as well as previous studies addressing topics similar to the subject matter of this research. The first section addresses the definition of "context" from both linguistic and terminological perspectives; we explore the linguistic definition through dictionaries as well as the technical definitions associated with context theory. The second section examines the views of scholars—both classical and modern—regarding context and its concept. The third section covers the types of context, distinguishing between two categories: linguistic context and non-linguistic context; the former relies on linguistic indicators, while the latter refers to social context. As for the fourth section, it addresses the practical aspect; we examined a selection of Quranic verses, applied various types of contextual analysis to them, and demonstrated how context—in its diverse forms—determines the optimal grammatical parsing within the Quranic text. This was followed by the conclusion, which summarized the study's key findings, and finally, a list of the sources and references consulted during the course of the research.