1)When during the Abbasid’s rule, the Arabic language was affected with ajami concepts, and
2)when all the Arabic literature that we have was born during that era – whether it is Tafaseer or
dictionaries, whether it is history books or books on literature and, when due to old and outdated Tafseer
the real real meaning of the Quran is no more,
3)then how can one find out the meaning which prevailed at the time of revelation?
Undoubtedly, if this was the case in reference to some other language (or some other book) then it would
pose a difficulty which had no solution. But in the case of the Arabic language (and the Qur’an Kareem)
there are certain elements which render this problem quite soluble.
First of all (as has been said before) all Arabic literature was preserved in the verses of their poets. Poets
had a special place in Arab society. Besides their verses were full of the goodness of their tribes and the
execrable points of their opponents. As such they were memorized even by the kids. When prose is written,
it is difficult to pass it on exactly as it was written but it is not so with verses. When verse is memorized
and transferred onwards, the arrangement of the words will not change. I n other words, verse is transferred
exactly as it is written and not only its meaning. This is the reason why the verses of poets before Islam
were transferred as it was written without any change in the arrangement of words and therefore meaning.
And there is also no doubt that some of the verses of poets of the dark era were also attributed to these
poets and were included in their poetry but this did not much affect their meaning. The language of made-
up verses had to be kept the same as that for real verses, if this was not done then the discrimination
between real and artificial would be instant. However, this way, the verses of the poets of the dark era were
preserved in Arabic literature. Some of the words, which were common during the revelation of the Qur’an
are also preserved in the Arabic language. And since those verses which contained them are also present,
therefore the meaning which prevailed during the revelation can also be ascertained (with the help of those
verses).These words have mostly been used in the same meaning for which they were used in those verses
and with which the Arabs during the revelation were quite familiar. That is why they had no difficulty in
understanding the Qur’an. These verses (excepting books of literature) have also appeared in authentic
Arabic dictionaries and in them the meanings of these words have also been debated. The dictionaries
compiled later have also included them as they were used in the old dictionaries. With the help of these
words, one can understand their meaning which prevailed during the revelation.
4) This is the external factor with the help of which one can determine their meaning as at the time of
revelation. But the Arabic language has one inherent characteristic which cannot be affected by external
factors
and by deliberating on which one can gauge the real meaning.
Every word of the Arabic language has a ‘root’ , which has its own particular meaning. According to the
rules of grammar, no matter what form the root may take, its basic meaning will be reflected in every form.
Plus, the basic meaning of the root, is also determined that if so and so letter ( for instance , if the letter
Hay and Bay ) appear together in a word, then it will have such and such meaning, and so and so letters (for
instance the letters (Suad and Ray) appear together in a word, then the word will have such and such
meaning. If,with the passage of time , there is some change in the word, then too, its real meaning can be
gauged through its root which would remain unchanged. This way, one can comprehend what meaning
these words held during the revelation.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: