A Comparative Analysis of the Views of Ṭabrisī and Zamakhsharī on the Progression of the Verses of Taḥaddī

Document Type : The scientific research paper

Authors

1 .Associate Professor, Tehran University of Quranic Sciences and Islamic Studies, Tehran.Iran.

2 . Ph.D Student of Kowsar Specialized Center for Islamic Sciences, Tehran, Iran

10.30473/quran.2025.73422.1298

Abstract

Faḍl ibn Ḥasan Ṭabrisī, an Imami scholar, and Jārallah Zamakhsharī, a Mu'tazili contemporary, are considered intellectuals in the field of Quranic exegesis and sciences. Both share similar intellectual viewpoints on the miraculous nature of the Quran's apparent meanings and words, based on various arguments, including the Quran's harmonious structure and system, and the eloquence and fluency of its verses, utilizing the concept of Taḥaddī. The verses of Taḥaddī, which are considered part of the evidence for the Quran's miraculous nature, are based on five verses, the order of their revelation being a point of contention among commentators. The gap resulting from the lack of thorough research in systematic comparisons of Shi'a and Mu'tazili schools of exegesis necessitates that, based on a descriptive-analytical method and reference to library sources, the views of Ṭabrisī and Zamakhsharī on the progression of the verses of Taḥaddī be explained by comparing and analyzing the perspectives of these two intellectual schools. Therefore, it seems that Zamakhsharī and his like-minded thinkers have disregarded historical evidence in their proposed order of the verses' revelation, relying on unusual opinions such as Ibn Nadīm's list, the lack of explicit mention of the position of Surah al-Ṭūr, and the failure to address the key concept of "with a similar discourse (Bi Ḥadīthin Mithlih)." In an analytical view, it can be seen that Ṭabrisī's view on the order of the verses of Taḥaddī is more consistent with the available evidence. He has paid attention to the main goal of the verses of Taḥaddī, which is to prove the miraculous nature of the Quran and its superiority over the Arabic poetic system, and he has not burdened himself to achieve a logical and rational progression, nor has he expressed an imposed opinion. Ṭabrisī considers the reason for the difference in the subject of the verses of Taḥaddī to be the circumstances and exigencies of the time in response to the obstinacy of the claimants, and introduces the wisdom of the revelation of the verses of Taḥaddī as the claim by the deniers that the verses are not divine.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Article Title [Persian]

تحلیل مقایسه‌ای آراءِ طبرسی و زمخشری در سیر آیات تحدی

Authors [Persian]

  • علی غضنفری 1
  • مریم حسینی 2
1 دانشیارگروه علوم قرآن ومعارف اسلامی تهران، ایران.
2 دانشجوی دکتری مرکز تخصصی علوم اسلامی کوثرر، تهران، ایران
Abstract [Persian]

فضل بن حسن طبرسی امامی، معاصر جارالله زمخشری معتزلی است . آن‌دو از اندیشمندان در حوزه تفسیر و علوم قرآن کریم محسوب می‌شوند. هر دو در معجزه بودنِ ظواهر و الفاظِ قرآن با استناد به ادله مختلف و از جمله ساختار و نظام هماهنگ قرآن، بلاغت و فصاحت آیات آن با بهره گیری از تحدی، تشابه فکری دارند. این امر که از مجموعه دلائل اعجاز قرآن محسوب می‌شود، بر پنج آیه استوار است که ترتیب نزولش آنها محل تضارب آراءِ مفسران شده است. به نظر می‌رسد زمخشری و هم‌نظران وی ترتیب پیشنهادیِ نزولِ سوره‌ها را بدون توجه به مستندات تاریخی و با استناد به آراء شاذ مثل فهرست ابن ندیم، عدم تصریح به جایگاه سوره طور و همچنین نپرداختن به مفهوم کلید واژه‌ی مهمِ "بحدیثٍ مثله"،رعایت نکرده‌اند. بنابراین در نگاهی تحلیلی می‌توان دیدگاهی را که طبرسی در ترتیب آیات تحدی ابراز نموده همنواتر با مستندات موجود دانست وی به هدفِ اصلیِ آیاتِ تحدی که اثباتِ اعجاز قرآن و برتریِ آن نسبت به منظومه‌ی کلام عرب است، توجه نموده و خود را بمنظورِ دست‌یابی به سیری که منطقی و عقلایی به تکلّف نیفکنده و نظری تحمیلی ابراز ننموده است. طبرسی رازِ اختلاف در متعلقِ آیات تحدی را شرائط و اقتضائات زمانه در پاسخ‌ به عنادِ مدعیان دانسته و حکمتِ نزولِ آیاتِ تحدی را ادعای غیر الهی بودنِ آیات از سویِ منکران معرفی نموده‌است.

Keywords [Persian]

  • Mاعجاز قرآن
  • تحدی
  • طبرسی
  • زمخشری

References

...................... (1997 AD/1418 AH). Jawāmiʻ al-Jāmiʻ. Qom: Islamic Publishing Institute.
Allamah Ḥillī, H. (1984 AD/1363 SH). Anwār al-Malakūt fī Sharḍ al-Yāqūt. Qom: Al-Radi Publications.
Anṣārī, I. (1984 AD/1405 AH). Mughnī al-Labīb. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifah.
Bāqillānī, M. (2000 AD/1421 AH). I'jaz al-Qur'an. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyya.
Barqī, A. (1951 AD/1371 AH). al-Maḥāsin. Qom: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyya.
Bayḍāwī, A. (1997 AD/1418 AH). Anwār al-Tanzīl. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
Gazar, M. (2002 AD/1381 SH). "A Comparative Look at Jami al-Jami and Kashshāf." No. 29.
Ḥamawī, Y. (1993 AD). Muʻjam al-Udabāʼ (Irshād al-Arīb ilā Maʻrifat al-Adīb). Beirut: Dar al-Gharb al-Islami.
Ḥaskānī Nīshābūrī, U. (1990 AD/1411 AH). Shawāhid al-Tanzīl li Qawāʼid al-Tafḍīl. Tehran: Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Hojjati, M. (1990 AD/1369 SH). Grammar and Morphology History. Tehran: Quran Foundation.
Ḥurr ʻᾹmilī, M. (1965 AD/1385 AH). Amal al-Ᾱmil fī ʻUlamāʼ Jabal ʻᾹmil. Baghdad: Maktabat al-Andalus.
Ibn Athīr, I. (1988 AD/1409 AH). Usd al-Ghāba fī Maʻrifat al-Ṣaḥāba. Beirut: Dar al-Fikr.
Ibn Nadīm, M. (987 AD/377 AH). al-Fihrist. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifah.
Ibn Shahr Ᾱshūb Mazandarani, M. (1989 AD/1410 AH). Mutashābih al-Qur'an wa Mukhtalifuh. Qom: Bidar.
Jaṣṣāṣ, A. (1984 AD/1405 AH). Aḥkām al-Qur'an. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Ṭūrath al-Arabi.
Jazarī, I. (n.d.). al-Lubāb fī Tahdhīb al-Ansāb. Beirut: Dar Sader.
Kaḥāla, U. (n.d.). Mu'jam al-Mu'allifīn. Beirut: Maktabat al-Muthanna, Dar al-Ihya al-Ṭūrath al-Arabi.
Khansari, M. (1969 AD/1390 AH). Rawḍāt al-Jannāt. Tehran: Maktabat Esmaeilian.
Khomeini, M. (1997 AD/1376 SH). Tafsir al-Quran al-ʻAẓīm. Tehran: Institute for Compilation and Publication of Imam Khomeini's Works.
Khorramshahi, B. (2001 AD/1380 SH). Encyclopedia of the Quran and Quranic Studies. Tehran: Nahid.
Khuʼī, A. (1990 AD/1369 SH). al-Bayān fī Tafsīr al-Quran. Qom: Ihya Athar al-Imam al-Khu’i.
Majlisī, M. (1996 AD/1375 SH). Biḥār al-Anwār. Tehran: Islamic Publications.
Makarem Shirazi, N, et all. (2001 AD/1380 SH). Tafsir Nemooneh. Tehran: Dar al-Kotob al-Islamia.
Mar'ashi Najafi, Sh. (1896 AD/1326 AH). Iḥqāq al-Ḥaqq wa Izhāq al-Bāṭil. Qom: Ayatollah Mar'ashi Library.
Maʻrifat, M. (2010 AD/1389 SH). Quranic Sciences; A Summary of the Book al-Tamhid. Qom: Tamhid Cultural Institute.
Martin, M. (1984 AD/1363 SH). The Theological Ideas of Shaykh Mufīd. Tehran: Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University.
Mo’addab, R. (1993 AD/1372 SH). The Iʻjāz of the Quran in the View of the Ahl al-Bayt. Qom: Ahsan al-Hadith.
Mufīd, M. (1979 AD/1400 AH). Awāʼil al-Maqālāt fī al-Mukhtārāt. Qom: The World Congress.
Qurṭubī Anṣārī, M. (1999 AD/1420 AH). al-Jāmiʻ li Aḥkām al-Quran. Beirut: Dar al-Ihya al-Ṭūrath al-Arabi.
Rāfiʻī, M. (2000 AD/1421 AH). Iʻjāz al-Quran wa Iblāghihī al-Nabawīyyah. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah.
Rāzī, F. (1999 AD/1420 AH). Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; al-Tafsir al-Kabīr. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Ṭūrath al-Arabi.
Sadr al-Dini, A. (1995 AD/1374 SH). A Critique and Introduction to the Evolution of the Quran, the Prophet and the Revolution. Tehran: Majed.
Ṣadr, H. (2019 AD/1438 AH). Taʼsīs al-Shi'a li ʻUlūm al-Islam. Qom: Institute of Shiʻa Heritage.
Samʻānī, A. (1987 AD/1408 AH). al-Ansāb, Investigation and Commentary. Beirut: Dar al-Jinan for Printing and Publishing.
Sayyid Quṭb. (1987 AD/1408 AH). Fī Ẓilāl al-Quran. Beirut: Dar al-Shuruq.
Sayyidi, H. (2008 AD/1387 SH). Translator of the book by Mohammad Karim Kawaz. Stylistics of the Miraculous Eloquence of the Quran. Tehran: Sokhan.
Sirati Qazvini, M. (1958 AD/1338 SH). Commentary on the Evidences of Majmaʻ al-Bayān Ṭabrisī. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah.
Suyūṭī, J. (2001 AD/1380 SH). al-Itqān fī ʻUlūm al-Quran. Tehran: Amir Kabir.
Ṭabāṭabāʼī, M. (1955 AD/1375 AH). al-Mīzān fī Tafsir al-Quran. Qom: Islamic Publications.
Ṭabrisī, F. (2009 AD/1388 SH). Majmaʻ al-Bayān fī Tafsir al-Quran. Tehran: Maktaba al-Ilmiyya.
Ṭūsī, M. (1889 AD/1309 AH). al-Tibyān fī Tafsir al-Quran. Qom: Maktab al-Alam al-Islami.
Zamakhsharī, M. (1969 AD/1389 AH). al-Kashshāf 'an Ḥaqāʼiq Ghawāmiḍ al-Tanzīl. Tehran: Quqnous.
Zarkashī, M. (1989 AD/1410 AH). al-Burhān fī ʻUlūm al-Quran. Beirut: Dar al-Ma'rifah.
Quran and Religious Enlightenment
Volume 6, Issue 1 - Serial Number 11
September 2025
Pages 167-184

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 12 February 2025
  • Revise Date: 02 June 2025
  • Accept Date: 26 July 2025

Share

How to cite

Statistics