QJOURNAL OF LITERARY QURANIC RESEARCHES
Year:2016 | Volume:3 | Issue:4|Papers Count:7

Some ayahs of the Holy Qur'an, besides the meanings they convey through co-text and context, have an implication capability ignoring textual context. In the present study such meanings are termed as extra-contextual referents. Discovery of these implications, accompanied by a commitment to the principles and criteria of exegesis, is possible through separation and segmentation of Qur'anic propositions or developing a perspective beyond the straits of co-texts of ayahs. Having characteristics such as equivocality, implicational universality in concise structures, polysemy and the repetition of statements in different conceptual contexts, all of which being due to the literary nature and the special literary structure of the Qur'an, the matchless expression method of the Qur'an allow the validity of extra-contextual inferences. In this study, which takes a descriptive-analytical approach and is based on Qur'anic linguistic and literary features, we tried to validate this semantic approach to explicating ayahs, relying on original resources in Qur'anic studies and literary references while presenting examples and evidence from the Qur'an. The findings show that in interpretive narrations of Ahl al-Bayt too, extra-contextual referents is recognized as valid.

Functions of Qur'anic Stories According to Propp's Approach Story telling can be considered human's first verbal art. The Holy Qur'an has employed narrating prophets' stories as means for human guidance. The present article tried to answer the following questions by studying functions in Qur'anic stories according to Propp's view: can all Propp's thirty one functions be found in Qur'anic stories? Can Qur'anic priorities be depicted considering the functions observed? After analyzing Qur'anic stories using Propp's approach, is it possible to say what are the similarities and the differences between the texts of Qur'anic stories and other stories? As a whole, function is an act of a character important for the story development and based on Propp, it is the smallest constituting part of a fairy tale. The analysis of the data collected from Safavi's translation of the Qur'anic stories show that: 1) all Propp's functions can be found in Qur'anic stories, but they are different in nature and some of these functions in the Qur'an have types not included in Propp's view. Representing norms (dos and don'ts), finding about others' beliefs and presentation of one's beliefs and endeavor to correct false beliefs, individuals' sense of lack and remedy for such lack, the villainy of the misled and their punishment, as well as presenting metaphysical signs for the prophethood of the prophets are the main priorities in the Qur'an. In spite of some similarities including the application of Propp's general functions in the story development, and the existence of binaries such as spying vs information-giving, villainy-punishment and lack-remedy, a number of differences are also observable. Differences in the nature of spying vs information-giving, metaphysical elements and spiritual rewards are some of the differences found in Qur'anic stories as contrasted with Propp's findings.

One of the main issues in the analysis and interpretation of the Qur'anic ayahs is analyzing words. The root of each word is highly influential in understanding phrases in which they are used. This article explores the word "wail" and expresses its application in the Holy Qur'an. Clarification of the position and the original meaning of the word in question can take the addressees to the situation of the Qur'an being sent down and illuminate their understanding of the intended use of the word in ayahs. The Arabic word "wail" is used to express regret, great grief and sorrow for an evil and sorrowful act with severe punishment and consequences. It is one of the words that Allah has used to express hatred and threats of punishment. A group addressed using this word are the disbelievers who as a result of committing wrongful deeds or refusing to do rightful deeds deserve the wrath of Allah and are subject to divine painful chastisement. After exploring the meaning of the word "wail" using reliable Arabic dictionaries, the ayahs in which this word has been used were collected and in some cases a brief interpretation of them were provided. One of the most significant findings of the present study is that in most cases the word in question has been used to warn the disbelievers and the obstinate opponents and such applications have accompanied threats of punishment and hellfire for them. "Wail" is for those who denied prophets and divine messengers and attributed improper characteristics such as lying, madness and using magic to them.

Intertextuality points to the fact that any text at some point in time, has been under the influence of earlier works and through changes in previous works, it has found textual identity. If we analyze the new text meticulously, we will clearly see references to earlier works. In other words, in the essence of all writers' thoughts and ideas one can notice ideas and thoughts of other writers, men of letters and poets. This is called intertextuality based on which every given text is given birth from the ideas and thoughts available in previously existing texts. Harold Bloom writes, in this regard, that the artist/author is always feeling the anxiety of influence of the former artist/author lest his work become a mere copy. Many poets and men of letters while applying concepts, thoughts and anecdotes, put all their efforts in using Qur'anic words, combinations and phrases. Saa'di, a highly skilled writer, extensively used Ayahs and Ahadith from the Qur'an and the Nahj al-Balagha in his ever-pleasant Gulistan. This study aims at revealing Qur'anic and the Nahj al-Balagha intertextuality in Gulistan in order to familiarize readers more with the Qur'anic color and the sayings of Imam Ali Ibn Abi Talib (UHBP) in Sa'di's Gulistan.

The Holy Qur'an, sent down to Prophet Muhammad around 1400 years ago in Hejaz for training and guiding humankind, supplied many moral, social, economic and cultural needs of people of that time. However, from a historical viewpoint on the Qur'an, a group of orientalists believe that the Qur'an has been greatly affected by the literature and culture of that time and its teachings are adapted from costumes and traditions of Pre-Islamic Arabs. Yet in the present article, it is elucidated that although apparently parts of the Qur'an are adapted from the literature of its time, it has been that this book has aptly utilized the words and literary schools of the time of the Qur'an being sent down and has gradually set regulations to train humans. This being said, it is necessary that the Qur’an be historicized and translated culturally and scientifically together with analyses of settings, atmosphere and Asbab al-nuzul of ayahs. Exegetes and translators of the Qur'an thus need to provide interpretations matching the needs of the present time and culture and translate the Qur'an into the language and culture of the time, by adapting from Qur'anic historical stories as well as its educative and doctrinal orders bearing in mind the stability and fixity of this book.

Suspension is a concept whose boundaries go beyond the mere concepts of being and cognition and inclines towards practical (rather than theoretical) areas with effective mechanisms. Limiting suspension to pure theoretical issues make it a passive topic, like thousands of other topics which are at passive positions of recognition or reconstruction. It goes without saying that such functional and practical features cannot make us ignore the conceptual features of suspension because each action, however its cognitive aspects be natural and invisible, inevitably, is based on theoretical considerations. Accordingly, in this article, first, we succinctly analyzed the theoretical aspects and fields of this concept and then analyzed Surah Al-Naba, as a practical sample. The authors of this article believe that the Qur'an is one of the best texts for this research purpose, and the strongest and yet the most succinct expressions of suspense are found in Qur'anic text. Suspension in Surah Al-Naba in a multi-layered and dense condition separates the text from typical linear narratives and through creating a sense of surprise, ambiguity, wandering and waiting and by raising successive implicit questions provide in a coherent, yet complex and unpredictable, structure everything a great literary work requires.

The story of the creation of Adam is one of the Qur'anic stories associated with certain subtleties in exegetic texts, especially mystical exegeses. Among them, Maybodi's Kashf al-Asrar offers a mystical exegesis of this story in asymbolic and pictorial language. His narration of this story in the third chapter of Kashf al-Asrar has many inner layers and implications. We studied these various code layers in the present article. There are different classifications and theories used to analyze the codes of a given text and this study was carried out based on Barthes' Five Codes. Considering the features of his codes such as being narrative-based, and attention to cultural and ideological codes, which have a special place in mystical exegeses, we selected his theory as the basis of our analysis, covering ayahs 30th to 38th of Surah Al-Baqarah in the third chapter of Kashf al-Asrar. The results of this research show that in the story of the creation of Adam, as Maybodi narrated it, there are a variety of hermeneutic, proairetic, semantic, symbolic and cultural codes. Some of these codes can be inferred from the Qur'anic text and some are Maybodi's additions. Among the aforementioned codes, hermeneutic and proairetic codes play the greatest role in developing the story process.