QJOURNAL OF LITERARY QURANIC RESEARCHES
Year:2018 | Volume:6 | Issue:3|Papers Count:7

Characterization as one of the main narrative elements deals with the selection, arrangement, introduction, and the roles of characters in stories. Using Safavi’ s translation of the Qur'an, this article attempts to study the characterization of the stories related to our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and other prophets in the Qur'anic text. The findings of this study show that: 1) Although the application of all the methods offered by Rimmon-Kenan is visible in the characterizations of the Qur'an, the defect of this theory is ignoring characters' motivations in doing actions in analyzing the characters in the Qur'anic stories. 2) The indirect presentation has been used more frequently than direct presentation. 3) Among the different methods of the indirect presentation, action and speech have respectively been used more than others. 4) Non-habitual actions are more common than habitual ones. 5) Nearly one third of the Qur'anic characterization is related to introducing God and His attributes. 6) Speech becomes less important in characterization in the stories of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in comparison with the stories of other prophets.

A branch of literary criticism is narratology and the analysis of the syntax dominant in narrative stories. One of the characteristic features of the Qur'an is its use of narrative elements in story processing. The present descriptive-analytical study aimed at analyzing the narrative method of the life story of Yusuf (PBUH) using the theory of the French scholar Zheplint Volt. It specifically analyzed story elements such as point of view, plot, structure and narrative type. In this fashion, given the practical difference between the narrator and the actor, two main forms of narratives, comprising similar and dissimilar narratives of the world of story, are defined. From the perspective of narrative type, the story of Yusuf (PBUH) is dissimilar, narrated integrating author and actor. The point of view is third person omniscient. The pattern of the story plots has a complete structure except the pattern of the first plot (i. e. Yusuf's dream) that has no structuring force and is resolved via the last pattern of the story, (i. e. Jacob's journey to visit Yusuf), where in other words the artistic manifestations of the narration reaches its climax. The pattern role in adventures of the life of Yusuf (PBUH) familiarizes the audience with the most informative exegetic interpretations and the omniscient depicts some manifestations of achieving perfection, spirituality and spiritual conduct in the most difficult areas of individual and social life through a desirable processing and an artistic structure in the narrative elements, and thus makes the Qur'anic language communicative and eloquent.

Dorre-ye Nadereh, authored by Mirza Mohammad Mehdi Astarabadi, which spans Iran's history from the beginning of the rule of Nader Shah Afshar to his death, is the most difficult and stilted Persian prose. Historiography is an excuse for the author to show his artistic talents and create literary works. Apart from the evaluation of the degree of the acceptability of this work for his readership, the author's expertise and creativity in the creation of literariness of the text is adorable and unique. The main feature of the book are the verbal arrangements in which the Qur'anic ayahs have contributed greatly and frequently. The present research aims to investigate the aspects of the beauty of the Qur'anic ayahs in the Dorre-ye Nadereh and answer, inter alia, the following questions: What roles the Qur'anic ayahs have played in the beauty of the Dorre-ye Nadereh? How does this beauty appear in the Dorre-ye Nadereh? What objectives has the author had in mind in doing so? The research method used is content analysis that was carried out after extracting the ayahs used in the text, their classification and counting. The most significant contributions to the beauty of the text of this book, which are part of the authorial style, are mentioned as a result of this study. The results revolve around seven main points as follows: 1-baraat al-istihlal 2-simile 3-grammatical functions 4-allegory 5-description 6-reference and citation 7-parenthetical sentences.

Understanding phrases and words used in the Holy Qur'an is one step in comprehending this holy book. Interpreters should thus rely on the meanings of words to offer and explain their opinions and interpretations and should consider semantic relationships among words. However, can the superficial meaning of words or the meanings of words in their usage be considered as the basis of perception or those meanings can include the used meanings? We addressed this question drawing on Tafsir Al-Mizan, noting that Allame Tabatabai'e believes that the Holy Qur'anic words are not vague because the Holy Qur'an is the book of guidance and hence needs to be clear in meaning and free of any complicacy. This paper is specifically an attempt to survey the semantic evolution of words from Allame Tabatabai'e’ s point of view and to prove that although semantic evolution of words entail more than one meaning for a given word, there is still a strong relationship between the evolved meaning and the original one. In fact, the evolved meaning is still closely connected to the original meaning. In other words, through methods and processes like using metaphors, covering abstract rather than concrete meaning, and semantic expansion or contraction, a given word has acquired a new implication which is based on its original and old meaning. Analyzing the status of the semantic evolution of words in Tafsir Al-Mizan is what the present descriptive-analytical study intended to do in its attempt to shed light on this key aspect of interpretation and to highlight the outstanding position of this Shia interpretation. Words such as “ ajal, al-suht, akhbat, rih, etc. ” are some examples of words carrying meanings different yet relevant to their original meanings through semantic evolution. This point has not been neglected by Allame Tabatabai'e in his articulate and scholarly expressions while interpreting the ayahs. Paying attention to changes in words’ references underlines the point that Qur'anic words are not limited to their superficial meaning but encompass the spirit of meaning as well.

The past tense is used in the Qur'an with a high frequency to refer to past occurrences. However, the function of the past tense is not always limited to this prototypical aim and when placed in different structures, it has found a metaphorical function, encoding modal concepts that are the metaphorical expansion of the prototypical meanings of words. Taking a cognitive semantic approach, and using the theory of conceptual metaphor and mental space the present descriptive-analytical study aimed to examine this type of application of the past tense in the Qur'an. Considering the fact that using the past tense has occasionally caused difficulty in understanding the Qur'anic ayahs and as a result has make different interpretations possible, analyzing the quality and functions of such verbs seems to be essential. The results show that in different structures including conditionals and subjunctives, the past tense has no temporal function, but metaphorically indicates modal concepts such as being unreal and hypothetical.

By introducing the theory of transtextuality, Gerard Genette opened a new chapter in the study of the relations between various texts, one category of which is intertextuality. According to intertextuality, the relationships between texts can be of three forms of explicit intertextuality, implicit intertextuality, and allusions. The religious motifs of the Qur'an have been an inseparable part of Persian poetry from its beginning. In intertextual terms, these Qur'anic motifs are among the main sub-texts influencing the creation of literary works. Qur'anic topics and concepts have not only been by themselves valuable for poets, but have been used to express mystical, romantic, folklore, and even political thoughts and interpretations. However, in any epoch only some of these approaches have been predominant. In Saib's ghazals, that can be considered as an encyclopedia of various subjects and themes, religious motifs are abundant. Words, terms, religious and moral topics, religious law, and stories are among the most important Qur'anic subjects existing in Saib's ghazals. This co-presence of Qur'anic themes and literary expression has provided the means for the literal, artistic and content richness of his poetry. Given the vast scope and the vital role of the abovementioned subjects, discovering and analyzing them from the perspective of intertextual relationships can lead us to a better grasp of his poetry. The present descriptive-analytical study tried to study these intertextual relations drawing on Genette's intertextuality. The results show that Saib has used words and terms in the field of “ explicit intertextuality” , and Qur'anic ideas, insights and stories in the field of “ implicit intertextuality” .

Semantics is the scientific study of meaning, which analyzes the meanings of words in terms of the semantic systems they belong to. One of the most important ways that has attracted the attention of literary critics is reliance on syntagmatic and pragmatic relationships because through the semantic network of a given word, its exact meaning can be obtained by examining the words, in case of the Qur'an in the contexts of ayahs. The word "azaab", i. e. torment, is one of the most frequent words in the Qur'an and in the present research, we tried to answer the question that which words are the most important collocates and substitutes of this word. Taking a semantic perspective on the syntagmatic and paradigmatic axes, it can be said that this word has collocated in the Holy Qur'an with words such as "kufr (disbelief)", "zulm (oppression)", "kibr (arrogance)", "nifaq (hypocrisy)", which are factors that bring about inflicting torments on humans. As for the pragmatic axis, the word in question is a near synonym of words such as "khasara (loss)", "habata (annulment of one's works)", "eqaab (consequence)", "naar (Fire (of hell))", and "jazaa' (punishment)", each of which in some ways represent torment. The present descriptive-analytical research thus aimed to investigate the term "azaab", relying on terminological studies and analysis through collocations and substitutions. Accordingly, first, the frequent collocations of the word under discussion were identified and then based on the collocations, the substitutions of this concept embodied as words were addressed.