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Iʿjāz al-bayān

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Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī (d. 1274) is arguably the most important thinker of the generation following the main founders of medieval philosophy—al-Fārābī, Ibn Sīnā, Ibn ʿArabī and Suhravardī—and before Mullā Ṣadrā. Despite this, almost nothing of his writings has been translated into English though critical Arabic editions of his major writings have been published.

Iʿjāz al-bayān, his magnum opus, explores some key questions in philosophy, among which is speech (divine and human) in the unfolding of knowing and being. In this influential work, Qūnawī lays forth in detail the principles and semiological tools for interpreting the opening chapter of the Qur’ān, the Fātiḥa. Widely known as the epitome of the Qur’ān, the Fātiḥa was also understood to indicate the divine ‘opening’, the ‘beginning’ of being’s unfolding. Far from a mere analysis of concepts or epistemology, his philosophical ‘exegesis’ is about the self-identical unfolding of speech from the hidden secrecy of the divine source, from which flows God’s creative command, Be!

The doubt that Ibn Sīnā expressed concerning the human capacity to know the 'realities of things' manifested in this unfolding—namely, the letters, words, sentences and meanings of the divine writ of being—by dint of man’s faculties was critical to Qūnawī’s dynamic understanding of what a plenary knowledge of anything must be.

This is an authoritative edition of the Arabic text with an Editor’s Introduction in English and Arabic explaining the mechanics and publication history behind the edition and concisely summarizing the book’s contents. This is a companion volume to The Limits of Discursive Interpretation: A Translation of Kitāb iʿjāz al-bayān fī tafsīr Umm al-Kitāb by Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī

Published: Jan 15, 2025

Series


Section Chapter Authors
Preface
Preface Anthony Shaker
Introduction
Translator's Introduction Anthony Shaker
Main Text
Prologue Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
1. Introduction Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
2. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
3. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
4. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
5. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
6. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
7. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
8. A Universal Fundament I Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
9. A Universal Fundament II Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
10. A Universal Fundament III Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
11. Door Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
12. An Elaboration of His Word by Group: Bism ʾAlllāh al-Raḥmān al-Raḥīm Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
13. Door First Subdivision to ‘Praise be to God, Lord of the worlds [of ‘creation’] Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
14. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
15. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
16. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
17. Completion Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
18. Section Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
19. Voice of the Junction of this Subdivision and its Closure Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
20. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
21. Opening of the Second Subdivision: His Pronouncement of ‘Thee Do We Worship and From Thee We Seek Help’ (Q. 1.5) Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
22. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
23. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
24. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
25. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
26. The Opening of the Third Subdivision of the Principal of the Book Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
27. Instalment from this Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
28. Section Concerning the Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
29. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
30. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
31. Instalment from the Preceding Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
32. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
33. Section Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
34. Conclusion and Comprehensive Guidance Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
35. Section of the 'Guidance' Promised Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
36. Completion of the Discussion on this Sign-verse According to the Requirement of the Antecedent Promise Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
37. Instalment in the Voice of Limit and Dawning Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
38. Instalment from the Preceding Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
39. Instalment On His Pronouncement: ‘Or Those Who Stray’ Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
40. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
41. Another Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
42. An Instalment Higher and More August That Uncovers More Of the Secret by Branch and Root Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
43. The Descent to the Intelligences, a Familiarisation and an Elucidation of an Equivocation with a Precious Similitude Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
44. Section Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
45. Instalment from [the Preceding] in the Voice of Junction of the Junction Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
46. Instalment in an Instalment Containing a Modicum of the Canonical, Radicate and Qurʾānic Secrets Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
47. Instalment On the Junctions of Ordinances, Consonantly with the Book’s Conclusion Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
48. Instalment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
49. The Closing Extolment Ṣadr al-Dīn Qūnawī
End Matter
Sources Anthony Shaker
Endnotes Anthony Shaker