الشاهد الشعري الأموي في تفسير ناصر الدين البيضاوي

The Umayyad Poetic Evidence in the Tafseer of Nasiruddeen Al-Baydhawi

Abstract

The Umayyad era is considered one of the most important periods in which Arabic poetry preserved the characteristics of its early eloquence, while its domains expanded and its themes and orientations diversified. Poets of this age inherited the purity and expressive power of pre-Islamic language, adding to it greater precision in formulation and a wider range of subjects. This made the era a transitional stage between the natural spontaneity of early Arabic expression and the emerging consciousness of refined literary eloquence. Moreover, the miraculous Qur’an had a profound influence on its poets, who grew up under its guidance and formed part of a rising Arab-Islamic civilization. In this context, Imam al-Baydawi found in Umayyad poetry a rich source of evidence and proof, which he used to demonstrate the precision of the Qur'anic structure and to elucidate the secrets and stylistic nuances contained within the text. He benefited from the poetry of this era in clarifying meanings, interpreting vocabulary, and explaining grammatical structures, in addition to employing it to reveal the subtleties of Qur'anic eloquence. His use of these texts was not limited to the beauty of the language or the fame of the poet; rather, he sought from them what testifies to the eloquence of the Arabic language and establishes the enduring nature of its styles. This study comprises four chapters: Chapter One: Dedicated to fifteen linguistic examples, representing the richness of Umayyad vocabulary and the diversity of its meanings. Chapter Two: Addressing three morphological examples, revealing the flexibility of morphological structure in serving the Qur'anic meaning. Chapter Three: Dedicated to twenty-five grammatical examples, demonstrating al-Baydawi's utilization of the rules of inflection and authentic Arabic usage. Chapter Four: Containing three rhetorical examples, highlighting his eloquent sense and his ability to employ poetry in appreciating the Qur'anic style and elucidating its aspects of miraculous eloquence. Thus, this research constitutes an important link in explaining the impact of the Umayyad poetic evidence on interpretation, and the extent of its role in preserving the styles of Arabic expression, and confirming that Arabic in its originality is a unified, interconnected whole, whose bonds are not broken between the pre-Islamic, Islamic, and Umayyad periods.