—a familiarity that extended to the language’s constructions as well. He also drew upon earlier philologists who had explained Quranic vocabulary, such as Yahyā ibn Ziyād al-Farrā, Abū Ubaydah Mamar ibn al-Muthannā, Saīd ibn Masadah al-Akhfash, Alī ibn Hamzah al-Kisāī, Abū Alī Qutrub, al-Nadr ibn Shumayl, and others (1).

Despite the many linguistic quotations he took from Abū Ubaydah’s Majāz al-Quran, usually without naming him, al-Tabarī criticized him severely whenever he disagreed with him. His criticism sometimes went so far as to accuse him of foolishness, as when he said:

“Some foolish people have claimed that the Arabs did not know the name al-Rahmān and that it formed no part of their language.”

Al-Tabarī would permit the words of Allah to be understood only according to their most prevalent and familiar meanings among the Arabs, unless proof established otherwise, in which case he would accept it. An expression may therefore be interpreted contrary to its apparent meaning only when there is an indication requiring this, for Allah—glorious is His praise—addressed them as He did so that they might understand the meaning of His address.

Al-Tabarī also used linguistic evidence as a criterion for preferring one Quranic reading over another, as will be discussed.

[3 – Attention to Grammar]

Ibn Jarīr al-Tabarī devoted considerable attention to grammar in his commentary and applied its rules to Quranic exegesis with a mastery that reflected his extensive expertise in the discipline. Al-Tabarī came after Arabic grammar had attained its fullest maturity. The debates between the Basran and Kufan schools over grammatical questions had borne fruit, leading to the consolidation and maturation of the discipline’s principles. Once it had matured, it found its home in Baghdad, and al-Tabarī drew his grammatical knowledge from this pure spring. He studied the views of both schools until he became one of the discipline’s leading authorities. In interpreting the Quran, he therefore drew upon explanations of