Abstract:

It is an accepted reality that Ebüssuûd Efendi made significant contributions to the grammar and rhetoric of the Arabic language. He explored his opinions and made contributions in his monumental exegises work Irshād al-‘aql alsalīm. Irshād al-‘aql al-salīm is the magnum opus of Ebüssuûd Efendi that brought him reputation and prestige in particular, achieving great relevance in scientific and political circles, which soon became the most popular exegesis after alZamakhsharī’s Keşşāf and al-Baydāwī’s Envārü't-Tenzīl throughout the Ottoman lands. He explained that he wrote his exegises with the purpose of reconstructing the Qur'an’s especially literal subtleties in a new style worthy of the divine revelation’s verbal and literary beauties. We will examine in this paper the very contributions of Ebussuud in Arabic language and eloquence/rhetoric as it was provided in the Irshad al-‘aql al-salīm on the example of the art of Mushakala, dividing it into two chapters. In the first chapter of this modest work, general information will be given about Irshād al-‘aql alsalīm’s place and importance in Arabic language and rhetoric. In the second chapter, it will describe the Mushakala art’s conceptual framework in the Arabic rhetoric, after which it will investigate Ebussuud’s contributions in the Arabic rhetoric with a concentration on his remarks and explorations regarding the art of Mushakala in comparison with al-Zamakhsharī and al-Baydāwī’s opinions, to be able to bring out Ebussuud’s contributions in the Arabic rhetoric on the basis of concrete evidences.

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