Examining the Applied Meanings of Mazid Verbs in the Holy Quran (Case Study)

Given its transcendental reality, the holy Quran has been verbally manifested in the material world as it was descended upon humans, forming a text written in human language which includes articles, nouns, verbs, and sentences. Clearly, the truth that lies within this book has resulted in Quran to be the subject of various studies through different approaches. One of the neglected subjects in the area of Quranic studies is the expansion of verbs’ semantic realm through transfer from abstract to mazid structures. Mazid verbs are constructed from abstract verbs through an increasing process observing the meaning. Such a process expands on the semantic realm of verbs and their diverse functions within rhetorical textures. The source of theoretical foundations and frameworks of this subject is the knowledge of morphology[1] (sarf) which is regarded as one of the Quranic sciences. Regarding the background of this study, it can be expressed that the subject has only appeared incomprehensively scattered in particular cases in interpretation works such as Tabarsi’s Majma’ al-Bayan, Zamakhshari’s al-Kashshaaf, Ibn Ashour’s al-Tahrir va al-Tanvir, Alusi’s Ruh al-Ma'ani and other earlier and later works of interpretation; there has been no other independent studies on this subject in the form of a paper or a book. It must be pointed out that even in the book, “Literal Interpretation of the Holy Quran” by Mahdi Islami Panah Yazdi which was written solely and expertly through a literary approach, there has been no mention of the meanings of mazid verbs. It is also worth mentioning that in his book, “The Impact of Literary Sciences on Understanding the Holy Quran”, Mohammad Fallahi Qomi has only specified three pages of the book to this subject and presented insignificant evidence from the Quran for five categories (baab) of trilateral mazid verbs without building on their functional meanings. Also in the book, “The Role of Literary Sciences on the Interpretation of Quran” by Ahmad Taherinia as well as another book by Javad Aaseh, “The Role of Syntax Sciences in the Interpretation of Quran”, both published by Imam Khomeini research and education institute in Qom, there has been no mention of this subject. Moreover, authors who have attempted to analyze and integrate the verses of the holy Quran in books such as “E’erab al-Quran va Bayanah” and “Jadval al-E’erab al-Quran”, etc., were not exposed to this subject. In addition, as far as it has been explored in this study, there has been no theses found to bear the title of “explaining the meanings of mazid verbs in the holy Quran” across university or seminary websites. Consequently, it appears that attending to this very subject independently is both necessary and beneficial, and could be considered as an effective step in asserting the role of literary sciences for interpreting the holy Quran. As an interdisciplinary activity, it could also be an effective action to bring the disciplines of Arabic language and literature and Quranic sciences closer together. The present fundamental, theoretical inquiry was conducted through the descriptive-analytical method. In this study, first the mazid verbs used in Quran were identified and categorized based on categories (baabs). Then, certain unknown meanings of them were analyzed in several cases. The findings of this study can be investigated through a single basic rule; this rule states that, “Increase in the morphological structure of the word (verb), results in an mazid, expanded domain of the word’s meaning.”
It is worth mentioning that the above rule holds true in the entire mazid verbs used across the holy Quran. The purpose of this study which revolved around a theoretical, descriptive-analytical exploration of several cases regarding the functional meanings of mazid verbs used throughout the holy Quran, led to the following results Quantitatively, more than 7000 forms of mazid verbs (derived from 800 paragraphs) are used in the holy Quran. This number is approximately equal to one tenth of all words in the holy Quran, and it is an umpteen number.
Said verbs are used in trilateral and quatrain categories, with ef’aal and taf’eel being the most frequent.
In terms of application, these verbs have majorly been used in their own main dominant meanings.
The views of linguists and interpreters regarding the functional meaning of mazid verbs are parallel to each other and no significant difference was observed.
Ultimately, it is recommended to examine the rhetoric applications of mazid verbs with regards to the present requirements.