A Critical Study of Zamakhsharī’s Interpretive Thoughts in Al-Kashshāf

Tafsīr-e-Kashshāf is one of the most important interpretations that has been considered by most commentators of the Qur’an. From Zamakhsharī’s point of view, the science of semantics and expression is the most important and necessary knowledge for the interpretation of the Qur’an. In his view, not only with the help of this science, the rhetorical aspects of the Qur’an are known, but also the subtleties and beauties of the Qur’an are known only in the light of this knowledge. According to Zamakhsharī, the most delicate and precise topics of rhetorical sciences are the industry of Takhyīl (i.e. some kind of imagination), without which the interpretation and understanding of the verses of the Qur’an is not possible. The industry of Takhyīl is a kind of compound simile that is used to depict wonderful meanings and indescribable concepts that cannot be explained by a simple description. Zamakhsharī, while considering the verses of the Qur’an as miracles, eloquence and rhetoric, does not count all the verses as rhetoric on the same level. Zamakhsharī has tried to prove the legitimacy of his religion by interpreting the verses of the Qur’an. Zamakhsharī has opened a new horizon in the subject of Qur’anic rhetoric and has been able to introduce new points and materials on the topics that Abdul Qāhir Jurjānī (d. 471 AH) has invented about the rhetoric and meanings of the miracles of the Qur’an.