The Theology of Meaning: Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's Theory of Discourse.

• Author: Gully, Adrian

The vast contribution of Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 471 or 474/1078 or 1081) to Arabic literary theory has come to the fore during the last few decades. A great deal of scholarly interest has rightly been given to his sophisticated theory of discourse. There can perhaps be no higher praise bestowed on al-Jurjani than the words of Aziz al-Azmeh, for instance, who in his Arabic Thought and Islamic Societies (London: Croom Helm, 1986), 120, described al-Jurjani's theory of poetic and Quranic composition as "one of the most sustained, refined, rigorous and durable attempts to construct a theory of the production of meaning in discourse analysis in any language and at any time." Yet in spite of some of the detailed analyses of al-Jurjani's two main works, Dala il al-l jaz and Asrar al-Balagha, the theological influence in his writing has perhaps been underestimated. However, Margaret Larkin has produced a fine work which sets out to harmonize the theological nature of the doctrine of the inimitability of the Quran with its linguistic or rhetorical aspects. In emphasizing al-Jurjani's theologically inspired motives Larkin establishes that he was much more than just a literary critic.

This book comprises five main chapters in addition to the detailed introduction and conclusion. The first of these gives a necessary and carefully argued background to the "speculative theology" (p. 25) of al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar (d. 415/1024), the Mutazili mutakallim whose scholarship appears to have been a main focal point for al-Jurjani in his development of a theory of discourse. The remaining chapters are based on an assessment of four terms and concepts which are axiomatic to an understanding of al-Jurjani's theories, and, as the author shows, to a deeper cognizance of their epistemological foundation; hence a chapter is devoted to each of the terms ma na (and its sisters), majaz, sura, and takhyil. There is also a long appendix containing the sections of Arabic texts which have been used and translated in the main body of the work. The presentation of these texts is extremely clear, and their inclusion marks an honest acknowledgment by the author that they are an essential aid for the reader in his efforts to come to terms with the complexities of al-Jurjani's language. As a result of this appendix, one can ascertain that a great deal of care and effort has been taken by the author to achieve consistency and accuracy in translation. By itself this is something...