Arabic appears to have many synonyms. Al-Askari's argument, made a thousand years ago and still standing, is that it has very few — and that the fine distinctions between words treated as interchangeable are where a great deal of meaning actually lives.
That matters enormously for anyone reading the Qur'an. When two apparently equivalent words appear in different verses, the choice was not arbitrary.
What the Work Does
- Explores the relationship between words and their quasi-synonyms
- Explains and illustrates the form of the lexis and its authentic usage
- Provides comprehensive support for scholars, teachers and researchers
Usage is exemplified throughout from the Qur'an, the Hadith and Islamic jurisprudence, which keeps the distinctions anchored in real texts rather than in constructed examples.
Its Particular Value in Translation
Anyone who has compared two English translations of the same verse has met this problem directly. Translators reach for the same English word to cover several distinct Arabic ones, and the distinction disappears.
This reference is a genuine contribution in the field of translation and lexical reference, and it is offered as a handbook for students of the Islamic sciences working to bring the Islamic heritage into English.
The Adaptation
By Prof. Dr. Mohammad Akram Chaudhary, a Fulbright laureate and Vice Chancellor of the University of Sargodha. He holds master's degrees in both Arabic and Philosophy from the University of the Punjab and a doctorate from the University of Glasgow, where he worked under leading orientalists of the time, with post-doctoral work at Colorado, Boulder and Arizona, Tucson.
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