نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسنده English
The term ālāʾ is a relatively frequent Qurʾānic vocable that appears exclusively in this plural form. While classical exegetes and lexicographers predominantly maintain that ālāʾ is the plural of aly, ilā, or alan and denotes “blessings” or “bounties,” lexicographical sources provide no decisive consensus regarding its precise singular form, nor do they furnish conclusive linguistic evidence to corroborate this standard derivation. A preliminary examination of Sūrat al-Raḥmān—wherein ālāʾ recurs thirty-one times—further casts doubt on this conventional reduction to ordinary “blessings.” Accordingly, this study applies a structural semantic and thematic exegetical method to determine the critical semantic value of ālāʾ across lexicographical usage, classical Arabic poetry, and the Qurʾānic corpus, evaluating the extent to which traditional exegetical consensus reflects actual textual usage. An exhaustive analysis of Arabic lexicons and the immediate contexts (siyāq) of the thirty-four Qurʾānic verses containing ālāʾ reveals that the term can rarely be interpreted as mere generic blessings. Rather, it signifies monumental bounties, wondrous divine grace, manifestations of divine omnipotence and subjugation—especially through the annihilation of tyrannical individuals and dominant nations—and the infliction of worldly chastisement on oppressors and eschatological punishment on sinners, alongside denoting exalted divine attributes. Furthermore, select traditions from the Infallibles (AS) corroborate this wider semantic range, affirming ālāʾ as wondrous divine favors, sublime divine qualities, and supreme blessings, foremost among which is the grace of wilāyah.
کلیدواژهها English
