Deletion and Estimation in Books on the Parsing (I'rab) of the Noble Quran: An Analytical Approach to Syntactic Disagreement between the Basran and Kufan Schools

Abstract

This study examines ellipsis and syntactic estimation in works devoted to the grammatical analysis of the Qur’an, considering them among the principal interpretive mechanisms employed by Arab grammarians to account for syntactic structures and to explain constructions that may appear inconsistent with established grammatical rules. The study aims to investigate the nature of ellipsis and estimation in Qur’anic grammatical analysis and to identify the methodological foundations underlying the disagreements between Basran and Kufan grammarians in selected cases involving omitted elements or syntactic interpretation. It also examines how authors of Qur’anic grammatical works presented, evaluated, and preferred among these competing analyses. The study adopts a descriptive, analytical, and comparative approach based on selected examples from works on Qur’anic meanings and grammar, Qur’anic parsing, exegesis, and Arabic grammar. The analysis indicates that ellipsis and estimation did not constitute a uniform procedure among grammarians; rather, their use varied according to different conceptions of analogy and linguistic attestation, the scope of ellipsis in Arabic usage, and the extent to which syntactic estimation was considered necessary. The study further demonstrates that authors of Qur’anic grammatical works did not merely reproduce earlier disagreements, but often critically assessed competing interpretations and preferred analyses that were more consistent with context and meaning and less dependent on excessive grammatical speculation. The study concludes that examining ellipsis and estimation provides significant insight into the methodologies underlying Qur’anic grammatical interpretation and that grammatical disagreement in this field cannot always be reduced to a simple Basran–Kufan dichotomy, since several cases reveal individual positions that transcend traditional school boundaries.