al-Raghib composes the Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an among his Qur'anic monographs, early 5th/11th century

الراغب يضع «مفردات ألفاظ القرآن» ضمن مصنفاته القرآنية، نحو أوائل المئة الخامسة

c. 1014 CE · 405 AH

Isfahan

al-Raghib composed his alphabetical lexicon of Qur'anic vocabulary, the Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an, as one of a series of monographs on the Qur'an: in its introduction he refers to two earlier works of his — the Risala munabbiha 'ala fawa'id al-Qur'an and the Risala fi'l-qawanin al-dalla 'ala tahqiq munasabat al-alfaz, both apparently lost — and promises a further study of apparent synonyms, probably the Durrat al-ta'wil 1.

Depth

At a glance

Era
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era
Region
Persia & Central Asia

In time

1000101010201030 c.
The Buyid, Fatimid and Seljuk Era

In space

Isfahan

Map: Natural Earth, public domain · places and route from the graph

Overview

al-Raghib al-Isfahani compiled his alphabetical lexicon Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an, the clearest display of his predilection for subtle semantic analysis; its influence can still be traced in tafsir and in the lexicons of Qur'anic vocabulary 1.

Within a Qur'anic series

In the Mufradat's introduction al-Raghib mentions two earlier works of his — the Risala munabbiha 'ala fawa'id al-Qur'an and the Risala fi'l-qawanin al-dalla 'ala tahqiq munasabat al-alfaz, both apparently lost — and promises a book on the obscure distinctions between apparent synonyms in the Qur'an, probably the Durrat al-ta'wil fi mutashabih al-tanzil 1.

No source dates the composition precisely; it is placed tentatively within his activity in the early fifth century before his death 1.

Connections

Explore the connections

Had participant
al-Raghib al-Isfahani
Occurred at
Isfahan
Mentions
Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an

People and things also explored

al-Raghib al-Isfahani· al-Raghib al-Isfahani in the orbit of al-Sahib Ibn Abbad's circle, about 385· Death of al-Raghib al-Isfahani, most probably Rabi' II 412· al-Raghib writes during the vizierate of Abu al-Abbas al-Dabbi, 385–399· Isfahan· Mufradat fi gharib al-Qur'an· Jameh Mosque of Isfahan· Gharib al-Qur'an (the rare words of the Qur'an)

Sources

  1. Encyclopaedia of Islam, 2nd edition (Leiden: Brill, 1954–2008), 13 volumes , vol. 8 pp. 389-390
Cite this page

islam.museum contributors. “al-Raghib composes the Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an among his Qur'anic monographs, early 5th/11th century”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/event/raghib-mufradat-quran-405/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-11-01.

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al-Raghib al-Isfahani

Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn al-Mufaddal, known as al-Raghib al-Isfahani; a man of letters and religious scholar of Isfahan who flourished in the age of al-Sahib Ibn Abbad's literary circle and his successor Abu al-Abbas al-Dabbi, with no sound evidence that he ever left his native city. Famed for the Muhadarat al-udaba', the Mufradat alfaz al-Qur'an, and al-Dhari'a ila makarim al-shari'a — al-Ghazali's direct source for a good half of his Mizan al-'amal — he died most probably in Rabi' II 412.