Typology of the Qur’anic Latā’if in the Commentaries of Mafātīh al-Ghayb and Kashf al-Asrār

Abstract

Qur’anic latā’if are points and perceptions that are beyond the comprehension of the Qur’anic researchers. They have much benefits and the greatest impact on the hearts. The purpose of this research is to discover the Qur’anic latā’if in the commentaries of Mafātīh al-Ghayb of Fakhr Rāzī and Kashf al-Asrār wa ‘Uddat al-Abrār of Meibudī and how they deal (methodology) with these phrases. The research community is textual, including thirty parts of the Qur’an based on the commentaries of Fakhr Rāzī and Meibudī. This research is fundamental in purpose and descriptive-analytical in method. The findings show that Fakhr Rāzī has mentioned more latā’if in the last ten parts of the Qur’an, while Meibudī has mentioned most of the latā’if in the first parts of the Qur’an. Fakhr Rāzī has mentioned over 250 latā’if for the verses in 23 different types, including: spiritual latāfah, verbal latāfah, etc., of which 9 types are exemplified in this research. However, Meybodi has mentioned about 60 latā’if in 3 different types and believes that the Qur’anic latā’if are the wonders of the Qur’an. He sometimes mentions a latāfah as a “secret”. In conclusion, both Fakhr Rāzī and Meibudī did not have a standard in mentioning the latāfah of the verses and do not have a specific method, but they relied on their own opinion. Fakhr Rāzī has dealt with the latāfah in a more specific way than Meibudī, which can be found both from mentioning more latāfah for the verses and their specific and abundant types.