Abstract:
The strange words in the glorious Qur’an, called ‘gharib’ words, are one of the
most important examples of linguistic and rhetoric Qur’an inimitability. It materializes
the very limits of the Arabs to understand some originally Arabic words in the Qur’an.
With the increasing of Qur’anic studies on the one hand, and the spreading of
Islam into non-Arabic nations on the other hand, the science of gharib appeared, and
gave birth to the creation of gharib glossaries, which started from the time of Sahaba,
and which still continues to exist so far.
This study tackles the following problematic: “What are the motives of gharib
glossaries creation? And what are the main differences in their creation? The study
assumes that there are some motives for the creation of gharib glossaries, and some
differences in their creation.
The study adopts a descriptive and comparative method to describe motives and
compare differences. The main results of this theoretical study shows that the motives
of creating gharib glossaries lie in rooting gharib science, serving and understanding
Qur’an, and serving and enriching Arab language, while the differences lie in the
method of ordering gharib words, the method of explaining gharib words, the method
of entitling gharib glossaries, and the method of creation between gharib and exegesis
scholars.
The study aims at highlighting the importance and the specificity of gharib
science, and thus, showing the importance of gharib glossaries, so as to facilitate the
research process therein, and insist on the necessity of concerting efforts to promote
their creation.
The study gives roots to gharib science, which in turn gave birth to the gharib
glossaries creation. It also sums up the differences in their creation which scholars
referred only to some of them and in dispersed references.