Word Study Analysis of the Verses of the Qur’an in Imam Riḍā (A.S.)’s Interpretive Narrations Based on the Text Analysis Method

One of the necessary conditions for understanding the contents of any word, including the Holy Qur’an, is the knowledge of the meanings of its words. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the interpreter of the words of Revelation to acquire the concepts of its words by using the appropriate method; because paying close attention to the conceptual features of each Qur’anic word plays a key role in the correct interpretation of the verses. A part of the interpretative heritage of Ahl al-Bayt (A.S.) is dedicated to this part and by studying it one can find the proper method of semantics of the words of the Qur’an. Using the method of text analysis and text research, this paper has investigated the word study in Imam Riḍā (A.S.)’s interpretive narrations and has come to the conclusion that in the word analysis of the verses of the Qur’an, the Imam (A.S.) has taken into consideration the components of “explanation of the apparent meaning of the single words (mufradāt)”, “explanation of the rhetorical points and purposes of the words of the verses”, “expression of meaning-oriented morphological-syntactic points”, “attention to different readings”, “attention to the context” and “culture-orientedness”. According to the findings of the research, the Imam (A.S.) has paid attention to both lexical word analysis and Qur’anic single-word study in explaining mufradāt. In his interpretive narrations, “paying attention to the figurative meaning of the word and its semantic development”, “discourse-observation in the explanation of the word” and “pointing to the lack of synonymy” can also be seen, while his holiness has taken all of these into consideration with an emphasis on answering the related doubts and explaining the right theological beliefs for the addressees.