The Semantics of Qur?anic Language: al-A?ira

In The Semantics of Qur?anic Language: al-A?ira, Ghassan el Masri offers a semantic study of the concept al-a?ira ‘the End’ in the Qur?an. The study is prefaced with a detailed account of the late antique concept of etymologia (Semantic Etymology). In his work, he demonstrates the necessity of this concept for appreciating the Qur?an’s rhetorical strategies for claiming discursive authority in the Abrahamic theological tradition. The author applies the etymological tool to his investigation of the theological significance of al-a?ira, and concludes that the concept is polysemous, and tolerates a large variety of interpretations. The work is unique in that it draws extensively on Biblical material and presents a plethora of pre-Islamic poetry verses in the analysis of the concept.