A Contextual Analysis of the Semantic Transformation of Qur’anic Verses in al-Hariri’s Maqāmāt: A Study of the Interpretive Functions of Qur’anic Adaptations

Abstract

One of the fundamental issues in Qur’anic studies is the role of context (siyāq) in determining and delimiting the meaning of Qur’anic verses. Nevertheless, relatively little research has examined the fate of Qur’anic meanings when verses are transferred from their original Qur’anic context into literary contexts. Al-Hariri’s Maqāmāt is among the most prominent works of classical Arabic prose in which Qur’anic verses are extensively and diversely adapted. Therefore, it may be regarded not merely as an independent subject of literary analysis but also as a field for the realization of intertextuality and the manifestation of semantic transformation in Qur’anic verses. The central question of this study is how the transfer of verses from a revelatory context to a literary-narrative context affects their meanings and how such changes can be analyzed within the framework of Qur’anic studies. Adopting a qualitative, interpretive-analytical approach grounded in Qur’anic contextual analysis, the study selects its samples through purposive sampling and examines them through a multi-stage analytical procedure that begins with reconstructing the exegetical context of each verse and proceeds to investigating the semantic transformations resulting from contextual displacement. The findings reveal five principal patterns of semantic transformation: preservation of meaning, expansion of meaning, specification of meaning, transfer of meaning, and reversal of meaning. In many instances, a significant gap is observed between the meaning established within the revelatory context and the meaning generated within the literary context, although in some cases the semantic core of the verse or Qur’anic expression remains largely intact. This gap contributes both to the aesthetic function and to the complex semantic layers of the adaptations. Rather than claiming to provide an empirical test of contextual theory, the study offers an analytical and applied validation of that theory within the domain of intertextual texts. Ultimately, it concludes that Qur’anic adaptations in classical literature can serve as a practical arena for examining the application of contextual theory in Qur’anic studies.