بهجة الأريب في بيان ما في كتاب الله العزيز من الغريب

Bahjat al-Arib fi Bayan Ma fi Kitab Allah al-'Aziz min al-Gharib

A classical work on Gharīb al-Qurʾān, the explanation of uncommon and difficult vocabulary occurring in the Qurʾān, by the distinguished Ḥanafī scholar ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn ʿAlī ibn ʿUthmān al-Mārdīnī, better known as Ibn al-Turkumānī (683–750 AH).

Ibn al-Turkumānī composed the work as an accessible yet substantial guide to difficult Qurʾānic vocabulary. In his introduction, he explains that he drew his material principally from earlier authorities on Gharīb al-Qurʾān, including the works of Abū Bakr al-ʿAzīzī/al-Sijistānī, Ibn Qutaybah and Abū ʿUbayd al-Harawī, together with al-Zamakhsharī’s Tafsīr. He distilled material from these sources and presented the meanings of unfamiliar Qurʾānic words in a concise form intended to facilitate understanding and study.

The work follows the order of the sūrahs of the Qurʾān, from al-Fātiḥah onwards, enabling the reader to consult difficult vocabulary as it occurs in the Muṣḥaf. Within this framework the author employs an alphabetical method based upon the actual form of the word rather than requiring the reader to identify its linguistic root, making the work particularly convenient as a reference for students.

Beyond providing simple lexical equivalents, Bahjat al-Arīb preserves material drawn from the earlier tradition of Qurʾānic philology and linguistic tafsīr, making it useful for understanding vocabulary whose meanings may not be immediately apparent from ordinary Arabic usage. It thus serves as a practical companion to Tafsīr and as a concise representative of the classical scholarly tradition devoted to explaining the gharīb vocabulary of the Qurʾān.