The concept of nazm in Fakhr al-dîn al-Râzî's understanding of i'jâz and tafsîr

The theory of nazm which was established by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 471/1078) to explain the phenomenon of the Qur'anic miracle has found its most fruitful application in the tafsir literature and has directed the subsequent language, balagha and tafsir studies. In this thesis, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's (d. 606/1210) understanding of nazm, who stands at an important point in the course of the theory, is studied within the scope of his thoughts in tafsir, i'jaz and balagha fields. In the first part, the historical background of the concept of nazm exhibited in different scientific traditions. Here showed that the concept of nazm was first dealt with in a theoretical scale by al-Jurjani, and has not found a serious response in the i'jaz and balagha literature in the period between al-Jurjani and al-Razi, and brought on the agenda both in theoretical and practical level by al-Razi first time after al-Jurjani. In the main part of the thesis, the concept of nazm examined respectively in historical order throughout al-Razi's three related works; Nihayat al-ijaz, Nihayat al-'uqul and Mafatih al-ghayb. In the study reached the conclusion that the theory of nazm has been taken over by al-Razi instrumentally, neglecting its main issues and conceptual emphases.