Mubīn and Its Cognates in the Qurʾān

Abstract

Abstract This study investigates the meaning of the term mubīn and its cognates in the Qurʾān. It examines the debate over whether mubīn has the basic meaning of “clear” or “clarifying,” weighing the various arguments that have been made for the two sides. Consideration of the requirements of qurʾānic end-rhyme and the distribution of the adjectives bayyin (masc.) and bayyinah (fem.) “clear” suggest that mubīn means “clear” and not “clarifying.” The meanings of the other cognates of mubīn are examined as well. It is argued that the feminine singular mubayyinah, an anomalous form that occur three times in the reading of Ḥafṣ, might instead be rendered bayyinah or mubīnah, both attested variants meaning “clear.” It is also suggested that a possible way to resolve the anomaly of the feminine plural mubayyināt, which also occurs three times in the reading of Ḥafṣ, would be to emend it to the feminine plural bayyināt “clear,” which occurs frequently in very similar contexts.