ing like the work of a Christian commentator,
with all its fresh life and new ideas, is not to be had in Islam. The
perfection of its exegesis is its dogmatic and antique nature--

"While as the world rolls on from age to age,
And realms of thought expand,
The letter stands without expanse or range,
Stiff as a dead man's hand."

The technical terms which the student must know, and {48} the definitions
of which he must understand, are those which relate to the nature of the
words, the sentences, the use of the words of the Quran, and the deduction
of arguments from passages in the book.

I. The words of the Quran are divided into four classes.

1. _Khass_, or special words. These are sub-divided into three classes.
First, words which relate to genus, _e.g._ mankind. Secondly, words which
relate to species, _e.g._ a man, which refers to men as distinguished from
women. Thirdly, words which relate to special individuality, _e.g._ Zeid,
which is the name of a special individual.

2. _'Amm_, or common or collective names, such as "people."

3. _Mushtarik_, or words which have several significations, as the Arabic
word "'ain," which may mean an eye, a fountain, or the sun. Again, the word
"Sulat," if connected with God, may mean mercy, as "Sulat Ullah," the mercy
of God; if with man, it may mean either "namaz," a stated liturgical
service, or "du'a," prayer in its ordinary sense, _e.g._ Sulat-ul-Istisqa
(prayer in time of drought) is du'a, not namaz.

4. _Muawwal_, words which have several significations, all of which are
possible, and so a special explanation is required. For example, Sura
cviii. 2, reads thus in Sale's translation. "Wherefore pray unto the Lord
and _slay_ (the victims)." The word translated "slay" is in Arabic "nahr,"
which has many meanings. The followers of the great Legist Abu Hanifa
render it, "sacrifice," and add the words (the "victims"). The followers of
Ibn Shafa'i say it means "placing the hands on the breast in prayer."

This illustrates the difference between Mushtarik and Muawwal. In the
former, only one meaning is allowable, and that meaning the context
settles; in the latter both meanings are allowable and both right.

These divisions of words having been well mastered and the power of
defining any word in the Quran gained, the {49} student passes on to
consider the nature of the sentences. These are divided into two great
classes,--the "Obvious," and the "Hidden."

This divi