evaluation of irony in al-kashāf commentary

irony is considered as a rhetorical device that is used more frequently than trope and metaphor. consequently, in spite of all their disagreements in defining irony varieties over centuries, rhetoricians have made significant efforts and have left some conspicuous works about it. al-kashāf al-zamakhshari commentary is the most well-known source of rhetorical interpretation that is referred to in understanding literary beauties and sublime meanings of the quran. due to the great importance of irony in al-kashāf commentary, this study intends to examine the concept of irony in this commentary, al-zamakhshari's innovations regarding irony, his approaches to express quranic ironies, and the effects of al-zamakhshari's religious beliefs on the discussion of irony. the findings of this study reveal that it is al-zamakhshari who has proposed for the first time the difference between trope and irony, irony in single words, and the difference between irony and allusive proposition. moreover, he has been the first one to use the direct and the indirect approaches to elucidate quranic ironies. finally, his mutazilaist beliefs have had a great effect on his discussion of irony. that is to say, he has considered some of the ironic images of the quran that has been contrary to the mutazila principles to be trope, allegory, or imagery.