Scholarly Reception and Relationship to Al-Itqan

Al-Burhan achieved immediate recognition as a major scholarly achievement and was consulted by Quranic scholars and commentators across the Islamic world. Its organizational framework for ulum al-Quran was adopted and built upon by as-Suyuti in al-Itqan, a fact that is itself the greatest testimonial to its influence. As-Suyuti's expansion of az-Zarkashi's framework did not diminish the value of al-Burhan; rather, the two works came to be used together, with al-Burhan valued for its earlier perspective and sometimes for the greater depth of its treatment of specific topics.

The relationship between al-Burhan and al-Itqan is not one of simple supersession. Az-Zarkashi's treatment of some topics — particularly in the linguistic and rhetorical sections — is more detailed and arguably more penetrating than as-Suyuti's. Scholars who need the most comprehensive treatment of a specific topic often consult both works and compare their approaches. The fact that al-Burhan was a pioneering work also gives it historical significance independent of its scholarly content: it established the field of ulum al-Quran as a unified discipline.

In the modern academic study of the Quran, al-Burhan is studied alongside al-Itqan as a primary source for the history of Quranic scholarship. Scholars interested in how the Islamic tradition has understood and analyzed its own sacred text — what methods it has used, what questions it has found important, and what conclusions it has reached — use both works as foundational references. The comparison between the two reveals how the field developed in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

Az-Zarkashi's other works have also maintained scholarly relevance. Al-Manthur fi al-Qawa'id al-Fiqhiyya is an important reference in the field of legal maxims, and his work on hadith sciences contributed to those disciplines as well. But al-Burhan remains his most important scholarly legacy. The fact that al-Burhan's original contributions remain visible and valuable even after as-Suyuti's more comprehensive al-Itqan is the surest confirmation of its independent scholarly standing: az-Zarkashi was not merely providing material for a later, better compilation, but producing original insights that neither as-Suyuti nor subsequent scholars have fully superseded. Students who engage with both works discover that the tradition of Quranic scholarship is richer for having two distinct minds work through the same foundational questions.