Kees Versteegh stimulated the discussion on the history and development of Arab grammatical thinking in a number of his publications. In one of his books, he reflects upon an earlier analysis of al-Farra's linguistic methods in his Ma'ani , pointing out the insufficient analysis of idmar and its related terms in this work. This chapter picks up these two threads and examine, on the one hand, in some detail the role of idmar in the Maani l-Quran of al-Farra and, on the other hand, analyzes the role and place of this grammatical commentary of the Quran from the point of view of other grammars and other exegetical works, like for example those of al-Axfas and at-Tabari. In order t o have a brief overview of the methods used by al-Farra, a few examples from the beginning of the Ma'ani are presented. Keywords: idmar ; al-Axfas; Al-Farra ; at-Tabari; Kees Versteegh; Maani