al-Durra al-Bahiya Nazm al-Ajrumiyya
- Author died
- 1003 AH
- Editions
- al-Durra al-Bahiya Nazm al-Ajrumiyya
al-Durra al-Bahiya Nazm al-Ajrumiyya (Arabic: الدرة البهية نظم الآجرومية, lit. 'The Splendid Pearl: Versification of al-Ajrumiyya') is a versified primer on Arabic grammar by the Egyptian Shafi'i scholar Sharaf al-Din al-Umriti (d. after 989 AH / 1581 CE; also reported as d. c. 890 AH / 1485 CE) . The text renders into verse the foundational prose grammatical handbook al-Muqaddima al-Ajrumiyya by Ibn Ajurrum (d. 723 AH / 1323 CE) .
Composition and Purpose
The work was completed in 976 AH (1568–1569 CE) . Al-Umriti composed it in the rajaz meter (urjuza) at the request of a close companion . In the opening verses, he highlights the necessity of preserving the Arabic tongue to comprehend the meanings of the Quran and the Sunnah, noting that grammar is the foremost science to learn because speech cannot be understood without it . The poem opens with the line:
الحمد لله الذي قد وفقا ... للعلم خير خلقه وللتقى
"Praise be to God, who has granted success in knowledge and piety to the best of His creation."
Structure and Method
Al-Umriti designed the poem to facilitate memorization for beginners while adapting Ibn Ajurrum's original concise treatise . In his prologue, he explains his methodology: he omitted elements he deemed superfluous, introduced beneficial additions, and supplemented most chapters so that the poem serves as a commentary alongside the core text .
The poem covers the standard divisions of elementary grammar, beginning with the definition and components of speech (kalam), inflection (i'rab), and the markers of nominative, accusative, genitive, and jussive cases . It proceeds through the governance of verbs, the nominative nouns—including the agent (fa'il), the deputy agent (na'ib al-fa'il), and the subject and predicate (al-mubtada' wa-l-khabar)—and other primary grammatical categories .
Commentaries and Editions
The versification received substantial pedagogical attention and was explained by later scholars in several commentaries:
- Sharh al-Durra al-Bahiya fi Nazm al-Ajrumiyya by Ibrahim ibn Hasan al-Ahsa'i (d. 1048 AH / 1638–1639 CE) .
- Fath Rabb al-Bariyya 'ala al-Durra al-Bahiya Nazm al-Ajrumiyya by Ibrahim al-Bayjuri (d. 1277 AH / 1860 CE), printed in Cairo at Matba'at al-Taqaddum al-'Ilmiyya in 1322 AH and at Matba'at Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi in 1343 AH .
- al-Mawahib al-Saniyya 'ala al-Durra al-Bahiya by Abu Muhammad al-Salimi, published by the Omani Ministry of National Heritage and Culture in 1406 AH .
The text was printed in India in 1263 AH, Cairo in 1290 AH, 1302 AH, and 1369 AH (within the collection Majmu' Muhimmat al-Mutun by Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi), and Beirut in 1416 AH . A critical edition prepared by Muhammad ibn Abd al-Rahim al-'Amiri was published in Egypt by Maktabat Al Yasir in 1415 AH, and the text has also been published within Majmu' Ummahat Mutun 'Ulum al-Nahw wa-l-Sarf by Dar al-Matbu'at al-Haditha in Jeddah .
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