al-Farq bayn al-Dad wa al-Za
- Author died
- 797 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
al-Farq bayn al-Dad wa al-Za (The Difference Between the Dad and the Za) is an Arabic linguistic and lexicographical treatise by Abu Bakr 'Abd Allah ibn 'Ali al-Shaybani al-Mawsili (d. 797 AH / 1395 CE) dedicated to distinguishing vocabulary containing the letters dad (ض) and za (ظ) in spelling and meaning .
Purpose and Content
In the opening of the work, al-Mawsili praises God for favoring the Arabic language over all other tongues through the revelation of the Quran and the sending of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, stating that he composed the book specifically to record and clarify the distinction between the two easily conflated letters .
The text is structured alphabetically into chapters according to initial letters (such as al-alif, al-ba, al-ta, al-jim, al-ha, al-kha, al-dal, al-ra, al-dad, al-ayn, and al-za) . Under these headings, al-Mawsili compiles words spelled with dad and words spelled with za, providing concise lexicographical definitions, derivatives, and contextual explanations to guide scribes and readers in correct usage .
Publication
The treatise was edited by Hatim Salih al-Damin and published by Dar al-Basha'ir in Damascus (1424 AH / 2003 CE) as the sixth volume in a specialized series of edited classical monographs on the letters dad and za (Silsilat Kutub al-Dad wa-al-Za) .
Answer updated