al-Fasih
- Author died
- 291 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Ma'arif
al-Fasih (Arabic: الفصيح, The Eloquent), also known as Ikhtiyar fasih al-kalam (Selection of Eloquent Speech), is a concise Arabic lexical manual composed by the Kufan grammarian Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Yahya Tha'lab (200–291 AH / 815–904 CE) to establish correct and standard vocabulary for speech and writing .
Purpose and Attribution
Tha'lab stated in his introduction that the book selects eloquent Arabic expressions occurring in daily speech and formal writings . Its stated purpose is to correct errors where people deviate from the single established standard form, to select the most eloquent dialectal variant when several exist, and to record cases where two variants are equally common and acceptable . Tha'lab concluded the work by noting that he intentionally kept it brief so that it would be accessible to both younger and older learners, consciously avoiding obscure or rare vocabulary (gharib al-kalam) .
Although the work is widely attributed to Tha'lab, some early reports disputed its authorship, attributing it variously to Ya'qub ibn al-Sikkit, to al-Hasan ibn Dawud al-Raqqi (as being drawn from his Kitab al-Hulay), or to Ibn al-A'rabi .
Structure and Methodology
The text is arranged topically across chapters—counted as twenty-eight in some descriptions and thirty in others—divided into two primary sections :
- Verbs: Begins with the chapter on past-tense verbs patterned on fa‘altu with an open vowel (fathah) on the middle radical (Bab fa‘altu bi-fath al-‘ayn), classifying verbs by vocalization and semantic distinctions, and ends with the chapter on hamzated verbs (Bab ma yuhmaz min al-fi‘l) .
- Nouns and Verbal Nouns: Begins with verbal nouns (Bab al-masadir) and concludes with lexical distinctions (Bab min al-farq) .
Unlike many correction treatises (kutub lahn al-‘ammah), Tha'lab generally presents the correct forms directly without explicitly naming the colloquial or erroneous forms, except in rare instances (such as "say X and do not say Y") . Consistent with its concise pedagogical aim, textual citations are kept minimal: the book cites only four Quranic verses, five hadiths, and under forty poetic verses .
Reception and Scholarly Impact
al-Fasih achieved widespread popularity across educational and administrative circles . Ibn Durustawayh reported that chancellery scribes (kuttab al-dawawin) regarded the memorization of its vocabulary as the pinnacle of literary competence, while Abu Sahl al-Harawi observed that educators routinely had children memorize al-Fasih before other language texts .
The work generated an extensive tradition of commentaries, versifications, supplements, and critiques :
- Commentaries: Numerous scholars commented on it, including Ibn Durustawayh (Tashih al-Fasih), Ibn Khalawayh, Abu Mansur ibn al-Jabban, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Marzuqi, Ibn Jinni, Abu Sahl al-Harawi (Isfar al-Fasih and al-Talwih fi sharh al-Fasih), and Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Labli (Tuhfat al-majd al-sarih) .
- Critiques: Critical tracts were written by Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj (al-Mu'akhadhat ‘ala al-Fasih or Khata' Fasih Tha'lab, which later prompted a defense by Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqi) and Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Hamzah al-Basri (al-Tanbih ‘ala ma fi al-Fasih min al-ghalat) .
- Supplements: Additions were compiled by Tha'lab's student Abu Umar Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahid al-Muttarriz (Fa'it al-Fasih), Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (Dhayl Fasih Tha'lab), and Abu al-Fawa'id al-Ghaznawi (Dhayl fasih al-kalam) .
- Versifications: The text was rendered into verse by several authors, including Ibn al-Murahhal (Muwatta'at al-Fasih), Shihab al-Din ibn al-Khuwayyi, Ibn Abi al-Hadid, and Ibn Jabir al-A'ma (Hilyat al-Fasih) .
Editions
al-Fasih was edited by Jacob Barth with German notes and published in Leipzig in 1876 . It appeared in Cairo alongside al-Harawi's commentary al-Talwih and Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi's Dhayl between 1285 and 1289 AH, and again in 1325 AH . A modern critical edition by Atif Madkur was published by Dar al-Ma'arif in Cairo in 1984 .
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