al-Fawaid al-Ajiba fi Irab al-Kalimat al-Gharbiya
- Author died
- 1252 AH
- Editions
- T Istanbul
Al-Fawaid al-Ajiba fi Irab al-Kalimat al-Ghariba (also recorded as al-Gharbiya; "The Remarkable Benefits Concerning the Inflection of Rare Expressions") is an Arabic grammatical and linguistic treatise by the Hanafi jurist and scholar Ibn Abidin (d. 1252 AH / 1836 CE) . The work focuses on analyzing the grammatical parsing (iʿrāb) and semantics of expressions commonly used in scholarly literature that present syntactic difficulties or obscurities .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn Abidin explains in the introduction that he composed the treatise to clarify several idioms and turns of phrase that circulated widely among scholars but contained ambiguity (ishkāl) or obscurity (khafāʾ) regarding their syntax or meaning .
Among the specific expressions analyzed in the treatise are:
- Halumma jarran (هلم جرا)
- Min thamm (من ثم)
- Allāhumma illā an yakūna kadhā (اللهم إلا أن يكون كذا)
- Lā budda min kadhā (لا بد من كذا)
- Huwa aktharu min an yuḥṣā and Zaydun aʿqalu min an yakdhiba (هو أكثر من أن يحصى وزيد أعقل من أن يكذب)
- Sawāʾan kāna kadhā am kadhā (سواء كان كذا أم كذا)
- Kāʾinan mā kān (كائنا ما كان)
- Baʿda al-latī wa-l-lutayyā (بعد التي واللتيا)
- Hādhā al-shayʾ lā maḥālata kadhā (هذا الشيء لا محالة كذا)
- Lā afʿaluhu al-batta (لا أفعله البتة)
- Nāhīka bi-kadhā (ناهيك بكذا)
In his major legal commentary, Radd al-Muhtar ala al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Ibn Abidin also refers to this treatise for the detailed grammatical justification and counterarguments regarding terms such as lughatan, sharʿan, and iṣṭilāḥan when used in definitional contexts .
Method and Sources
In his discussion of these phrases, Ibn Abidin draws upon classical dictionaries and grammatical authorities. When examining halumma jarran, for instance, he reviews statements from al-Jawhari's al-Sihah and al-Fairuzabadi's al-Qamus al-Muhit, noting the differences between Hijazi usage and other dialects, and engages the critical grammatical assessment of Ibn Hisham al-Ansari concerning whether the compound construction is purely classical Arabic .
Publication History
The treatise was printed at the Government Press in Mecca in 1301 AH in the margin of al-Nihaya fi al-Ta'rid wa-l-Kinaya by Abu Mansur al-Tha'alibi . It was also published in Istanbul in 1325 AH within the author's collected treatises (Majmu'at Rasail Ibn Abidin) . A modern edition edited by Hatim Salih al-Damin was published in Beirut by Dar al-Raid al-Arabi in 1410 AH / 1990 CE .
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