al-Filan - al-Matbu khata bism «Naqat al-Sadyan»
- Author died
- 650 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ma‘ārif
Al-Fiʿlān (erroneously printed under the title Naqʿat al-ṣadyān fīmā jāʾa ʿalā al-fiʿlān) is a specialized Arabic morphological and lexical treatise by the lexicographer and hadith scholar al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Saghani (577–650 AH / 1181–1252 CE) . The work is devoted to documenting and explaining Arabic verbal nouns (maṣādir) and nominal forms structured according to the morphological pattern faʿalān (and related patterns) .
Title and Confusion with Other Works
Al-Saghani authored several monographs dedicated to specific morphological templates and lexical categories, such as Kitāb faʿāl wa-faʿlān (or al-Fiʿlān), Kitāb al-infiʿāl, Kitāb mafʿūl, and Kitāb al-aḍdād .
The treatise was misidentified in later bibliographical records and modern printings due to conflation with another work by al-Saghani, Naqʿat al-ṣadyān fī man fī ṣuḥbatihim naẓar, which is a biographical work on individuals whose status as Companions of the Prophet ﷺ is disputed . In certain manuscript collections, such as the Damad Zadeh collection in Istanbul (MS 1789), the morphological monograph was mislabeled as Naqʿat al-ṣadyān fīmā jāʾa ʿalā wazn fiʿlān .
Purpose and Scope
In his introduction, al-Saghani notes that this treatise addresses a linguistic area essential for scholars and students of hadith, prophetic reports, and transmission (al-sunnah wa-al-athar), noting that comprehensive compilations of this kind had become scarce in his era . The book systematically collects verbal nouns occurring on the faʿalān measure, which commonly designate movement, agitation, bodily states, sounds, and distinct physical actions .
Structure and Method
The work is organized alphabetically into chapters (abwāb) based on the final radical letter of each root (the rhyme-letter system):
- Alphabetical arrangement: The chapters proceed according to the final letter, beginning with Bāb al-Hamzah, followed by Bāb al-Bāʾ, Bāb al-Tāʾ, Bāb al-Thāʾ, Bāb al-Jīm, Bāb al-Ḥāʾ, Bāb al-Khāʾ, Bāb al-Dāl, and subsequent letters through the end of the alphabet .
- Lexical entries and morphological analysis: Under each letter, al-Saghani lists the derived noun, details its associated past and present verb forms, records alternative verbal noun forms, and explains its semantic meaning (e.g., al-ḍarabān, al-lahabān, al-naʿabān, al-sayḥān, al-ṣayḥān, al-ḥafdān, al-wayadān) .
- Dialectal variations and textual citations: The author records dialectal usages (such as the dialect of Hudhayl) and provides evidentiary citations from classical poetry, quoting poets and authorities including Ruʾbah ibn al-ʿAjjaj, Mudarris ibn Ribʿi al-Faqʿasi, al-Aswad ibn Yaʿfur, al-Tirimmāḥ, al-Nābighah al-Jaʿdī, al-Aṣmaʿī, and Ibn al-Sikkīt .
Editions
The work was edited by ʿAli Husayn al-Bawwāb and published under the erroneous title Naqʿat al-ṣadyān fīmā jāʾa ʿalā al-fiʿlān by Maktabat al-Maʿārif in Riyadh in 1402 AH / 1982 CE .
Answer updated