al-Gharib al-Musannaf - Qita ضمن Majallat al-Jamia al-Islamiyya
- Author died
- 224 AH
- Editions
- Majallat al-Jāmiʿah al-Islāmiyyah bi-al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah
al-Gharib al-Musannaf - Qita ضمن Majallat al-Jamia al-Islamiyya is a serialized scholarly edition of portions of the early thematic Arabic lexicon al-Gharib al-Musannaf by Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 224 AH / 838 CE), edited by Safwan Adnan Dawudi and published in the journal of the Islamic University of Madinah (Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah) .
Background and Structure of the Work
al-Gharib al-Musannaf is regarded as one of the earliest comprehensive classified lexicons in Arabic lexicography . Abu Ubayd compiled the work over a period of forty years—though reports also cite thirty or fifty years—arranging vocabulary topically rather than anagrammatically or alphabetically . He modeled its topical structure on Kitab al-Sifat by his teacher al-Nadr ibn Shumayl, while incorporating transmissions from leading Basran and Kufan philologists, including al-Asma'i, Abu Zayd al-Ansari, Abu Amr al-Shaybani, and al-Farra' .
In its complete composition, the book contains approximately one thousand chapters organized into thirty thematic books (kutub), covering subjects such as human anatomy (Khalq al-Insan), women (al-Nisa'), garments (al-Libas), food (al-At'imah), diseases (al-Amrad), wine (al-Khamr), dwellings and lands (al-Dur wa-al-Aradin), horses (al-Khayl), weapons (al-Silah), birds and pests (al-Tayr wa-al-Hawamm), vessels (al-Awani), mountains (al-Jibal), and plants (al-Shajar wa-al-Nabat) .
Contents of the Journal Edition
The edition was published in Majallat al-Jami'ah al-Islamiyyah across issues 101 through 104 between 1414 AH and 1417 AH . The text begins with an extensive introduction composed by the editor in Medina in 1410 AH, providing a biography of Abu Ubayd, a catalogue of his teachers and students, and an evaluation of the treatise's place in Arabic lexicography .
The edited portions preserve the classical chain of transmission through Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Abd Allah al-Tusi, transmitted by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Qasim ibn Bashshar Ibn al-Anbari and read by Abu Ali Ismail ibn al-Qasim al-Baghdadi . The published text contains:
- Part One (al-Qism al-Awwal): Opens with Kitab Khalq al-Insan, presenting the terminology of human physical creation, anatomy, and descriptions, supported by poetic verses (shawahid) and transmissions from early authorities .
- Part Two (al-Qism al-Thani): Comprises Kitab al-Nisa', beginning at Chapter 56 on descriptions of women's ages and continuing through descriptions of physical beauty and related qualities .
Editorial Methodology
The editor established the text based on manuscript copies, documenting notable marginal glosses found in the witnesses . The critical apparatus records scholarly objections and corrections leveled by later philologists against Abu Ubayd's lexical determinations directly beneath the relevant entries, and the publication includes detailed subject indexes .
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