al-Idda fi Irab al-Umda
- Author died
- 769 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Imam al-Bukhari
al-Idda fi I'rab al-Umda (The Preparation for the Grammatical Analysis of the Umda) is a grammatical commentary on the hadiths of Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi’s legal hadith compendium Umdata al-Ahkam, composed by the Maliki scholar and grammarian Badr al-Din Ibn Farhun (693–769 AH / 1294–1367 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Ibn Farhun composed the work in Medina toward the end of his life, making it his final authored book . In his preface, he observed that contemporary scholars and students relied heavily on al-Maqdisi's Umdata al-Ahkam for legal rulings and deduction, which prompted him to compose a dedicated linguistic commentary to unveil its syntactic intricacies and provide students with a direct path from grammar into the meanings of legal hadiths . He composed the work following a personal request from a student, seeking divine guidance through istikharah before commencing .
Structure and Methodology
The work systematically follows the arrangement and hadith count established by al-Maqdisi in Umdata al-Ahkam, beginning with the chapter on purification (Kitab al-Taharah) . Ibn Farhun structured the book around an exhaustive analysis of the text:
- Syntactic Parsing (I'rab): He parses the hadiths phrase by phrase and word by word, presenting various syntactic possibilities, potential omitted elements, and alternative declensions where applicable .
- Morphology and Lexicography: He details the etymologies, root derivations, and morphological weights (awzan) of key vocabulary, weighing differing opinions among the Basran and Kufan grammatical schools and citing earlier authorities such as Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi and al-Mubarrad .
- Introductory Rules (Tanbihat): At the end of the text, he appended a collection of general grammatical principles and notices intended to serve as a comprehensive reference and entryway for readers across all chapters .
Transmission, Reception, and Editions
The text was read back to Ibn Farhun multiple times in Medina during his lifetime . A recorded reading took place in 766 AH (1365 CE) before the author by Taj al-Din Abd al-Wahid ibn Umar al-Kharraz, attended by scholars including Ibn Jabir al-Andalusi and Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Ra'ini . The book later served as a grammatical source for subsequent commentators on hadith, including al-Qastallani in his commentary Irshad al-Sari .
Manuscripts of the book were preserved in Cairo at Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, including an early copy originally endowed to al-Madrasa al-Basitiyya in Medina . The work has been printed in modern editions, including a two-volume edition by Maktabat al-Obeikan and a three-volume edition prepared by Maktab al-Huda under the supervision of Adil ibn Sa'd, published by Dar al-Imam al-Bukhari in Doha .
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