al-Ikhtiyarayn al-Mufaddaliyat wa al-Asmaiyat
- Author died
- 315 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Fikr al-Mu'asir
al-Ikhtiyarayn: al-Mufaddaliyat wa al-Asmaiyat (The Two Anthologies: al-Mufaddaliyat and al-Asma'iyat) is an early Arabic poetic anthology and commentary compiled by the grammarian and philologist al-Akhfash al-Asghar (Ali ibn Sulayman ibn al-Fadl, d. 315 AH / 927 CE) . The work brings together and annotates selections from the two foremost early compilations of ancient Arabic poetry: al-Mufaddaliyat by al-Mufaddal al-Dabbi and al-Asmaiyat by al-Asma'i .
Scope and Contents
The compilation draws upon poems composed by eloquent Arab poets of both the pre-Islamic (Jahiliyya) and Islamic periods, transmitted through reliable authorities in Arabic philology and lexicography . Each entry typically opens with genealogical information about the poet, the historical context and occasion of the composition, followed by the poetic verses accompanied by lexical glosses and linguistic analysis of rare terms (gharib) .
Transmission and Critical Reception
The text formed a key vehicle for the transmission of early Arabic verse to western Islamic lands. Abu Ali al-Qali narrated al-Mufaddaliyat along with its commentary on the authority of al-Akhfash al-Asghar, as did Abu al-Abbas Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn Utba al-Razi, both of whose recensions became widely recognized in al-Andalus .
Scholars noted significant textual variation between al-Ikhtiyarayn and standard standalone recensions of al-Mufaddaliyat and al-Asmaiyat. Abu Ubayd al-Bakri observed that nearly half of the poems included in the manuscript copies of al-Ikhtiyarayn were absent from standard copies of both constituent anthologies, indicating that the compilation incorporated additions that cannot be attributed solely to the original compilers . Modern scholars have pointed out that surviving parts of the collection preserve tens of rare poems and fragments not found in other standard recensions of the two anthologies .
Modern Editions
The work was critically edited by Fakhr al-Din Qabawah and published by the Arab Academy of Damascus in 1380 AH / 1961 CE . Subsequent editions were published by Mu'assasat al-Risalah in Beirut (1404 AH / 1984 CE) and Dar al-Fikr (1420 AH / 1999 CE) .
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