al-Jami al-Kabir fi Sinaat al-Manzum min al-Kalam wa al-Manthur
- Author died
- 637 AH
- Editions
- Maṭbaʿat al-Majmaʿ al-ʿIlmī
al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr fī Ṣināʿat al-Manẓūm min al-Kalām wa-al-Manthūr (The Great Compendium on the Craft of Verse and Prose Discourse) is a comprehensive treatise on Arabic rhetoric, literary theory, and stylistics by the Ayyubid-era administrator and rhetorician Diya al-Din Ibn al-Athir (d. 637 AH / 1239 CE) .
Background and Purpose
In his introduction, Ibn al-Athir explains that writing effective prose and verse requires mastery of rhetoric (ʿilm al-bayān), which serves as the balancing standard for the craft . He composed the work after examining the writings of earlier authorities on criticism and rhetoric—such as Ali ibn Isa al-Rummani, al-Amidi, al-Jahiz, Qudamah ibn Ja'far, Abu Hilal al-Askari, and Ibn Sinan al-Khafaji—and studying the rhetorical subtleties found in the Qur'an . The book aims to clarify the obscurities of rhetoric, systematize its rules, and present both established concepts and original additions .
Structure and Content
The author organized the work around two principal divisions termed "pivots" (quṭbān):
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The First Pivot (al-Quṭb al-Awwal): Treats general principles and is divided into two branches (fannān) :
- Prerequisites for the Writer: Consists of four chapters covering the apparatus and tools of composition (ālāt al-taʾlīf and adawāt al-taʾlīf), the method for practicing prose and poetry, and the distinction between literal and figurative expression (al-ḥaqīqah wa-al-majāz) . Among the required tools, Ibn al-Athir emphasizes grammar, morphology, lexicography, Arabic proverbs, memorization of past literature, knowledge of governance, memorization of the Qur'an, and knowledge of Prophetic hadith, as well as prosody and rhyme for verse .
- Words and Meanings: Contains three chapters examining single and compound expressions, conceptual meanings (al-maʿānī), and arguments regarding the superiority of prose over poetry .
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The Second Pivot (al-Quṭb al-Thānī): Treats specific rhetorical devices and also comprises two branches :
- Eloquence and Rhetoric: Defines and investigates the natures of eloquence (faṣāḥah) and rhetoric (balāghah) .
- Categories of Rhetorical Figures: Divided into two chapters: the semantic craft (al-ṣināʿah al-maʿnawiyyah), containing twenty-nine figures such as metaphor (istiʿārah), simile (tashbīh), conciseness (ījāz), expansion (iṭnāb), and metonymy (kināyah); and the verbal craft (al-ṣināʿah al-lafẓiyyah), containing seven figures including rhymed prose (sajʿ), paronomasia (jinās / tajnīs), and parallelism (tarṣīʿ) .
Method and Scholarly Analysis
Scholars comparing Ibn al-Athir's works note that while his other major work, al-Mathal al-Sāʾir, focuses primarily on practical literary training, taste cultivation, and applied textual criticism, al-Jāmiʿ al-Kabīr emphasizes theoretical categorization and systemic codification of rhetorical rules, resembling the structured approach found in the third section of Abu Ya'qub al-Sakkaki's Miftāḥ al-ʿUlūm .
Publication History
The work was edited by Mustafa Jawad and Jamil Sa'id and published in Baghdad by the Iraqi Scientific Academy in 1375 AH (1956 CE) . Following its publication, it was reviewed by scholars including Izz al-Din al-Tanukhi in the Damascus Arab Academy journal and analyzed by Muhammad al-Tahir Ibn Ashur .
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