al-Laali fi Sharh Amali al-Qali - wa Alayhi Simt al-Laali
- Author died
- 487 AH
- Editions
- Lajnat al-Taʾlīf wa-al-Tarjamah wa-al-Nashr
al-Laali fi Sharh Amali al-Qali (with its critical edition and supercommentary titled Simt al-Laali) is a classical Arabic literary commentary written by the Andalusian scholar and vizier Abu Ubayd al-Bakri (d. 487 AH / 1094 CE) on the foundational literary compilation al-Amali (The Dictations) by Abu Ali al-Qali (d. 356 AH / 967 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Abu Ali al-Qali transmitted extensive Eastern philological, poetic, and historical lore to al-Andalus through his dictated assemblies, establishing al-Amali as a core literary text . Observing ambiguities, omissions, and transmission variants in al-Qali's material, Abu Ubayd al-Bakri composed al-Laali as an exhaustive commentary and critical supplement .
In the introduction to his commentary, al-Bakri outlined his methodology and objectives: elucidating obscure meanings in the prose and poetry of the rare reports (al-nawadir), completing truncated poetic citations (shawahid), restoring the authorship of anonymous verses, documenting transmission variants with critical evaluation, and impartially identifying al-Qali's inadvertent slips and errors (awham) supported by textual evidence .
Titles and Classical Citations
In bio-bibliographical and literary literature, the commentary is referenced under various closely related titles, including Kitab al-Laali fi Sharh Amali al-Qali, Sharh al-Amali, and Sharh al-Nawadir . It was cited under these designations by scholars such as Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili, al-Safadi, and Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi in Khizanat al-Adab (The Treasury of Literature) . Al-Bakri also authored a related critical monograph titled al-Tanbih 'ala Awham Abi 'Ali fi Amalihi (Alerting to the Inadvertent Errors of Abu Ali in His Dictations) .
Modern Edition and Simt al-Laali
The book was edited and extensively annotated by the Indian philologist Abd al-Aziz al-Maymani (al-Rajkoti), professor of Arabic at Aligarh Muslim University, who titled his edition and marginalia Simt al-Laali (The Thread of Pearls) . It was published in Cairo by the Committee of Authorship, Translation, and Publication (Lajnat al-Talif wa-al-Tarjama wa-al-Nashr) in 1354 AH / 1936 CE .
Al-Maymani established the text through collation of multiple manuscripts, including copies from Mecca and Germany . In his annotations, he verified rare vocabulary, geographic locations, and biographical names, frequently acting as an arbiter between al-Qali and al-Bakri . Because al-Bakri had confined his commentary to the main body of al-Amali without extending it to al-Qali's supplement (Dhayl al-Amali), al-Maymani authored a supplementary commentary titled Dhayl al-Laali min Sharh Dhayl Amali al-Qali, appending it alongside extensive indexes and textual corrections to earlier printings .
Contemporary scholars, including Ahmad Amin, praised al-Maymani's edition as an exemplary standard of rigorous classical philological scholarship, while remarking on the occasionally sharp tone of his critical judgments .
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