al-Lamha fi Sharh al-Mulha
- Author died
- 720 AH
- Editions
- Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University
Al-Lamha fi Sharh al-Mulha (The Glance in Commenting on the Mulha) is an expansive grammatical commentary composed by the grammarian Ibn al-Sa'igh (645–720 AH / 1247–1320 CE) on the didactic grammatical poem Mulhat al-I'rab by Abu Muhammad al-Qasim ibn Ali al-Hariri (d. 516 AH / 1122 CE) .
Title and Attribution
Classical biographical works regularly record that Ibn al-Sa'igh wrote an exposition on Mulhat al-I'rab without always citing its specific title . The full title, al-Lamha fi Sharh al-Mulha, is explicitly documented by Katib Celebi in Kashf al-Zunun, as well as in Idah al-Maknun and Hadiyyat al-Arifin, and it appears on the cover of manuscript copies . The author did not include a formal prologue explicitly stating the title, but he established his authorship directly in the opening lines by stating, "The servant in need of God Almighty, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn Siba' al-Sa'igh, says..." . Katib Celebi recorded a variant death year of 722 AH for the author in connection with this work .
Structure and Methodology
Unlike many classical grammatical treatises, the text contains no authorial introduction outlining its methodology and begins directly with the commentary on al-Hariri's opening verses . Ibn al-Sa'igh generally follows the chapter arrangement of Mulhat al-I'rab, but introduces several organizational modifications . He combined the chapter on the elative (af'al al-tafdil) with the chapter on habbadha into a single section, and divided al-Hariri's chapter on prepositions into three separate chapters: one for prepositions in general (Huruf al-Jarr), followed by separate chapters for Rubba and oaths (al-Qasam) .
While al-Hariri's own commentary on his poem favored brevity, Ibn al-Sa'igh's commentary is characterized by extensive expansion, detailed dialectical discussions, and the citation of differing grammatical schools and authorities . His evidentiary apparatus includes 243 Quranic verse citations, 12 prophetic hadiths, three reports from the Companions, 459 verses of Arabic poetry, and 45 transmitted idiomatic sayings of the Arabs .
Reception and Publication
The work was utilized and cited by later grammatical commentators, including Yasin al-Alimi in his supercommentary on Khalid al-Azhari's al-Tasrih . Al-Lamha fi Sharh al-Mulha was edited by Ibrahim ibn Salim al-Sa'idi and published in a critical first edition by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the Islamic University of Madinah in 1424 AH / 2004 CE .
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