al-Masail al-Halabiyyat
- Author died
- 377 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Qalam lil-Ṭibāʿah wa-al-Nashr wa-al-Tawzīʿ
Al-Masa'il al-Halabiyyat (The Aleppine Inquiries) is a grammatical and linguistic treatise by the grammarian Abu Ali al-Farisi (d. 377 AH / 987 CE), recording grammatical questions and discussions that arose during his stay in Aleppo.
Background and Composition
Al-Farisi composed the work by dictation while residing in Aleppo at the court of the Hamdanid ruler Sayf al-Dawla. It belongs to a series of geographical question-and-answer works (masa'il) that al-Farisi compiled across various cities, alongside titles such as al-Masa'il al-Baghdadiyyat, al-Masa'il al-Basriyyat, and al-Masa'il al-Shiraziyyat.
Accounts differ regarding the chronology and circumstances of al-Farisi's arrival in Aleppo: Ibn Khallikan records that he arrived in 341 AH / 952–953 CE, whereas Kamal al-Din Ibn al-Adim notes an audition certificate (sama') showing that the literary scholar Ahmad ibn Faris studied under al-Farisi in Aleppo in Jumada al-Ula 347 AH / July–August 958 CE. It is also reported that al-Farisi originally entered Aleppo as an envoy to Sayf al-Dawla. During his residence there, he engaged in intellectual debates and discussions in the ruler's presence with scholars such as Ibn Khalawayh and Abu Sa'id al-Sirafi.
Content and Method
The work addresses complex problems of Arabic grammar (nahw), morphology, and lexicology. In it, al-Farisi examines the doctrines of earlier authorities, such as comparing the linguistic analysis of Sibawayh with the views of the Kufan grammarian al-Kisa'i on lexical derivations and morphology.
The text also contains correspondence connected to his debates in Aleppo; Yaqut al-Hamawi cites from the treatise the text of an epistolary reply written by al-Farisi to Sayf al-Dawla, in which al-Farisi responded to Sayf al-Dawla's letter regarding criticisms conveyed by Ibn Khalawayh concerning al-Sirafi and the nature of scholarly transmission.
Reception and Transmission
The book was documented by bibliographers such as Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili in his catalogue. Later commentators and grammarians drew upon its analyses; the exegete al-Wahidi utilized al-Masa'il al-Halabiyyat in his Quranic commentary al-Basit, citing al-Farisi's discussion regarding the linguistic derivation and morphological origins of the word al-nas.
The work was edited by Hasan Hindawi and published in a single volume by Dar al-Qalam in Damascus and Dar al-Manara in Beirut in 1407 AH / 1987 CE.
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