al-Mughrib fi Tartib al-Muarrab
- Author died
- 610 AH
- Editions
- T. Fakhuri wa Mukhtar · Tab al-Kitab al-Arabi
al-Mughrib fi Tartib al-Muarrab (The Distinctive [Work] in Arranging al-Mu'arrab) is a specialized legal dictionary of Hanafi terminology and rare vocabulary compiled by the philologist and jurist al-Mutarrazi (538–610 AH / 1144–1213 CE) .
Composition and Relation to al-Mu'arrab
Al-Mutarrazi initially wrote an expansive lexical reference titled al-Mu'arrab (spelled with an unpointed 'ayn). He later abridged, refined, and reorganized it in alphabetical order according to word roots (huruf al-mu'jam), adding material and insights from works he had not consulted during the earlier compilation . In his introduction, he explained the title al-Mughrib fi Tartib al-Mu'arrab as reflecting the rarity of its composition, the solidity of its arrangement, and the kinship between the branch and its origin .
Later biographers and bibliographers occasionally conflated the two works or treated one as a commentary on the other—a confusion seen in the accounts of Tashkubrizadah and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti . However, scholars such as Ibn al-Shahnah and Taqi al-Din al-Subki clarified that al-Mu'arrab was the original extended dictionary, while al-Mughrib was its condensed, rearranged successor .
Method and Contents
The book gathers and explains rare, obscure, and technical expressions (gharib al-alfaz) found across Hanafi legal texts . Al-Mutarrazi arranged the lexicon alphabetically by root consonants in the manner adopted by al-Zamakhshari in Asas al-Balagha, stripping augmentative affixes down to triliteral roots (for example, placing al-dithar under d-th-r and al-ishtibak under sh-b-k) . In words with more than three root letters, he generally determined sequence by the first two consonants and the final consonant, though he occasionally followed standard alphabetical progression . Prefixed conjunctive or disjunctive hamzas and substituted weak letters were disregarded in headword placement .
For each entry, al-Mutarrazi provides detailed grammatical and morphological analyses, including etymological derivation (ishtiqaq), case inflection (i'rab), and verbal noun patterns (tasrif) . Beyond general legal vocabulary, he identifies geographical names (a'lam al-buldan), proper names and transmitters (a'lam al-rijal), and addresses subtle jurisprudential and linguistic nuances (nukat) . He supports his lexical findings with quotations from the Quran, prophetic hadiths, Arabic proverbs, and the sayings of classical Arabic philologists .
Standing and Reception
Ibn Khallikan noted that al-Mughrib held the same authoritative status for Hanafi jurists as the works of Abu Mansur al-Azhari and the later al-Misbah al-Munir held for Shafi'is . The text served as a primary reference for subsequent lexicographical works, including al-Fayyumi's al-Misbah al-Munir, al-Razi's Mukhtar al-Sihah, al-Ramuz by Muhammad ibn Husayn ibn Ali (d. 866 AH), al-Murtada al-Zabidi's Taj al-Arus, and al-Shartuni's Aqrab al-Mawarid .
The book has been published in two volumes edited by Mahmud Fakhuri and Abd al-Hamid Mukhtar (Aleppo, 1399 AH / 1979 CE), as well as in editions issued by Maktabat Lubnan and Dar al-Kitab al-Arabi .
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