al-Qasida al-Ajiba wal-Mufrada al-Ghariba Dhat al-Asila al-Mufhama wal-Maani al-Muhkama
- Author died
- 567 AH
- Editions
- Institute of Arabic Manuscripts
al-Qasida al-Ajiba wal-Mufrada al-Ghariba Dhat al-Asila al-Mufhama wal-Maani al-Muhkama ("The Wonderful Poem and Rare Oddity, of Silencing Questions and Precise Meanings") is a 112-verse didactic and enigmatic poem composed in the tawil meter by the Baghdadi grammarian and polymath Ibn al-Khashshab (d. 567 AH / 1172 CE) . It was designed as a scholarly challenge featuring difficult riddles and obscure problems spanning nine distinct disciplines .
Purpose and Addressee
The poem belongs to the genre of scholarly riddles, enigmas, and obscure queries (ilghaz, ta'miya, al-uways), composed to test and confound its recipient . Classical transmissions and manuscript copies disagree over the intended recipient:
- Abu al-Barakat Ibn al-Anbari (d. 577 AH / 1181 CE): Recorded on the title page of one manuscript copy and cited by Taj al-Din Ibn Maktum (quoted by al-Suyuti), stating that Ibn al-Khashshab addressed it to Kamal al-Din Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Anbari to stump him, reflecting the documented rivalry between the two scholars .
- Al-Qadi al-Fadil Abd al-Rahim: Indicated on the title page of another manuscript, drawing support from a line within the text calling to proceed toward "Abd al-Rahim," as well as closing verses criticizing the recipient's limitation to composing ornate poetry and prose rather than mastering deeper sciences .
- Ibn al-Dahhan (Said ibn al-Mubarak): Suggested tentatively as a conjecture by Ibn Rajab, though this attribution has been noted as improbable because Ibn al-Dahhan was Ibn al-Khashshab's student and did not bear the name Abd al-Rahim .
Structure and Content
The poem comprises 112 lines organized into distinct thematic divisions :
- An opening love prelude (muqaddima ghazaliyya) of 10 lines .
- A transitional section of praise (madh) consisting of 6 lines .
- An exposition of the poem's challenge and purpose spanning 3 lines .
- The main body of riddling questions, distributed across nine fields:
- Secretarial writing and prose craft (al-kitaba): 10 lines .
- Rhetoric (al-balagha): 10 lines .
- Arabic linguistics and grammar (al-arabiyya): 10 lines .
- Prosody (al-arud): 10 lines .
- Poetic composition (al-qarid): 10 lines .
- Quranic sciences (al-Quran): 10 lines .
- Islamic jurisprudence (Din Muhammad / al-Fiqh): 9 lines .
- Prophecies and theology of prophethood (al-Nubuwwat): 10 lines .
- Prophetic biography (al-Sira): 10 lines .
- A sharp concluding rebuke in 5 lines .
Reception and Transmission
The poem was cited in biographical and grammatical compendia. Ibn Rajab noted it in Dhayl Tabaqat al-Hanabila as a long work of enigmatic riddles across various disciplines . Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi preserved a transmission in his grammatical notebook (al-Tadhkira al-Nahwiyya), citing Baha al-Din Isa ibn Abi al-Fath al-Irbili's remark that these 112 lines posed questions that none among the masters of the sciences seemed to solve . The text was also transmitted by Taj al-Din al-Subki in Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra . It was published in a critical edition by Hamza Mustafa Abu Tawha based on two manuscript witnesses collated against al-Subki's text .
Answer updated