al-Ramuz ala al-Sihah
- Author died
- 866 AH
- Editions
- Dār Usāmah
al-Ramuz ala al-Sihah (also known as al-Ramuz fi al-lughah) is an Arabic lexicon compiled by the Ottoman scholar Muhammad ibn al-Sayyid Hasan (d. 866 AH / 1461–1462 CE) as a revised, abridged, and supplemented redaction of al-Jawhari's classical dictionary al-Sihah .
Background and Composition
The author initially compiled a related work entitled Jami' al-lughah (or al-Jami'), which he completed in Edirne (Adrianople) in 854 AH / 1450 CE and dedicated to Sultan Mehmed II (al-Fatih) . He considered al-Sihah excessively lengthy due to its extensive citation of proverbs, poetic verses, and genealogies, while viewing al-Razi's abridgment Mukhtar al-Sihah as overly condensed and lacking crucial linguistic material .
After completing his initial compilation, scholars alerted him to alleged errors and textual corruptions (tashif) present in al-Sihah . To rectify these shortcomings, he consulted al-Firuzabadi's al-Qamus al-muhit and revised his work into al-Ramuz . In addition to al-Sihah and al-Qamus, his primary source material drew upon specialized lexicographical and Hadith glossaries, notably al-Mutarrizi's al-Mughrib, al-Zamakhshari's al-Fa'iq, and Ibn al-Athir's al-Nihayah fi gharib al-hadith .
Method and Structure
The dictionary is organized according to the rhyme system (madrasat al-qafiyah) inherited from al-Sihah, sorting root entries primarily by their final radical and secondarily by their initial radical . The work combines abridgment with extensive supplementation:
- Omissions and abridgment: Poetic citations (shawahid) were excised, alongside morphological and grammatical justifications, weights (awzan), and the names of cited lexicographers, although their opinions were preserved .
- Additions: The author introduced additional lexical forms, derived meanings, rare expressions, and Hadith occurrences, placing biographical notices of jurists and Hadith transmitters at the conclusion of relevant root entries .
- Linguistic critique: He corrected errors attributed to al-Jawhari and occasionally defended him against criticisms from al-Saghani .
To maintain conciseness, the author implemented a system of abbreviation letters throughout the text :
- Qaf (ق) for Quranic quotations
- Ha (ح) for Prophetic traditions (Hadith)
- Ra (ر) for companion/successor reports (athar)
- Jim (ج) for plural forms (jam')
- 'Ayn (ع) for place names (mawdi')
- Lam (ل) for mountain names (jabal)
- Tha-ha (ثه) for feminine adjectives formed with ta marbutah (al-mu'annath bi-ha') .
Manuscripts
Manuscripts of al-Ramuz are preserved in several international libraries, including the Yeni Cami and Topkapı Palace (Third Ahmed) collections in Istanbul, the British Museum in London, the National Library of Tunisia, Dar al-Kutub in Cairo, and the Arif Hikmat Library in Medina .
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