al-Taazi [wa al-Marathi wa al-Mawaiz wa al-Wasaya]
- Author died
- 285 AH
- Editions
- نهضة مصر للطباعة والنشر والتوزيع
al-Taʿāzī (also titled al-Taʿāzī wa-l-marāthī or al-Taʿāzī wa-l-marāthī wa-l-mawāʿiẓ wa-l-wasāyā) is an adab compilation of condolences, elegies, moral exhortations, and parting testaments by the Basran grammarian and philologist Abu al-Abbas Muhammad ibn Yazid al-Mubarrad (d. 285 AH / 898 CE; 286 AH is also reported) .
Occasion and Composition
al-Mubarrad states in the preface that the direct catalyst for composing the work was his grief over the sudden death of his close contemporary, the Maliki chief judge Isma'il ibn Ishaq al-Jahdami (d. 282 AH / 896 CE) . He notes that he compiled the text extemporaneously from memory rather than through prolonged premeditation or systematic collation of written volumes, seeking to assemble the finest recorded utterances, condolences (taʿāzī), elegies (marāthī), and exhortations (mawāʿiẓ) concerning mortality and bereavement .
Content and Method
The work brings together prose and verse selections from the pre-Islamic and early Islamic literary heritage that address tragedy, bereavement, fortitude, and pious resignation . It records speeches, epistolary condolence messages, and poetic elegies, such as the verses of Layla al-Akhyaliyya lamenting Tawba . Throughout the book, al-Mubarrad exercises literary selection, presenting the most eloquent and resonant examples across genres alongside philological commentary and transmitted narrations .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the work are preserved in several collections, including the El Escorial Library (MS 534/1), the General Library in Rabat, and an early manuscript transcribed in al-Karak in 757 AH .
The work has been edited and published in modern scholarship in multiple editions:
- An edition prepared by Muhammad al-Dībājī, published by the Arab Academy of Damascus (1396 AH / 1976 CE) and later reprinted by Dar Sader in Beirut (1412 AH / 1992 CE) .
- An edition edited by Ibrahim Muhammad Hasan al-Jamal under the title al-Taʿāzī wa-l-marāthī wa-l-mawāʿiẓ wa-l-waṣāyā, published by Nahdat Misr in Cairo .
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