Ashar al-Shuara al-Sitta al-Jahiliyyin
- Author died
- 476 AH
- Editions
- Ashar al-Shuara al-Sitta al-Jahiliyyin
Ashar al-Shuara al-Sitta al-Jahiliyyin (Poems of the Six Pre-Islamic Poets), also known as Sharh al-Shuara al-Sitta al-Jahiliyyin, is an anthology and commentary compiled by the Andalusian philologist al-Alam al-Shantamari (410–476 AH / 1019–1083 CE) on the diwans of six major pre-Islamic Arabic poets .
Contents and Transmission
The collection brings together the poetry of six pre-Islamic poets: Imru al-Qays, al-Nabighah al-Dhubyani, Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, Tarafa ibn al-Abd, Antarah ibn Shaddad, and Alqamah ibn Abada . The diwans of these six figures were originally arranged by early transmitters, prominently al-Asmai, and subsequently transmitted through Abu Hatim al-Sijistani and Ibn Durayd before being carried to al-Andalus by Abu Ali al-Qali .
Methodology and Structure
Al-Shantamari selected the poems from multiple textual transmissions, differentiating authentic material from spurious attributions, and appended detailed philological explanations . His work constitutes the earliest known complete commentary on this specific grouping of six poets . In organizing each poet's diwan, he typically established the text according to the recension of al-Asmai and followed it with additions derived from Kufan transmissions .
Reception and Editions
Al-Shantamari's commentary became a standard reference for later lexicographers and grammarians when elucidating poetic citations (shawahid), including Badr al-Din al-Ayni in al-Maqasid al-Nahwiyyah . It also served as a primary source for the modern recovery and printing of pre-Islamic poetry .
Numerous manuscript copies survive in libraries such as the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris, the Royal Palace Library in Rabat, and collections in Cairo and Istanbul . Early European Orientalists utilized al-Shantamari's manuscript recension as a foundational text; William MacGuckin de Slane relied on Paris manuscripts of the work for his 1837 edition of the diwan of Imru al-Qays, while Wilhelm Ahlwardt used them for his 1870 London edition titled al-Iqd al-Thamin fi Dawawin al-Shuara al-Sitta al-Jahiliyyin (The Divans of the Six Ancient Arabic Poets) . Modern Arab editions of the full commentary include one edited by Muhammad Abd al-Mun'im Khafaji .
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