Dalil al-Talibin li-Kalam al-Nahwiyyin
- Author died
- 1033 AH
- Editions
- Idarat al-Makhtutat wa-al-Maktabat al-Islamiyyah
Dalil al-Talibin li-Kalam al-Nahwiyyin ("The Seekers' Guide to the Speech of the Grammarians") is a concise treatise on Arabic grammar written by the Hanbali jurist and scholar Mari al-Karmi (d. 1033 AH / 1624 CE) .
Subject and Content
The work is an introductory manual designed to outline the fundamental principles and terminology of Arabic syntax (nahw) . It appears in bibliographical sources under the primary title Dalil al-Talibin li-Kalam al-Nahwiyyin, as well as variant phrasings such as Dalil al-Talibin fi Kalam al-Nahwiyyin and Dalil al-Talibin ala Kalam al-Nahwiyyin .
In the prologue, al-Karmi opens with a rhymed doxology employing grammatical terminology, stating that the study of grammar is a communal obligation (fard kifayah) derived through analogy (qiyas) and induction (istiqra') from the Quran and eloquent Arabic speech . He notes the tradition that Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali originally established the discipline under the direction of Ali ibn Abi Talib .
The text defines grammar lexically and technically—characterizing it as the knowledge of rules by which the inflectional and non-inflectional states of word endings (i'rab and bina') are determined . Its stated subject matter is Arabic words, and its objective is preventing speech errors while aiding in the comprehension of the Quran, prophetic traditions, and classical Arabic idiom .
The treatise is organized into thematic chapters and subsections covering the primary divisions of grammatical analysis:
- Speech and its components: Defining the single word (kalimah), complete utterance (kalam), and compound speech (kalim), along with their structural elements .
- The three parts of speech: The definitions, distinctive morphological markers, syntactical behavior, and subclasses of nouns (ism), verbs (fi'l—categorized into past, present/imperfect, and imperative), and particles (harf) . It includes discussions on governing and non-governing particles and their functional rationales .
- Inflection and declension (al-I'rab wa-l-Bina'): Definitions of grammatical inflection and invariability according to both verbal (lafzi) and abstract/conceptual (ma'nawi) perspectives, detailing the four markers of i'rab (nominative, accusative, genitive, and jussive) and the four varieties of bina' .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise have survived in multiple international collections, including the Vatican Library (MS 832/1), the Taymuriyya collection at the Egyptian National Library in Cairo (MS 397), the Selim Agha Library in Turkey (MS 657), and the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies in Riyadh (MS 1362-Fak 55378) .
The work was printed in a single volume by the Department of Islamic Manuscripts and Libraries (Idarat al-Makhtutat wa-l-Maktabat al-Islamiyyah) in Kuwait in 1430 AH / 2009 CE .
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