Durar al-Faraid al-Mustahsana fi Sharh Manzumat Ibn al-Shihna
- Author died
- 1024 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
Durar al-Faraid al-Mustahsana fi Sharh Manzumat Ibn al-Shihna (The Desirable Pearls of Unique Gems: Commentary on the Versification of Ibn al-Shihna) is a classical Arabic rhetorical commentary by the Shafi'i jurist and scholar Ibn Abd al-Haqq al-Umari (d. c. 1024 AH / 1615 CE), explicating the didactic poem on Arabic rhetoric composed by Ibn al-Shihna (d. 815 AH / 1412 CE) .
Background and Composition
The base text of the commentary is Ibn al-Shihna's one-hundred-line poem Mi'at al-Ma'ani wa-l-Bayan, an abridgment in rajaz meter of al-Qazwini's (d. 739 AH / 1338 CE) rhetorical manual Talkhis al-Miftah . Ibn Abd al-Haqq was prompted to compose his commentary after examining an earlier explanation of the poem by the judge Muhibb al-Din ibn Taqi al-Din al-Hamawi (d. 1014 AH / 1605 CE) . Finding deficiencies in al-Hamawi's treatment, Ibn Abd al-Haqq raised objections directly with him; al-Hamawi excused the shortcomings by noting that it had been his first written composition and that his duties as a judge had prevented him from refining it . Ibn Abd al-Haqq consequently set out to write an extensive commentary that resolved difficult passages, clarified the poem's expressions, and directly critiqued and corrected al-Hamawi's interpretations .
According to its colophon, Ibn Abd al-Haqq completed the work on Saturday, 10 Jumada al-Akhira 1009 AH (1600 CE) . He left it in draft form (musawwada) without publishing it during his lifetime . Sixty years after its initial completion, his son, Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud ibn Abd al-Haqq, prepared a fair copy (tabyid) from his father's original draft, finishing the transcription on Saturday morning, 6 Safar 1069 AH (1658 CE) .
Content and Method
The commentary provides an exposition of the three core branches of Arabic rhetoric: word order and semantics (ilm al-ma'ani), figures of speech and imagery (ilm al-bayan), and rhetorical embellishments (ilm al-badi') . It is characterized by extensive rhetorical discussions, abundant textual examples, and frequent reliance on classical grammatical and rhetorical authorities . Notably, in the section on ilm al-badi', the author integrates an entire short treatise on paronomasia (al-jinas) by Abd al-Aziz al-Dirini (d. 697 AH / 1298 CE), which provides novel textual proofs .
Title and Manuscripts
The author recorded the full title, Durar al-Faraid al-Mustahsana fi Sharh Manzumat Ibn al-Shihna, in his introduction . It is cited identically in Hadiyyat al-Arifin, whereas a typographical corruption appears in Umar Rida Kahhala's Mu'jam al-Mu'allifin under the title Durar al-Fawaid al-Mustahsana .
Multiple manuscript copies of the work are preserved in libraries such as the Al-Assad National Library in Damascus, the National Library of Tunisia, Al-Azhar Library, and the Egyptian National Library and Archives in Cairo . The text was edited by Sulayman Husayn al-Umayrat based on four manuscript copies—including the copy penned by the author's son from the original draft—and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut in 1439 AH / 2018 CE, accompanied by a critical edition of Ibn al-Shihna's poem collated against eleven manuscripts .
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