Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawas
- Author died
- 516 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Kutub al-Thaqafiyyah
Durrat al-Ghawwas fi Awham al-Khawas (The Diver's Pearl on the Delusions of the Elite) is a classical Arabic treatise on linguistic correctness by the philologist and author al-Hariri (446–516 AH / 1054–1122 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Hariri noted in his introduction that he was prompted to compile the work after observing that many prominent figures and educated writers had fallen into linguistic solecisms, mirroring commoners in errors of speech and writing . Seeking to safeguard the standing of the literate class and dispel lexical and grammatical ambiguities, he composed the book as a guide and reminder for those seeking proper expression . The text focuses specifically on correcting the misused vocabulary, morphological patterns, and syntactic constructions prevalent among the educated elite rather than the unlettered public .
Method and Content
Rather than merely listing errors and their corrections, al-Hariri provides grammatical, morphological, and semantic justifications for each entry . He substantiates his rulings with classical poetic attestations (shawahid), historical anecdotes, Arabic proverbs, and literary witticisms .
Among the specific usages treated in the text are:
- Distinguishing between sa'ir (strictly denoting what remains, rather than the entirety) and clarifying terms such as mutatabi' and mutawatir .
- The precise temporal uses of temporal adverbs like al-bariha and the particle qattu .
- Restricting the term ma'ida to a dining table bearing food, noting that an empty table is properly called a khiwan .
Reception and Scholarly Engagement
The treatise attained wide circulation and prompted extensive engagement from subsequent philologists, who authored commentaries, marginal glosses, versifications, continuations, and abridgments :
- Critical glosses and rejoinders: Notable marginalia (hawashi) and critical assessments were written by Ibn Barri (d. 582 AH), Ibn Zafar al-Siqilli (d. 565 AH), and Ibn al-Khashshab (d. 567 AH) . Commentators like Ibn Barri scrutinized several of al-Hariri's strictures, arguing that some expressions he declared erroneous—such as phrasing a meeting as ijtama'a fulan ma'a fulan—had sound precedents in Arabic usage .
- Supplements: Abu Mansur al-Jawaliqi (d. 539 AH) composed an appendix and continuation titled al-Takmila .
- Commentaries: Major commentaries include Sharh Durrat al-Ghawwas by Shihab al-Din al-Khafaji (d. 1069 AH), Kashf al-Turra 'an al-Durra by Mahmud al-Alusi (d. 1270 AH), 'Unwan al-Masarra li-Sharh Mahasin al-Durra by Zayn al-Marsafi (d. 1300 AH), and a commentary by Abu Bakr al-Ansari .
- Versifications and abridgments: The work was versified by Ibn al-Warraq al-Fa'izi and Abu al-Futuh 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Ibrahim . It was abridged by Ibn Manzur (d. 711 AH) under the title Tahdhib al-Khawas min Durrat al-Ghawwas, by 'Abd al-Rahim ibn al-Radi al-Mawsili (d. 671 AH), and in later scholarship by 'Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi .
Publication History
The work was published in Leipzig by Heinrich Thorbecke in 1871 CE and by the Matba'at al-Jawa'ib in Constantinople . In modern print, it was edited by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim in Cairo .
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