Haqaiq fi al-Nahw Mustaqraba - ضمن "Athar al-Muallimi
- Author died
- 1386 AH
- Editions
- دار عالم الفوائد للنشر والتوزيع
Haqaiq fi al-Nahw Mustaqraba (Arabic: حقائق في النحو مستقربة, "Approachable Grammatical Truths") is a concise treatise on the essential terms and definitions of Arabic grammar by the Yemeni scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Muallimi al-Yamani (d. 1386 AH / 1966 CE) .
Structure and Methodology
The treatise consists of 163 grammatical definitions and core principles arranged in a question-and-answer format designed for pedagogical ease and memorization . On the manuscript's opening page, the title is framed with the note that these are truths "worth memorizing" (yahsunu hifzuha) . The text begins with introductory definitions of fundamental linguistic units—such as the utterance (al-lafz), the word (al-kalima), its tripartite division into noun, verb, and particle, and their respective primary categories—accompanied by brief explanatory glosses clarifying what each qualification includes or excludes .
In ordering topics and framing standard definitions, al-Muallimi closely aligns with the tradition of later grammarians, reflecting the structure of al-Kafiya by Ibn al-Hajib, a foundational grammar text prevalent in Yemen during that era . Despite drawing upon standard authoritative references, he exercises independent scholarly evaluation (tarjih) rather than strict adherence to a single grammatical school; for instance, he argues that the accusatives (al-mansubat) are seventeen, and he maintains that the past tense verb joined with the plural waw is vocalized with a damma for phonetic harmony (al-mujanasa) .
Manuscript and Publication
The work was edited by Usama ibn Musallam al-Hazimi based on a unique manuscript preserved in the Library of the Grand Mosque in Mecca (under shelf number 4703) . The manuscript comprises eight folios of twenty-one lines per page and was copied in 1337 AH by Ahmad ibn Yahya ibn Isma'il al-Damadi under al-Muallimi's supervision, after which al-Muallimi revised the text by adding and deleting passages in his own handwriting .
The treatise was published as the second work within the grammatical and morphological section of Majmu' Rasa'il al-Nahw wa-l-Lugha, which forms the twentieth volume of al-Muallimi's collected works (Athar al-Mu'allimi) .
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