Hashiyatan li-Ibn Hisham ala Alfiyat Ibn Malik
- Author died
- 761 AH
- Editions
- Jābir ibn ‘Abd Allāh ibn Surayyi‘ al-Surayyi‘
Hashiyatan li-Ibn Hisham ‘ala Alfiyyat Ibn Malik (Two Glosses by Ibn Hisham on the Alfiyyah of Ibn Malik) is a collection of two grammatical glosses and marginal annotations authored by the grammarian Ibn Hisham al-Nahwi (708–761 AH / 1309–1360 CE) on the versified grammatical treatise Alfiyyat Ibn Malik by Ibn Malik .
Nature and Purpose
Ibn Hisham penned multiple sets of marginal notes and glosses on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik across different manuscripts at various times . These glosses are distinct in material, method, and purpose from his standalone, continuous commentary, Awdah al-masalik ila Alfiyyat Ibn Malik . Rather than offering an exhaustive line-by-line exposition of the entire poem, Ibn Hisham designed these annotations to elucidate ambiguous points, append grammatical rulings, clarify textual vocalizations, evaluate verses, discuss illustrative examples and poetic evidence (shawahid), and record his own agreements or disagreements with Ibn Malik's phrasings and opinions .
Method and Features
The notes were recorded directly beside or above the verses to which they pertained . To distinguish his original remarks from cited material, Ibn Hisham frequently prefixed his commentary with the Arabic letter ʿayn («ع»), representing the initial of his given name, ‘Abd Allah . The glosses include citations from early linguistic sources—some of which are now lost—as well as detailed parsing (iʿrab), grammatical analysis, and discussions of manuscript variants .
Reception and Transmission
Ibn Hisham's glosses on the Alfiyyah were recognized and utilized by numerous later grammarians and commentators, serving as a source for subsequent supercommentaries . Yasin al-Ulaymi cited from two separate autograph glosses of Ibn Hisham in his own marginalia on the Alfiyyah, while Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti quoted from a third autograph gloss in al-Nukat . Other scholars citing his glosses include Khalid al-Azhari and Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi .
Manuscripts and Publication
The work was edited and published as a doctoral dissertation by Jabir ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Surayyi‘ at the Islamic University of Madinah . The edition is based on two primary manuscripts:
- An autograph copy in Ibn Hisham's own handwriting preserved in the Veliyuddin Efendi collection at the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul (MS 1039) .
- A transcript copied from his autograph, preserved in the Taymuriyya collection at the Egyptian National Library in Cairo (MS 187 Nahw Taymur), which represents one of the manuscripts consulted by Yasin al-Ulaymi .
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