Inbah al-Ruwat ala Anbah al-Nuhat
- Author died
- 646 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi
Inbah al-Ruwat ala Anbah al-Nuhat (Notifying the Transmitters Concerning the Accounts of the Grammarians) is a biographical dictionary of Arabic grammarians and lexicologists compiled by the Ayyubid vizier and historian Jamal al-Din al-Qifti (568–646 AH / 1172–1248 CE) .
Composition and Title
In the introduction, al-Qifti relates that another writer had intended to compile a collection on the accounts of grammarians but lacked reference materials . Al-Qifti lent him scholarly works, instructed him on how to organize and classify the material, and supplied him with paper to produce a fair copy . However, the man sold the paper, made excuses, departed, and died shortly afterward, prompting al-Qifti to undertake the compilation himself .
The exact dates for the start and completion of the work are not explicitly recorded, but it was composed over an extended period and existed prior to 626 AH (1229 CE), the death year of Yaqut al-Hamawi, who cited it in Irshad al-Arib ila Ma'rifat al-Adib . The text was referred to by various titles across classical sources: al-Qifti himself referred to it as Akhbar al-Nuhat in his Ikhbar al-Ulama bi-Akhbar al-Hukama, a title also used by Yaqut and al-Udfuwi in al-Tali' al-Sa'id; al-Suyuti and others cited it as Tarikh al-Nuhat; and Yaqut and Ibn Shakir al-Kutubi also referred to it as Akhbar al-Nahwiyyin . Its definitive title became established as Inbah al-Ruwat ala Anbah al-Nuhat .
Scope and Structure
The book is an expansive biographical dictionary dedicated to the leading scholars of Arabic grammar and lexicology who engaged in teaching, composition, or transmission, spanning from the time of Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali to the author's own lifetime in the 7th century AH . It also incorporates entries for scholars of Quranic recitation, jurists, hadith scholars, theologians, Sufis, prosodists, men of letters, poets, scribes, historians, and astrologers who had any involvement in Arabic grammar or philology .
Geographically, the work encompasses figures across the Islamic world, including the Hejaz, Yemen, Bahrain, Oman, al-Yamama, Iraq, Fars, al-Jibal, Khurasan, Garmsir, Ghazna, Transoxiana, Azerbaijan, al-Madhar, Armenia, Mosul, Diyar Bakr, Diyar Mudar, the Jazira, the Awasim, the Levant, the coastal lands, Egypt, Ifriqiya, the Maghrib, al-Andalus, and Sicily .
The work contains nearly a thousand biographical entries . It opens with accounts regarding the origin of grammar and reports concerning Ali ibn Abi Talib and Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali, after which the entries are arranged alphabetically by personal name from Alif to Ya . In each entry, al-Qifti typically provides the subject's name, popular moniker, biographical anecdotes, titles of their writings, date of death, home region, and occasionally their birth year .
Sources and Methodology
Al-Qifti relied on two principal categories of sources:
- Written historical and biographical works: earlier chronicles, local histories, and specialized dictionaries, including Khatib al-Baghdadi's Tarikh Baghdad, Ibn Asakir's Tarikh Dimashq, Ibn Yunus's Tarikh Misr, al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's Tarikh Naysabur, Shirawayh's Tarikh Hamadhan, Ibn Bashkuwal's al-Sila, Ibn Durustawayh's Akhbar al-Nahwiyyin, al-Zubaydi's Tabaqat al-Nahwiyyin wa-l-Lughawiyyin, al-Marzubani's al-Muqtabas, Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist, and anthologies by al-Tha'alibi, al-Bakharzi, and Imad al-Din al-Isfahani, citing them explicitly at times and drawing upon them silently at others .
- Personal and oral knowledge: information obtained directly from his teachers in Cairo, Alexandria, and Qift, observations made during journeys in Egypt and the Levant, scholarly discussions in Aleppo, and written correspondence with scholars across various provinces .
Reception and Abridgments
Alongside Ibn al-Nadim's al-Fihrist and Yaqut's Irshad al-Arib, the book is considered one of the primary historical sources for the titles of works composed by early Arabic grammarians and lexicologists . It also preserves unique material from classical works that have not survived and provides comprehensive coverage of later grammarians who lived after the 4th century AH .
The work was abridged by subsequent scholars, including:
- Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE) .
- Taj al-Din Ahmad ibn Abd al-Qadir ibn Maktum (d. 749 AH / 1348 CE), who produced Talkhis Akhbar al-Nahwiyyin wa-l-Lughawiyyin al-Madhkura fi Kitab al-Inbah .
Manuscripts and Editions
The primary manuscripts of the work include:
- A complete copy preserved at the Topkapi Palace Library in Istanbul (MS 2858), copied in five parts by Abu al-Mahasin ibn Sa'id al-Sanhi and completed on 10 Jumada al-Ula 638 AH .
- A manuscript containing parts four and five preserved at the Feyzullah Library in Istanbul (MS 1382), completed on 5 Rajab 646 AH by Mahmud ibn Ali ibn Muhammad (Ibn al-Yamani al-Mu'allim) from an exemplar read to al-Qifti, bearing marginal notes by Ibn Hisham al-Ansari and Ibn Maktum .
- An autograph copy of Ibn Maktum's abridgment preserved at Dar al-Kutub in Cairo (MS 2069 Tarikh Taymur) .
The complete text was edited by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim and published by Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya in Cairo in four volumes between 1369 and 1393 AH (1950–1973 CE), with the final volume dedicated to analytical indexes .
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