Itmam al-Diraya li-Qurra al-Niqaya
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Itmam al-Diraya li-Qurra al-Niqaya (The Completion of Knowledge for the Readers of al-Nuqaya) is an encyclopedic commentary by the Egyptian Shafi'i polymath al-Jalal al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE), elucidating his own foundational primer, al-Nuqaya (The Quintessence), across fourteen Islamic and ancillary disciplines.
Background and Purpose
Al-Suyuti initially composed al-Nuqaya—also known by the longer title al-Usul al-Muhimma li-'Ulum Jamma—as an extremely brief treatise (kurrasa) encapsulating the core principles of fourteen distinct branches of knowledge. In his preface to Itmam al-Diraya, he noted that students and colleagues urged him to author a commentary on the work to unlock its dense phrasing and provide a self-sufficient resource, remarking that "the owner of the house knows best what is in it" (sahib al-bayt bi-ma fihi adra). Al-Suyuti completed the composition of Itmam al-Diraya on 3 Rabi' al-Awwal 873 AH (1468 CE).
Content and Structure
The book is structured around fourteen disciplines, expounding the concise definitions, classifications, and fundamental rulings of each subject:
- Theology (Usul al-Din), following the Ash'ari framework.
- Quranic Exegesis and its Sciences (Tafsir).
- Hadith Studies ('Ilm al-Hadith).
- Principles of Islamic Jurisprudence (Usul al-Fiqh).
- Inheritance Law (al-Fara'id).
- Syntax and Grammar (al-Nahw).
- Morphology (al-Tasrif).
- Calligraphy and Orthography (al-Khatt), treated as an independent science.
- Rhetoric: Meanings (al-Ma'ani).
- Rhetoric: Exposition and Figures (al-Bayan).
- Rhetoric: Embellishment (al-Badi').
- Anatomy (al-Tashrih).
- Medicine (al-Tibb).
- Sufism and Spiritual Ethics (al-Tasawwuf).
Reception and Derived Works
The text and its commentary generated several pedagogical adaptations in subsequent centuries:
- Versification of the Exegesis Section: The portion on Quranic sciences was versified in the rajaz meter by 'Abd al-'Aziz al-Zamzami al-Makki (d. 976 AH; reported in another account as 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Zamzami, d. 963 AH) under the title Manzumat al-Tafsir. Mansur Sibt al-Tablawi wrote a commentary on this poem titled Manhaj al-Taysir ila 'Ilm al-Tafsir, completing it in Shawwal 989 AH.
- Expanded Versification: Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Haqq al-Sunbati (d. 990 AH) versified the entire work into approximately 1,500 poetic verses under the title Rawdat al-Fuhum bi-Nazm Nuqayat al-'Ulum, adding four disciplines—arithmetic (al-hisab), prosody (al-'arud), rhyme (al-qawafi), and logic (al-mantiq)—to bring the total to eighteen disciplines. Al-Sunbati subsequently authored a commentary on his own versification titled Fath al-Hayy al-Qayyum bi-Sharh Rawdat al-Fuhum, which he completed in Rajab 982 AH.
Publication History
Itmam al-Diraya was printed in Cairo on the margins of al-Sakkaki's Miftah al-'Ulum at al-Matba'a al-Adabiyya and al-Matba'a al-Maymaniyya in 1317–1318 AH. Earlier editions were published in Bombay (1309 AH) and Fez (1317 AH). It has since received several modern scholarly editions, including one edited by Ibrahim al-'Ajuz (Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya, 1405 AH / 1985 CE).
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