Khasa'is al-Nazm fi "Khasa'is al-Arabiyya" li-Ibn Jinni
- Author died
- 1429 AH
- Editions
- دار الطباعة المحمدية
Khasa'is al-Nazm fi "Khasa'is al-Arabiyya" li-Ibn Jinni (The Characteristics of Composition in Ibn Jinni's "Characteristics of Arabic") is a specialized rhetorical study by the Egyptian scholar and assistant professor of rhetoric at the Faculty of Arabic Language in Zagazig, Hasan Ismail Abd al-Raziq (d. 1429 AH / 2008 CE), examining the rhetorical and stylistic foundations within the linguistic work al-Khasa'is by Abu al-Fath Uthman Ibn Jinni (d. 392 AH) .
Purpose and Scope
The author composed the work to demonstrate that Ibn Jinni's al-Khasa'is is not confined to grammar (nahw), morphology (sarf), or the principles of philology (usul al-lugha), but serves as a rich source for rhetorical values and the theory of syntactic construction (nazm) . Abd al-Raziq argues that Ibn Jinni uncovered subtle expressive secrets in classical Arabic poetry and prose while extracting grammatical causes or defending linguistic assertions, thereby laying down core principles that subsequent classical rhetoricians drew upon .
Methodology
Abd al-Raziq structured his research around several methodological steps:
- Gathering rhetorical and stylistic points scattered throughout al-Khasa'is under grammatical and lexical headings, reclassifying them under standard rhetorical terminology .
- Analyzing these issues systematically by breaking general themes into constituent parts accompanied by rhetorical analysis .
- Tracing how later rhetoricians—including Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, Diya al-Din Ibn al-Athir, and al-Khatib al-Qazwini—benefited from Ibn Jinni's formulations, and restoring credit to Ibn Jinni for ideas adopted by subsequent authorities without attribution .
- Responding to criticisms directed against Ibn Jinni, particularly those raised by Ibn al-Athir in al-Mathal al-Sa'ir .
Structure and Contents
The book opens with an introduction and a historical preamble detailing the biography of Ibn Jinni, his companionship with Abu Ali al-Farisi and the poet al-Mutanabbi, and the occasions in al-Khasa'is where properties of composition are articulated . The main body is divided into thematic chapters:
- Eloquence of Speech (Fasahat al-Kalam): Discusses soundness of syntactic structure (da'f al-ta'lif) and freedom from verbal obscurity (al-ta'qid al-lafzi) .
- Words and Meanings (al-Alfaz wa-l-Ma'ani): Explores the Arabic regard for wording as vessels serving meanings, Ibn Jinni's dialogue with Ibn Qutayba, and the impact of these views on al-Jurjani and al-Sakkaki .
- Correlation of Phonetic Form and Meaning (Quwwat al-Lafd li-Quwwat al-Ma'na): Covers morphological augmentation reflecting intensity of meaning, and its adoption in later rhetoric .
- Brevity and Expansiveness (al-Ijaz wa-l-Itnab): Detailed analysis of grammatical deletion (al-hadhf), titled by Ibn Jinni as "the courage of Arabic" (shaja'at al-Arabiyya), and parenthetical clauses (al-i'tirad) .
- Simile (al-Tashbih) and Abstraction (al-Tajrid): Explores simile particle mechanics, concise simile (tashbih baligh), inverted simile (tashbih maqlub), and types of abstraction .
- Figurative Interrogation (al-Ma'ani al-Majaziyya li-l-Istifham): Analysis of interrogative forms carrying rhetorical senses like affirmation (taqrir), denial (inkar), and wonder (ta'ajjub) .
- Negation by Affirmation (Nafy al-Shay' bi-Ijabihi): Examines rhetorical constructs conveying negation through affirmative phrasing .
- Levels of Signification (al-Dalalat): Distinguishes between phonetic, morphological, and semantic significations .
- Literal and Tropical Expression (al-Haqiqa wa-l-Majaz): Investigates linguistic metaphor, trope by cause/effect (majaz mursal), mental trope (majaz aqli), and tropes arising from deletion or addition .
- Supererogatory Constraint (Luzum Ma La Yalzam): Examines strict adherence to unrequired structural or rhyming patterns in poetry and prose .
- Miscellaneous Rhetorical Inquiries: Discusses syntactic restriction (qasr) through fronting indefinites, metonymy using the word mathal, grammatical shifts (iltifat), swapping past and future tenses, deletion of the predicate to answer implied queries, and the psychological impact of rhymed prose (saj') .
Publication
The work was published in a single volume in Cairo by Dar al-Tiba'ah al-Muhammadiyyah in 1407 AH / 1987 CE .
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