Kitab al-Silah min «al-Gharib al-Musannaf»
- Author died
- 224 AH
- Editions
- t al-Damin
Kitab al-Silah (The Book of Weapons) is a thematic lexicographical treatise forming the ninth book of al-Gharib al-Musannaf by the early philologist and jurist Abu Ubayd al-Qasim ibn Sallam (d. 224 AH / 838 CE). It collects and classifies classical Arabic terminology, descriptors, and poetic usages pertaining to arms and military equipment.
Context and Composition
Kitab al-Silah forms an integral part of Abu Ubayd's magnum opus, al-Gharib al-Musannaf, a comprehensive subject-classified lexicon comprising approximately one thousand chapters distributed across thirty individual books. Abu Ubayd is recorded to have spent thirty years—or according to another report, fifty years—compiling the work, which he presented to the Tahirid governor Abd Allah ibn Tahir.
In designing the topical structure of his lexicon, Abu Ubayd modeled it partly after Kitab al-Sifat by his teacher al-Nadr ibn Shumayl (d. 204 AH), which similarly contained a section dedicated to weaponry. He also incorporated material from the monographs of earlier Basran and Kufan philologists, particularly al-Asma'i, Abu Zayd al-Ansari, and Abu Ubaydah Ma'mar ibn al-Muthanna, alongside Bedouin speech and poetic evidence.
Contents and Methodology
The treatise arranges vocabulary according to specific categories and physical attributes of arms. Key subjects treated include:
- Swords and their qualities: Broad swords (al-safihah), slender blades (al-qadib), grooved blades (al-mufaqqar), unbreakable swords (al-samsamah), notched or aged blades (al-qadim), blunt edges (al-kaham, al-dadan), soft iron blades (al-anith), composite blades with hard iron edges (al-mudhakkar), and regional attributions such as Indian (al-muhannad) and Mashrafi swords (al-mashrafi).
- Spears and shafts: Terminology for various types of lances, spearheads, and parts of the shaft.
- Bows, arrows, and armor: Vocabulary designating bows, arrows, quivers, coats of mail (al-duru'), helmets (al-bayd), and shields (al-atur).
- General and acoustic terms: Collective terms for armed men (such as al-muddajjaj and shaki al-silah) and onomatopoeic names for the clashing sounds of armor and weaponry (such as al-khashkhashah and al-nashnashah).
Abu Ubayd cites lexical transmissions directly from authorities such as al-Asma'i, providing precise linguistic definitions and syntactic notes.
Influence
Abu Ubayd's lexical classifications in Kitab al-Silah served as a fundamental reference for later thematic dictionaries. Lexicographers such as Abu Mansur al-Azhari in Tahdhib al-Lughah and Ibn Sidah in al-Mukhassas frequently quoted his definitions and source citations on military terminology.
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