Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Amali al-Shajariyya

Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Amali al-Shajariyya (What Was Not Published of the Shajarian Dictations) is a scholarly compilation of the missing final sessions from the grammatical and literary dictations (amālī) of the Arab grammarian Ibn al-Shajari (450–542 AH / 1058–1148 CE), edited and published by Hatim Salih al-Damin Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1.

Background and Purpose

Ibn al-Shajari delivered his original work, al-Amali al-Shajariyya, over the course of eighty-four dictation sessions (majlis) Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1. However, when the work was first published in Hyderabad by Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyya in 1349 AH, the editors lacked access to a complete manuscript and the printed edition broke off mid-way through the seventy-eighth session Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1. To complete the published text of the Amali, Hatim Salih al-Damin recovered and edited the remaining portion—spanning from the continuation of the seventy-eighth council through the eighty-fourth council Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1.

Content and Methodology

The recovered sessions encompass advanced grammatical discussions, linguistic definitions, and literary criticism:

• Continuation of Council 78: Concludes discussions on Arabic poetic motifs involving birds and armies, examining verses by Alqama ibn Abada, Ru'ba, Abu Tammam, Abu al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi, and Ibn Nubata, alongside poetic commentary by Abu al-Ala al-Ma'arri Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1.
• Council 79: Focuses on the syntax and semantics of the lightened particle in (in al-khafīfah al-maksūrah), classifying its uses as conditional (sharṭiyyah), negative (nāfiyah), lightened from the heavy form (mukhaffafah min al-thaqīlah), and redundant (zā'idah) Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…. Ibn al-Shajari details debates among classical grammarians such as Sibawayh, al-Kisa'i, al-Farra', and al-Mubarrad, supporting the analysis with Quranic verses and pre-Islamic poetry Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1.
• Council 84: Serves as the conclusion to the entire Amali, dedicated to analyzing the poetry and wisdom of al-Mutanabbi while critiquing the views of earlier commentators such as Abu Zakariyya al-Tibrizi al-Wafi bil-Wafayat+1.

In his critical introduction, the editor notes instances where Ibn al-Shajari incorporated materials without explicit attribution, such as borrowing two full chapters from al-Harawi's al-Azhiya fi 'Ilm al-Huruf, as well as uncredited citations from Tha'lab's commentary on the Diwan of Zuhayr, al-Jurjani's al-Wasatah, and al-Mutanabbi commentaries by Ibn Jinni, al-Wahidi, Abu al-Qasim al-Isfahani, and Ibn Furraja Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama….

Manuscripts and Publication

Al-Damin based his edition on two primary manuscript witnesses:

1. Baghdad Manuscript: Preserved in the Postgraduate Library at the University of Baghdad (MS 369), copied in 614 AH, containing the third volume of the Amali from the fifty-sixth session to the end Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama….
2. Taymuriyya Manuscript: Preserved in the Khizanat Taymuriyya in Cairo (MS 672 Adab), copied in 1920 CE, featuring a detailed table of contents of the sessions Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama….

The missing councils were first published by al-Damin in the Iraqi journal al-Mawrid in 1974 (volume 3, issues 1 and 2), before appearing as an independent monograph issued by Mu'assasat al-Risalah in Beirut in 1405 AH / 1984 CE Ma Lam Yunshar min al-Ama…+1.