Masalat Subhan li Naftawayh
- Author died
- 323 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kharrāz
Masalat Subhan (Arabic: مسألة سبحان, also recorded as Mas'alat Subhan Allah) is a grammatical and linguistic monograph on the term subhan by the Baghdadi grammarian and hadith scholar Naftawayh (244–323 AH / 858–935 CE; alternate reports place his birth in 240 AH or 250 AH) .
Background and Context
The author, Abu Abd Allah Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Arafah al-Azdi al-Ataki al-Wasiti, known by the nickname Naftawayh, studied under leading philologists of his era, notably Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab and Abu al-Abbas al-Mubarrad, combining the grammatical traditions of Kufa and Basra . Alongside his major works on language, history, and theology—such as Gharib al-Qur'an (The Rare Words of the Qur'an), al-Tarikh (History), and al-Radd 'ala al-Jahmiyyah (Refutation of the Jahmites)—he composed specialized grammatical treatises, including Masalat Subhan .
Scope and Transmission
The treatise is classified in the Arabic grammatical tradition under specialized monographs (masa'il) dealing with singular grammatical and lexical questions, specifically analyzing the syntax, declension, and semantics of the noun subhan in phrases such as Subhan Allah .
The work was recorded by classical biographers, including Abu al-Barakat al-Anbari in his bio-bibliographical work Nuzhat al-alibba' fi tabaqat al-udaba' . It circulated in the Islamic West; the Andalusian traditionist Ibn Khayr al-Ishbili listed Mas'alat Subhan Allah by Naftawayh in his bibliography (Fihrist), recording its transmission on the authority of the scholar Abu Bakr Ibn al-Arabi .
Manuscripts
Manuscripts of Masalat Subhan are preserved in library collections, including:
- Al-Zahiriyya Library (now within the al-Asad National Library) in Damascus, Syria (MS 34/79) .
- The Central Library in Mecca, Saudi Arabia (MS 688/10) .
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