Mutun Talib al-Ilm - al-Idafiya - 10
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- Dr. ʿAbd al-Muḥsin ibn Muḥammad al-Qāsim
Mutun Talib al-Ilm – al-Idafiyya – 10 is a critical edition of the didactic poem Lamiyyat al-Af'al on Arabic morphology (sarf) by Ibn Malik (d. 672 AH / 1274 CE), edited by Abd al-Muhsin al-Qasim as the tenth volume of the supplementary series in his educational curriculum Mutun Talib al-Ilm.
Content and Scope
The edition features Ibn Malik's Lamiyyat al-Af'al, a 114-verse didactic poem composed in the basit meter and rhyming in the letter lam. Ibn Malik composed the poem to condense Arabic morphological patterns and meanings gathered by earlier authorities, designing it as a complement to his grammar manual al-Khulasa (Alfiyyat Ibn Malik) to cover verbal morphology that was omitted there. The work outlines analogical derivation rules (al-dawabit al-qiyasiyya) and cataloged irregular forms. Its sections address the morphological forms and derivations of the unaugmented trilateral verb (abniyat al-fi'l al-mujarrad wa-tasarifihi), the attachment of pronominal ta' and nun to verbs, augmented verb patterns (abniyat al-fi'l al-mazid fih), the imperfect verb (al-fi'l al-mudari'), and the passive voice (fi'l ma lam yusamma fa'iluh).
Among the prominent commentaries mentioned on the text are those by the author's son, Ibn al-Nazim (Badr al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Muhammad Ibn Malik, d. 686 AH / 1287 CE), and by Bahraq (Jamal al-Din Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Umar al-Humaydi, d. 930 AH / 1524 CE).
Editorial Methodology and Manuscript Sources
Abd al-Muhsin al-Qasim completed the edition on 7 Sha'ban 1442 AH. To facilitate memorization for students, the text in this student print was stripped of editorial footnotes detailing manuscript variants, source attributions, and explanations of rare vocabulary, all of which were compiled in a separate scholarly edition.
The text was verified against multiple manuscript witnesses, including:
- A manuscript in the Hassan Husni Abd al-Wahhab collection in Tunis (microfilmed at the Islamic University of Madinah, no. 3731), dated 747 AH.
- A manuscript in the Haci Selim Aga collection at the Süleymaniye Library in Istanbul (no. 1143), dated 859 AH.
- A copy in a compilation at the El Escorial Library in Madrid (no. 248), transcribed in 969 AH.
- Two manuscripts at the Al-Azhar Mosque Library in Cairo (no. 8438, copied in 1097 AH; and no. 28928, copied in 1144 AH).
- A manuscript at the Khalidi Library in Jerusalem (no. 709), dated 1103 AH.
- An undated manuscript from King Salman Central Library at King Saud University in Riyadh, estimated to date from the twelfth century AH.
- Several manuscripts transmitting the text embedded within the commentary of Ibn al-Nazim, including copies at the Topkapi Palace Museum (Kogusler collection, no. 1096/36; dated 707 AH), the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (no. 1593; dated 738 AH), the Manisa Public Library in Turkey (no. 45 1/2580 Hk; dated 851 AH), the Haci Selim Aga collection (no. 1143; dated 859 AH), the Reisulkuttab collection at the Süleymaniye Library (no. 1205; estimated 9th century AH), the al-Azhar Library (no. 33736; estimated 9th century AH), and the Laleli collection at the Süleymaniye Library (no. 3098; dated 983 AH).
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