Nahw al-Qulub
- Author died
- 465 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Nahw al-Qulub (Grammar of the Hearts) is a mystical treatise by the Sufi master and scholar Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Karim al-Qushayri (d. 465 AH / 1072 CE) interpreting Arabic grammatical concepts through spiritual and esoteric meanings.
Overview and Structure
The work applies the terminology and structural categories of Arabic grammar (nahw) to the spiritual path, the discipline of the heart, and Sufi states. In classical bibliography and manuscript catalogs, it is recorded under the title Nahw al-Qulub as well as the extended title al-Usul fi Nahw Arbab al-Qulub al-Mustanbat min Nahw Arbab al-Ghuyub.
According to Hajji Khalifa in Kashf al-Zunun, the treatise opens with the praise formula: "Praise be to God Who deposited wisdom in its people" (al-hamdu lillahi alladhi awda‘a al-hikmata ahlaha). Manuscript copies of the text have been preserved across several libraries, including the al-Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, the Maktabat Arif Hikmat in Medina, and the Municipal Library of Alexandria.
Influence and Editions
The book served as an inspiration for subsequent Sufi texts linking specialized disciplines to internal spiritual realities. In his work Fiqh al-Qulub, the Sufi scholar Mahmud ibn Muhammad ibn Mashadah (known as Ibn al-Musharraf al-Isbahani) noted that his book followed the model of earlier spiritual adaptations of scholarly disciplines, stating that Abu Talib al-Makki had authored Qut al-Qulub and al-Qushayri had authored Nahw al-Qulub.
In modern print, the text has been edited and published under the title Nahw al-Qulub al-Saghir, edited by Ahmad Alam al-Din al-Jundi.
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