Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat al-Udaba
- Author died
- 577 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Manār
Nuzhat al-Alba fi Tabaqat al-Udaba (The Promenade of the Hearts concerning the Generations of Men of Letters) is a biographical dictionary of Arabic grammarians and philologists compiled by Abu al-Barakat al-Anbari (d. 577 AH / 1181 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
In his introduction, Abu al-Barakat al-Anbari states that he composed the book to record the prominent figures of the grammatical tradition and those close to them in mastery, setting forth their lives and chronological eras with clarity . Despite its concise volume, the work encompasses both early and later generations of Arabic scholars of language and grammar .
Structure and Content
The work contains biographies of 181 figures, arranged chronologically according to their death years . The biographical coverage begins with the early figures linked to the foundation of Arabic grammar, tracing the tradition from Ali ibn Abi Talib down to the author's own teacher, Ibn al-Shajari (d. 542 AH) . Al-Anbari concludes the dictionary with an extensive entry on Ibn al-Shajari, in which he details his praise and connects his own chain of transmission (isnad) for grammatical knowledge back generation by generation to Ali ibn Abi Talib .
Reception and Editions
The book serves as a foundational reference for the history of Arabic grammar and the biography of philologists, often grouped with subsequent biographical dictionaries in the field such as Inbah al-Ruwat by Al-Qifti and Bughyat al-Wu'at by Al-Suyuti .
Nuzhat al-Alba was early published as a lithograph in Cairo in 1294 AH for Prince Ibrahim, the son of the former Khedive Ismail . Modern critical editions include that edited by Muhammad Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim (Cairo, 1386 AH / 1967 CE) and another edited by Ibrahim al-Samarra'i .
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