Sharh al-Qasaid al-Sab al-Tiwal al-Jahiliyat
- Author died
- 328 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Ma'arif
Sharh al-Qasaid al-Sab al-Tiwal al-Jahiliyat (Commentary on the Seven Long Pre-Islamic Odes) is a major philological and literary work by the Baghdadi grammarian and scholar of literature Ibn al-Anbari (271–328 AH / 884–940 CE) . The book provides an exhaustive textual commentary on the seven pre-Islamic masterpieces commonly grouped as al-Sab al-Tiwal (or the Muallaqat) .
Scope and Content
The designation al-Sab al-Tiwal ("the seven long odes") was applied by early philologists because these poems represent the longest preserved compositions of pre-Islamic Arabic poetry, ranging roughly between 64 and 104 verses per ode . Ibn al-Anbari's commentary treats the seven classical odes attributed to:
- Imru al-Qays
- Tarafa ibn al-Abd
- Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma
- Labid ibn Rabia
- Antara ibn Shaddad
- Amr ibn Kulthum
- Al-Harith ibn Hilliza
Method and Reception
Ibn al-Anbari approaches each ode through comprehensive grammatical parsing (i'rab), lexical elucidation of rare and obscure vocabulary (gharib), morphological analysis, rhetorical exposition, and citation of textual variants and poetic textual witnesses (shawahid) .
Alongside contemporary and later commentaries—such as those by Abu Jafar al-Nahhas (d. 338 AH) and Al-Khatib al-Tibrizi (d. 502 AH)—Ibn al-Anbari's commentary stands as one of the fundamental references in classical Arabic literary scholarship, frequently cited by lexicographers, grammarians, and Quranic exegetes .
Editions
The work was printed in Istanbul (1329 AH) and Paris (1913 CE) . The standard modern critical edition was edited by Abd al-Salam Muhammad Harun and published in Cairo by Dar al-Ma'arif, appearing in multiple printings (including 1963, 1969, 1980, and 1993) .
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