Sharh al-Quwaysini ala al-Sullam al-Munawraq lil-Akhdari
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- Sharh al-Quwaysini ala al-Sullam al-Munawraq lil-Akhdari
Sharh al-Quwaysini ala al-Sullam al-Munawraq lil-Akhdari is a series of transcribed lectures by the contemporary Saudi scholar Ahmad ibn Umar al-Hazimi, providing an analytical commentary on Hasan al-Quwaysini’s blended explanation of al-Sullam al-Munawraq, a didactic poem on logic by Abd al-Rahman al-Akhdari .
Origin and Structure
The work originated as ten audio lectures delivered by al-Hazimi, which were subsequently transcribed and published online through his official website . It serves as an instructional manual in traditional Islamic formal logic (mantiq), following the educational sequence of classical texts studied by students of religious sciences .
The underlying base poem, al-Sullam al-Munawraq fi Fann al-Mantiq, was authored in the tenth century AH by the Algerian scholar Abd al-Rahman al-Akhdari as a versification of standard logical principles akin to Athir al-Din al-Abhari's Isaghuji . In the nineteenth century CE, Hasan Darwish al-Quwaysini—a grand shaykh of Al-Azhar who was alive in 1255 AH (1839 CE) and died in 1254 AH (1838 CE) according to other historical records—composed a concise commentary on the poem .
Method and Content
Al-Hazimi chose al-Quwaysini's text over other commentaries because of two primary pedagogical features: conciseness (al-ikhtisar) and its blended structure (al-mazj) . In a blended commentary (sharh mamzuj), the commentator weaves the explanatory phrases directly into the poetic lines rather than appending distinct glosses beneath each verse . Al-Hazimi observes that this form of commentary is most advantageous for students who have memorized the verse, as it reinforces the precise meaning of every term in the poem .
In his exposition, al-Hazimi contextualizes al-Quwaysini’s work alongside other notable commentaries on al-Sullam, such as Ahmad al-Damanhuri’s Idah al-Mubham, Ahmad al-Mallawi’s commentary, and Ibrahim al-Bajuri’s expansive supercommentary (Hashiyah) . Al-Hazimi systematically expounds upon the classical headings of the work, covering introductory matters such as rhetorical prologue devices (bara‘at al-istihlal), the legitimacy of studying logic, types of knowledge (al-tasawwur and al-tasdiq), and the core rules governing definitions, propositions, and syllogistic inference .
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