Sharh Kitab Sibawayh lil-Rummani - Juz minhu
- Author died
- 384 AH
- Editions
- Sayf ibn ‘Abd al-Raḥmān ibn Nāṣir al-‘Urayfī
Sharh Kitab Sibawayh (also cataloged in manuscript collections as al-Mabsut fi Sharh Kitab Sibawayh) is an extensive grammatical commentary by the Baghdadi grammarian and theologian Abu al-Hasan al-Rummani (296–384 AH / 908–994 CE) on al-Kitab, the foundational treatise on Arabic grammar composed by Sibawayh (d. 180 AH / 796 CE).
Content and Methodology
Along with contemporary 4th-century AH Baghdadi scholars such as Abu Sa'id al-Sirafi (d. 368 AH) and Abu Ali al-Farisi (d. 377 AH), al-Rummani devoted major scholarly efforts to expounding Sibawayh's work and upholding the grammatical traditions of Basra. Unlike al-Sirafi's commentary, which incorporated extensive grammatical debate and vast compilations of poetic citations (shawahid), al-Rummani focused primarily on elucidating the core doctrines and structure of Sibawayh's text through a structured and logical analytical method, engaging less with later grammatical controversies or extensive poetic proofs.
In addition to this comprehensive commentary, al-Rummani composed several other treatises centered on Sibawayh's text, including Nukat Sibawayh, Aghrad Kitab Sibawayh, and al-Masa'il al-Mufradat min Kitab Sibawayh.
Manuscripts and Extant Portions
Surviving portions (ajza') and volumes of the work are preserved in manuscript repositories, including:
- An ancient manuscript preserved in the Austrian National Library, copied in 577 AH.
- Multiple codices held in Istanbul collections, notably at the Feyzullah Library (MS 1984–1987) and Damad Ibrahim Pasha Library (MS 1074, 1075), copies of which are held in research centers such as the Center for Scientific Research and Islamic Heritage Revival at Umm al-Qura University and the Central Library in Riyadh.
Portions of the commentary have been edited in academic studies and critical editions, including the morphology section (qism al-sarf) edited by al-Mutawalli Ramadan al-Dumayri (Cairo, 1408 AH / 1988 CE) and doctoral research based on the Damad Ibrahim manuscript edited by Sayf al-Urayfi at the College of Arabic Language in Riyadh.
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