Tahqiq al-Nusus wa Nashruha
- Author died
- 1408 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat al-Halabi wa-Shurakah li-l-Nashr wa-al-Tawzi'
Tahqiq al-Nusus wa Nashruha ("The Editing and Publishing of Texts") is a manual on the methodology of critical Arabic manuscript editing by the Egyptian philologist and editor Abd al-Salam Harun (1327–1408 AH / 1909–1988 CE) .
Background and Composition
Abd al-Salam Harun composed the work as a culmination of his extensive practical experience in handling, deciphering, and publishing classical Arabic manuscripts . First published in 1374 AH (1954 CE), it was the first Arabic treatise dedicated specifically to defining the principles of critical text editing, clarifying its methodologies, and addressing its practical challenges .
Methodological Principles
The work articulates the foundational rules governing scientific text editing, placing supreme emphasis on scholarly integrity (al-amanah al-ilmiyyah) . Harun maintained that the primary exemplar (al-nuskha al-aliyah) must be reproduced faithfully as written, without unauthorized addition, omission, alteration, or substitution . He explicitly characterized any intervention by an editor aimed merely at embellishing literary style, coordinating phrasing, or elevating expression to his own standard as an egregious scholarly transgression when done silently, and as an unacceptable departure from proper methodology even if noted in the apparatus .
Reception and Legacy
As the pioneer manual in its field, the book established a standard framework for modern Arabic textual scholarship . It paved the way for subsequent Arab works on manuscript editing, including Muqaddimah fi al-Manhaj by A'ishah Abd al-Rahman (Bint al-Shati), Manhaj Tahqiq al-Nusus wa Nashruha by Nuri Hammudi al-Qaysi and Sami Makki al-Ani, and Tahqiq al-Turath al-Arabi by Abd al-Majid Diyab .
Publication History
The work has been issued in multiple editions across the Arab world, including:
- An edition published in Cairo by Mu'assasat al-Halabi in 1385 AH (1965 CE) .
- A third expanded edition printed in Kuwait .
- A fourth edition issued by Maktabat al-Khanji in Cairo in 1397 AH (1977 CE) .
- A fifth edition published by Maktabat al-Sunnah in Cairo in 1410 AH .
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