Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sinaat al-Shiir wa al-Nathr

Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sina'at al-Shi'r wa al-Nathr (تحرير التحبير في صناعة الشعر والنثر وبيان إعجاز القرآن, The Refinement of Embellishment in the Craft of Poetry and Prose and the Clarification of the Inimitability of the Quran) is a treatise on Arabic rhetoric and rhetorical figures (badi') by the Egyptian scholar Ibn Abi al-Isba' (d. 654 AH / 1256 CE) Taaqibat Jamal al-Din al-…+1.

Composition and Scope

The author, Zaki al-Din 'Abd al-'Azim ibn 'Abd al-Wahid ibn Zafir ibn Abi al-Isba' al-'Adwani al-Baghdadi thumma al-Misri, completed writing the work in Egypt at the beginning of the year 640 AH Taaqibat Jamal al-Din al-…+1. In the treatise, he set out to compile, define, and systematically classify the rhetorical and stylistic embellishments found in Arabic poetry, prose, and the text of the Quran Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sinaa…+1.

The work represents a significant expansion in the cataloging of rhetorical devices (al-badi') Tarikh al-Naqd al-Adabi i…+1. Ibn Abi al-Isba' drew upon a broad range of earlier rhetorical and critical writings, incorporating works such as Ibn al-Mu'tazz's Kitab al-Badi', Qudama ibn Ja'far's Naqd al-Shi'r, al-Hatimi's Hilyat al-Muhadara, Abu Hilal al-'Askari's Kitab al-Sina'atayn, al-Baqillani's I'jaz al-Qur'an, Ibn Rashiq's al-'Umda, Ibn Sinan al-Khafaji's Sirr al-Fasaha, 'Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's Dala'il al-I'jaz and Asrar al-Balagha, al-Zamakhshari's al-Kashshaf, Fakhr al-Din al-Razi's Nihayat al-Ijaz, Diya' al-Din Ibn al-Athir's al-Mathal al-Sa'ir, and treatises by al-Ajdabi and al-Tifashi Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.

Structure and Method

Ibn Abi al-Isba' organized the rhetorical figures in the treatise into fundamental categories (usul) and derivative branches (furu'):

• He began with the foundational figures identified by Ibn al-Mu'tazz and Qudama ibn Ja'far, considering them the earliest compilers of this discipline Tahrir al-Tahbir fi Sinaa…+1.
• He then assembled the derivative figures identified by subsequent rhetoricians up to his era, adding three figures sourced from al-Ajdabi's al-Badi', which brought the existing total to ninety-two (or ninety-three) categories Tarikh al-Turath al-Arabi…+1.
• To these he added thirty new rhetorical figures of his own extraction and definition, bringing the total count to one hundred and twenty types Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Later rhetoricians recognized about twenty of his thirty additions as genuinely novel contributions, while considering the remaining ones to have had antecedents or conceptual overlap with established terms Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1. In his classification, Ibn Abi al-Isba' expanded the scope of badi' by incorporating several topics traditionally belonging to the science of word order and semantics ('ilm al-ma'ani), including forms of prolixity (itnab), repetition (takrar), elaboration (tafsil), clarification (idah), and conciseness (ijaz) Tarikh al-Adab al-Arabi l…+1.

Transmission and Editions

The text was abridged in later times under titles such as Taysir al-Taqrir min Tahrir al-Tahbir and Mukhtasar Tahrir al-Tahbir Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…. A critical edition of the book was prepared by Hifni Muhammad Sharaf and published in Cairo by the Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs in 1383 AH / 1963 CE Majallat Jamiat Umm al-Qu…+1.