Talkhis al-Ibara fi Nahw Ahl al-Ishara
- Author died
- 678 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʻIlmīyah
Talkhis al-Ibara fi Nahw Ahl al-Ishara (Abridging Expression on the Grammar of the People of Allusion) is a mystical grammatical treatise by Izz al-Din al-Maqdisi (d. 678 AH / 1280 CE; another report gives 672 AH), in which the technical terms and rules of Arabic grammar are allegorically interpreted into spiritual, ethical, and Sufi concepts .
Purpose and Premise
In his introduction, al-Maqdisi states that grammar (nahw) literally signifies "aim" or "intent" (al-qasd), and that seekers differ in their pursuits: while one aims at correcting the tongue (taqwim al-lisan)—which represents the limit of knowledge for grammarians and literalists (ahl al-ibara)—another directs his highest concern toward rectifying the heart (taqwim al-jinan), which is the aim of the mystics (ahl al-ishara) . The book was composed to contrast these two groups and clarify both paths, distinguishing between linguistic error and spiritual defect (al-lahn wa-l-lahn) .
Structure and Content
The treatise is organized according to standard grammatical topics, each reinterpreted through spiritual allegories:
- Speech and Its Divisions (Kalam): Whereas the grammarians divide speech into nouns, verbs, and particles, the mystics derive it from three principles: sayings (aqwal, representing knowledge), actions (af'al, righteous works), and spiritual states (ahwal) . Knowledge precedes action, which in turn yields divine spiritual states—analogous to particles imparting meaning within nouns and verbs .
- The Noun (al-Ism): Al-Maqdisi addresses the grammatical debate over whether ism is derived from elevation (sumuww) or marking (sima), stating that creation is designated by divine marks (sima), whereas God's names derive from transcendent elevation (sumuww) . Speech is sound (sahih) when it is free of spiritual weak letters: the waw of whisperings (waswas), the ya' of despair (ya's), and the alif of confusion (iltibas) .
- Impediments to Nunation (Mawani' al-Sarf): The nine causes preventing declension are mapped to spiritual ailments that prevent divine acceptance: accumulation (al-jam'), seeking praise (al-wasf), faint-heartedness (al-ta'nith), ungrateful recognition (al-ma'rifa), concealing knowledge (al-'ujma), deviance from the path (al-'adl), mixing truth with falsehood (al-tarkib), self-importance expressed through "I" and "we" (al-alif wa-l-nun), and self-righteousness (wazn al-fi'l) .
- Inflection and Inflexibility (al-I'rab wa-l-Bina'): Inflection revolves around four movements: the nominative/elevation (raf') of the gnostics' aspirations to God, the accusative/effort (nasb) of the worshippers' bodies in obedience, the genitive/humility (khafd) of the ascetics' souls, and the jussive/cutting off (jazm) of lovers' hearts from all besides God . Inflection pertains to novices (ahl al-bidayat) undergoing spiritual fluctuation (talwin), whereas inflexibility belongs to the spiritually mature (ahl al-nihayat) who abide in firmness (tamkin) .
- Grammatical Roles and Complements: The subject and predicate (al-mubtada' wa-l-khabar) reflect the divine attributes of Firstness and Lastness, and the single agent (al-fa'il) governs multiple objects (al-maf'ulat) . The circumstance (al-hal) signifies beautifying one's inner conduct while concealing it as an indefinite noun (nakira) . Specification (al-tamyiz) represents discerning pure from impure within the self and truth from falsehood in knowledge .
- Followers and Particles: Al-Maqdisi expounds apposition (al-badal), the adjective (al-sifah), conjunction (al-'atf), and corroboration (al-tawkid) . Prepositions (huruf al-jarr) are treated as instruments that humble the soul toward God . The treatise concludes with the negative particle la (la al-nafiyah), explaining how negating fault yields divine affirmation, and detailing the mystical attributes of the letter alif in the declaration of divine unity (tawhid) .
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