Tuhfat al-Majd al-Sarih fi Sharh Kitab al-Fasih
- Author died
- 691 AH
- Editions
- Without publisher
Tuhfat al-Majd al-Sarih fi Sharh Kitab al-Fasih (The Gift of Pure Glory in Commenting on the Book of the Eloquent) is an extensive Arabic linguistic commentary by the Andalusian grammarian and lexicographer Abu Ja'far Ahmad ibn Yusuf al-Libli (d. 691 AH / 1292 CE) on Kitab al-Fasih by Abu al-Abbas Tha'lab .
Composition and Purpose
Al-Libli composed the work at the suggestion of the vizier Abu Bakr ibn al-Wazir Abu al-Hasan (also identified as Ibn al-Wazir Ibn al-Hasan ibn Ghalib), who attended al-Libli's lectures and admired his explanations of the obscure vocabulary (gharib) of al-Fasih, as well as his defense of Tha'lab against critics who imputed errors to him . At Abu Bakr's recommendation, al-Libli dedicated the completed work to the library of the grand vizier (dhu al-wizaratayn) Abu al-Qasim ibn dhu al-wizaratayn Abu Ali . Al-Libli selected the title as an explicit allusion to the noble standing (al-majd al-sarih) of the vizier Abu al-Qasim .
Method and Sources
Al-Libli conceived the book as an exhaustive and comprehensive exposition (sharh istifa' wa-isti'yab). In it, he expounded upon the meanings of the text, parsed the syntax (i'rab) and unusual elements of the cited poetic verses (shawahid), and supplied supplementary corrections and notes (istidrakat) .
In his preface, al-Libli enumerated ninety-one distinct source works that he utilized, in addition to earlier commentaries on al-Fasih . His references include several early and rare Arabic lexical compilations, such as:
- Maw'ib al-Lughah by Abu Tammam ibn Ghalib al-Tayyani al-Qurtubi (d. 426 AH / 1035 CE)
- Jami' al-Lughah by Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Qazzaz al-Qayrawani (d. 412 AH / 1021 CE)
- Wa'i al-Lughah by Abd al-Haqq ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Azdi al-Ishbili (d. 582 AH / 1186 CE)
- Kitab al-Sama' wa-al-Alam by Muhammad ibn Aban al-Lakhmi al-Qurtubi (d. 354 AH / 965 CE)
- Kitab al-Mu'aqabat and Kitab al-Wuhush by Hisham ibn Ibrahim al-Karanba'i
- Mukhtasar al-Jamharah of Ibn Durayd
- The commentary on al-Fasih by al-Zamakhshari, from which al-Libli cited more than fifty passages in the surviving portion alone
Reception and Abridgment
The Ottoman scholar Ali ibn Amrullah ibn al-Hinna'i described the commentary as a work of unmatched rigor and rich benefit, noting that it clearly demonstrates the author's scholarly preeminence and skill . The text was widely quoted by later philologists and lexicographers, including Ibn Malik al-Ba'li in Zawa'id Thulathiyyat al-Af'al and al-Muthallath, Abd al-Qadir al-Baghdadi in Khizanat al-Adab, al-Murtada al-Zabidi in Taj al-Arus, and al-Firuzabadi .
Al-Libli also produced a one-volume abridgment of the work, titled Lubab Tuhfat al-Majd al-Sarih (also referred to by biographers as his concise commentary, or al-Mujmal) .
Manuscripts and Publication
Incomplete manuscript witnesses of the commentary are preserved in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya (spanning 168 pages covering the first four chapters) and the Hamzawiyya Library in Morocco (222 pages in Maghrebi script) . The extant first volume (al-sifr al-awwal) was edited by Abd al-Malik ibn Aydah al-Thubayti and published in Cairo in 1418 AH / 1997 CE .
Answer updated