Ulum al-Balagha
- Author died
- 1371 AH
- Editions
- Ulum al-Balagha
Ulum al-Balagha (The Sciences of Rhetoric) is a work on Arabic rhetoric by the Egyptian scholar and exegete Ahmad ibn Mustafa al-Maraghi (d. 1371 AH / 1952 CE) . In its composition, the treatise combines the analytical approach of Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani (d. 471 AH) with the systematic, rule-based approach of Abu Ya'qub al-Sakkaki (d. 626 AH) .
Purpose and Historical Background
In the introduction to the book, al-Maraghi highlights the preeminent standing of the sciences of rhetoric among Arabic disciplines, likening them to the head on a human body or the central gem of a necklace, and noting that knowledge of rhetoric is indispensable for discerning the inimitability (i'jaz) of the Quran and the aesthetic virtues of Arabic discourse .
The work includes a historical survey traceing the origins and codification of Arabic rhetorical sciences . Al-Maraghi attributes the early rise of rhetorical inquiry to early Abbasid-era debates over Quranic inimitability—particularly the refutation of Ibrahim al-Nazzam's doctrine of sarfa (divine prevention)—as well as critical disputes between partisans of pre-Islamic poetry and proponents of modernist verse . He discusses key figures in the history of the discipline, including:
- Abu Ubayda Ma'mar ibn al-Muthanna (d. 211 AH), author of Majaz al-Quran (Metaphor in the Quran)
- al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH) and his writings in I'jaz al-Quran (Inimitability of the Quran) and al-Bayan wa-l-Tabyin (Eloquence and Demonstration)
- Ibn al-Mu'tazz (d. 296 AH), the earliest codifier of al-Badi' (embellishment), who enumerated seventeen rhetorical figures in his Kitab al-Badi'
- Qudama ibn Ja'far (d. 310 AH), who expanded these figures to thirty in Naqd al-Shi'r (Poetic Criticism)
- Abu Hilal al-Askari (d. 395 AH), whose Kitab al-Sina'atayn (The Book of the Two Crafts) addressed thirty-five types of embellishment alongside core issues of meanings, figures, and embellishment
- Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani, who established the foundations of the discipline in Asrar al-Balagha (The Secrets of Rhetoric) and Dala'il al-I'jaz (The Proofs of Inimitability)
- al-Zamakhshari (d. 538 AH), who applied these principles to Quranic exegesis in al-Kashshaf (The Unveiler)
- Abu Ya'qub al-Sakkaki, who organized and categorized the three branches of rhetoric in the third section of Miftah al-Ulum (The Key to the Sciences)
Structure and Contents
Following the historical introduction, the text examines foundational definitions of eloquence (fasaha) and rhetoric (balagha) in both their literal and conventional senses, analyzing eloquence as a property of the word (fasahat al-kalima), the sentence (fasahat al-kalam), and the speaker (fasahat al-mutakallim), as well as rhetoric as a quality of the speech (balaghat al-kalam) and the speaker (balaghat al-mutakallim), accompanying these topics with practical exercises and drills .
The text then details the core disciplines of Arabic rhetoric, beginning with the Science of Meanings (ilm al-ma'ani), structured across several thematic chapters:
- Chapter 1: Informative Discourse (al-khabar): Covers the definition of declarative statements, sentence construction, the pragmatic aims of conveying information, the modes of delivering declarative speech, distinctions between nominal and verbal sentences, and practical illustrative models .
- Chapter 2: Originary Discourse (al-insha'): Explores non-declarative utterance categories, including wishing (al-tamanni), interrogation (al-istifham), imperative commands (al-amr), prohibitions (al-nahy), and vocatives (al-nida') .
- Chapter 3: Explicit Mention (al-dhikr): Analyzes instances requiring the overt mention of sentence components, followed by targeted exercises .
- Chapter 4: Ellipsis and Omission (al-hadhf): Examines the rhetorical virtues and conditions of ellipsis, including the omission of the subject/topic (al-musnad ilayh), the predicate (al-musnad), and the direct object (al-maf'ul) .
- Chapter 5: Word Order and Precedence (al-taqdim): Outlines the aesthetic advantages and classifications of fronting elements in a sentence, specifically addressing the fronting of the musnad ilayh .
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