Uqud al-Juman fi Ilm al-Maani wal-Bayan
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Imām Muslim lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
Uqud al-Juman fi Ilm al-Maani wal-Bayan (عقود الجمان في علم المعاني والبيان, The Pearl Necklaces in the Science of Meanings and Exposition) is a didactic thousand-line poem on Arabic rhetoric (ilm al-balagha) composed by al-Jalal al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH / 1505 CE) in 872 AH / 1468 CE .
Composition and Method
The text is a metrical versification of Talkhis al-Miftah (Summary of the Key), the rhetorical work by al-Khatib al-Qazwini (d. 739 AH / 1338 CE) . Al-Suyuti finished writing the work at the end of Jumada al-Thaniyah 872 AH, reportedly completing its versification in two days .
In formulating the poem, al-Suyuti preserved the core rules and classifications of al-Talkhis while omitting many of its illustrative examples to make room for supplemental discussions . Some of these additions were critiques or objections against al-Qazwini's formulations, and al-Suyuti often marked his own independent contributions with the word qultu ("I say") . He also reorganized selected topics where he considered an alternative arrangement more logically coherent . Al-Suyuti noted that his additions accounted for approximately half the work, remarking that had he limited himself strictly to the content of al-Talkhis, the poem would not have exceeded five hundred lines .
Structure
The poem is written in the rajaz meter (urjuza) and belongs to the didactic alfiyya (thousand-verse) genre . Although styled as containing one thousand verses, standard line counts total 1,006 verses . It treats the three canonical branches of Arabic rhetoric:
- Semantics (ilm al-maani)
- Figures and tropes (ilm al-bayan)
- Rhetorical embellishments (ilm al-badi) .
The poem opens with the verse:
قال الفقير عابد الرحمن ... الحمد لله على البيان
Qala al-faqiru 'Abdu al-Rahman / al-Hamdu lillahi 'ala al-bayan
("Said the needy servant Abd al-Rahman: Praise be to Allah for lucidity") .
Commentaries and Publications
Al-Suyuti authored his own commentary on the poem, titled Hall Uqud al-Juman (also referred to as Sharh Uqud al-Juman fi Ilm al-Maani wal-Bayan) . Later scholars who wrote commentaries on the poem include:
- Abdullah ibn Muhammad al-Husayni (d. 1027 AH / 1618 CE) .
- Abd al-Rahman al-Murshidi (d. 1037 AH / 1628 CE; another report gives 975 AH), the Hanafi mufti of Mecca .
- Muhammad al-Tirmanini (1198–1250 AH / 1784–1834 CE) .
- Ali ibn Abd al-Qadir al-Aydarus (1292–1364 AH / 1875–1945 CE) .
The poem was printed at Bulaq in 1293 AH . Al-Suyuti's commentary was published in Egypt by Matba'at Sharaf (1302 and 1305 AH), Matba'at al-Taqaddum al-Ilmiyyah (1321 AH), and Matba'at Mustafa al-Babi al-Halabi (1358 AH / 1939 CE and 1374 AH), frequently alongside Ahmad al-Damanhuri's Hilyat al-Lubb al-Masun . A critical edition of the poem was prepared by Abd al-Hamid Duha (published in 2012 CE) .
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