Arabic Notes

I compiled this back in 2008, hope it'll help the new aspirants.
Ibn-e-manzoor:

His name is Abu al fazal zamal aldin muhammad bin mukaram bin ali bin ahmad al ansari al
afriqi and almisri. He is of arab origion having his family roots associated with rufie^ bin
thabit alansari.

.

Life history:

cuz I have no idea),in the holy month of muharram in year 630H, 1232 A.D. he belonged to
shia^ school of thought, though its disputed. He saw many seasons of life, many years of
struggle and devotion. He was the finest intellectual of his times, who was aware of the
universal facts and I feel no hesitation to say that he reserves the right of being called the
esteem of Arabic heritage. He was a scholar and mastered in many fields,He was born in
cairo, some say in tarablus(please confirm where does this exists most notable, law,
linguistics, history, grammar and literature. He also showed his extraordinary abilities in
writing prose and rhythmic poems. His abilities lead him to the highest designation of
judge in tarablus. He also worked in diwan-e-insha for a long time. Despite of his legal
affairs, he spent a lot of time in reading Arabic literature and research in arabic linguistics.
Most of his work is based on translation and summarizing the bulk of arabic literature so as
to make it handy for a common reader.
According to al-safdii, I dont know any one except him who had summarized the huge
books as his son, qutub al din has narrated that he has left behind him 5000 volumes of
manuscripts written by himself. He summarized one fourth of tareekh-e-damishk..

His other summarized works are as follows:

Mukhtasir alagani
10 volumes of mukhtasir tareekh bagdad by khateeb al bagdadi. " "
.
Mukhtasir tareekh damishk by ibn-e-asakar " "
// mufridat ibn al bitar "
// al haiwan by al jahiz " "
// zahr aladab by hasri " "
// yateema al dahar by al thalabi " "
" " .
" "

Death:

In the last days of his life, though he lost his sight, he was a man of high wisdom, nobility
and origionality.he died in egypt in the month of shaban in 711 H , 1311A.D. thus the
islamic throne lost one of its most precious gems.

Lisan Al Arab

(it consists of 80000 letters having 20 volumes originally. Its more likely to be called an
encyclopedia of language than just a mere dictionary)
His most celebrated work is lisan al Arab which is considered to be the magnum opus of the
time because it not only provides a mature outlook on the Arabic language but also helps a
non Arab to admire the beauty of the eloquence and richness of this literature.

Motive behind the tome:

He had the following motives for writing such a voluminous book:

1. In his times there was a massive research going on the arabic literature. Scholars from
other parts of the world were coming to arabic regions in order to learn arabic. Many of
them translated the A.literature into their own languages but doing so they deprived it of its
sanctity and originality. Ibne manzoor foresighted the devaluation of Arabic language. He
divided his contemporary writers into two groups namely:

Those who know hoe to put things(yahan matlab hai k tarteeb sahi nahi thi us waqt k ulema
ne information ki tarteeb mein bohot galatian kien jo k aam logon ke liyay samajhna
mushkill tha.e.g A was discussed after C and T was discussed after B) but lack the skill of
compiling them

Those who know the compilation but lack the ability to put the information in its proper
place.

According to him, what is compilation without the art of putting them rightly? and what is
the art of adjustment without the skill of compilation?

2. confirming the importance of Arabic language and that this is the sacred, miraculous
language with many attributes within it, he wrote his master piece in order to unveil the
grandeur to the world. He wanted to preserve the rich heritage which this language holds in
it self, for thousands of years. He says himself in the foreword of his book LISAN AL ARAB,
this language of Arabia has been esteemed with the eloquence over all the other languages
and the fact, that its the language in which Quraan has been revealed and the language of
the people of jannah, preserves its value. As prophet said, love the arab for three reasons
:1) I am Arab, 2)Quraan is in Arabic 3)it is the language of the people of paradise.

3. he said in the foreword that he has not intended other than to preserve the origin of this
prophetic language.. because he saw it overpowered by other races ,because of racial and
language differences. The translations into ajami languages and awful changes in the dialect
has forced him to write something that would introduce the readers with the original
prophetic language, so as to preserve the language Arabs are proud of.

Method used in the book:

1) this book is actually a compilation of the five famous books of Arabic language before
ibne manzoor. He has made an encyclopedia for the ulema of literature, tafseer, hadith and
fiqh.He has combined together the following books, taking the most comprehensive ideas
and examples to clarify or explain a certain word or letter:

i) Tahzeeb al luga by alazhari
ii) Al mauhkim by ibn said
iii) Al sahah by al jawhari
iv) Hashiah al sahah by ibn bri
v) Al nahaya fi gareeb al hadith by ibn athir
vi) Jmhra tul luga by ibn dareed

2) The sequence or tarteeb of the chapters and subchapters are according to al sahah by
aljawhari.

3) All the chapters are being placed in a way to confirm that their placement doesnt
contradicts with the grammatical or other literary rules. Every word and detailed have been
compiled with due concentration so as not to lead the reader away from the usul of this
language.

4) Every word has an explanation from Quraan alkarim and hadith.

5) Every word has been explained through examples, proverbs, prose and poetic stanzas.

6) The literal meanings of the words are explained in connection to the philosophical use as
well.

7) It contains at least two pages of forward and then he starts with the name of Allah.

8) The book starts with the name of Allah and all praise to Allah. Then the writer thanks
Allah for His help in the writing of this master piece. Also he explains the importance of
Arabic language and praises it, in order to prepare the readers mind to absorb the
sacredness of this language.

9) he criticizes the works Tahzeeb al luga by alazhari, Al mauhkim by ibn said, Al sahah by
al jawhari, and rewrite their information in a more sequenced manner.

10) Then in-between the dictionary and the forward he has placed two chapters about the
explanation of miraculous letters ( haruf al muqattaa, the 1st letter of the surah e.g ) and
traits of the words used in the book.

11) He defines the origin of the word, its characteristics, types, grammatical differences etc.

12) He ends the book in a most beautiful manner that may Allah exalt the value of this book
and this language and that may many be benefited by this book and may it help the ulema
in increasing their wisdom and may the people of jannah talk in this dialect.

13) The book has been published in Cairo having 20 volumes, each with more than 300
pages.

14) One of the important things to mention is that to find a word we have to see the last
letter of the word. So for example if the word ends with such as , we will find the word
in 2nd chapter of the book i.e. . The book has been written alphabetically.

Arabic Notes

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What were Ibn-e-Manzoor's motivations for writing Lisan Al Arab?

How did Ibn-e-Manzoor structure and organize the information in Lisan Al Arab?

I compiled this back in 2008, hope it'll help the new aspirants.

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