Abū’l-Ḥasan ʻAlī ibn Ismāʻīl (أبو الحسن على بن اسماعيل), known as Ibn Sīdah (ابن سيده), or Ibn Sīdah'l-Mursī (ابن سيده المرسي), (c.1007-1066), was a linguist, philologist and lexicographer of Classical Arabic from Andalusia. He compiled the encyclopedia al-Kitāb al-Mukhaṣṣaṣ (المخصص) (Book of Customs) and the Arabic language dictionary Al-Muḥkam wa-al-muḥīt al-aʻẓam [2] (المحكم والمحيط الأعظم) (The Great and Comprehensive Arbiter". His contributions to the sciences of language, literature and logic were considerable.
Ibn Sidah ابن سيده | |
|---|---|
| Personal life | |
| Born | 1007 |
| Died | 26 March 1066 (25 RabīʿII 458), aged 59 |
| Era | Islamic golden age |
| Region | Iberian Peninsula |
| Notable work(s) | Al-Muḥkam wa-al-muḥīt al-aʻẓam |
| Occupation | Scholar, lexicographer, linguist, philologist, logician |
| Religious life | |
| Religion | Islam |
| Denomination | Sunni |
| Jurisprudence | Maliki |
| Creed | Ash'ari[1] |
| Muslim leader | |
Influenced by | |
Influenced | |
Life
editIbn Sīdah was born in Murcia in eastern Andalusia. The historian Khalaf ibn ʻAbd al-Malik Ibn Bashkuwāl (ابن بشكوال) (1183-1101) in his book Kitāb aṣ-Ṣilah (كتاب الصلة) (Book of Relations)[3] gives Ismāʻīl as the name of his father, in agreement with name given in the Mukhassas. However Al-Fath ibn Khaqan in mathmah al-anfus (مطمح الأنفس) has the name Aḥmad. Yaqut al-Hamawi in The Lexicon of Literature, says Ibn Sīdah ('son of a woman') was his nickname. Remarkably both he and his father were blind. His father was a sculptor although it seems the disciplines he devoted his life to, philology and lexicography, had been in his family.[4][5]
Mohammed ibn Ahmed ibn Uthman Al-Dhahabi's biographic encyclopedia Siyar A'lam al-Nubala (سير أعلام النبلاء) (Lives of The Noble Scholars)[6] is the main biographic source. He lived in the taifa principality of "Dénia and the Eastern Islands" (طائفة دانية والجزائر الشرقية) under the rule of Emir Mujahid al-Amiri al-Muwaffaq (الأمير مجاهد العامري) (1044-1014) and he travelled to Mecca and Medina. He studied in Cordova under the renowned grammarian Abu al-Sa'ad ibn al-Hasan al-Rubai al-Baghdadi (أبو العلاء صاعد بن الحسن الربعي البغدادي) (d.417AH/1026AD) exiled in Andalusia, and with Abu Omar al-Talmanki (أبي عمر الطلمنكي) (429-340AH). He died in Dénia.
Works
edit- al-Mukhaṣṣaṣ (المخصص) 'Allowance' (20 vols)[7]
- Al-Muḥkam wa-al-muḥīt al-ʾaʿẓam (المحكم والمحيط الأعظم) (Beirut, 2000);[8] Arabic dictionary, 11 vols. A principal source for the famous Lisān al-ʿArab dictionary by the great thirteenth-century lexicographer Ibn Manzur.
- al-muḥkam wa al-muḥīṭ ul-ʾaʿẓam (المحكم والمحيط الأعظم) 'The Great Comprehensive Reference'
- al-ʾunīq (الأنيق) 'The Elegant'
- šarʿ ʾiṣlāḥ al-Muntaq (شرح إصلاح المنطق) 'Commentary on the Reform of Logic'
- šarʿ ma ʾaškāl min shaʿr al-Mutanabbī (شرح ما أشكل من شعر المتنبي) 'Commentary on Forms of al-Mutanabbi (al-Kindi)'s Poems'
- al-ʿalām fi l-luġa ʿala al-ʾaǧnās (العلام في اللغة على الأجناس) 'Science of Languages of Nations'
- al-ʿālam wa l-Mutaʿallam (العالم والمتعلم) 'Knowledge and the Student'
- al-Wāfī fi ʿalam ʾaḥkām al-Quwāfī (الوافي في علم أحكام القوافي) 'Science of Rhyme Provision'
- al-ʿawīs fi sharʿ ʾIslāḥ l-Munṭaq (العويص في شرح إصلاح المنطق) 'Sharp Explanation of Logic'
- šarʿ Kitāb al-ʾAḫfash (شرح كتاب الأخفش) 'Commentary on Book of the Hidden'
- as-samāʾ wa l-ʿālam (السماء والعالم) 'Heaven and Earth'
- al-ʿālam fi l-Luġah (العالم في اللغة) 'Philology'
- šawāḏ al-Luġah (شواذ اللغة) 'Language Lovers'
- Al-Muḥkam wa l-Muḥīt al-ʾAʿẓam (المحكم والمحيط الأعظم) 'The Great and Comprehensive Arbitrator'.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Ahl al-Sunna: The Ash'aris - The Testimony and Proofs of the Scholars". almostaneer.com (in Arabic). Archived from the original on 28 January 2021.
- ^ Ibn Sidah. ʻAlī ibn Ismāʻīl Hindāwī ʻAbd al-Ḥamīd (ed.). Al-Muḥkam Wa-Al-Muḥīṭ Al-Aʻẓam. Al-Ṭabʻah 1 ed (in Arabic). Beirut: Manshūrāt Muḥammad ʻAlī Bayḍūn }.
Searchable online
- ^ "الصلة - المكتبة الوقفية للكتب المصورة PDF".
- ^ Talbi, M., “Ibn Sīda”, in: Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs. Consulted online on 20 October 2017 <https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_3380>
- ^ Anwar G. Chejne (1969). The Arabic Language: Its Role in History. U of Minnesota Press. p. 47. ISBN 978-0-8166-5725-4. Retrieved 2 April 2013.
- ^ "سير أعلام النبلاء - شمس الدين الذهبي".
- ^ "المحكم والمحيط الأعظم (ط. العلمية) - المكتبة الوقفية للكتب المصورة PDF".
- ^ Ibn Sīdah, ʻAlī ibn Ismāʻīl (2000). ‘Abd al-Ḥamīd Handāwī (ed.). Al-Muḥkam wa-al-muḥīt al-ʾaʿẓam (in Arabic). Vol. 11 (1 ed.). Beirut: Dār al-Kotob al-Ilmiyah. ISBN 2-7451-3034-X.
- ^ "المحكم والمحيط الأعظم (ط. العلمية) - المكتبة الوقفية للكتب المصورة PDF".