Sharh Ibn Aqil on Alfiyyat Ibn Malik — Volume 1 (شرح ابن عقيل على ألفية ابن مالك) — Page 8

Arabic text · النص

Line-by-line translation · المعاني

مُقَدِّمَةُ الطَّبْعَةِ الْأُولَى.

Introduction to the First Edition.

وَقَدْ شَرَحَ الْكِتَابَ - غَيْرَ هَؤُلَاءِ - الْكَثِيرُ مِنَ الْعُلَمَاءِ،

Many other scholars have also written commentaries on this book.

وَلَسْتَ تَجِدُ شَرْحاً مِنْ هَذِهِ الشُّرُوحِ لَمْ يَتَنَاوَلْهُ الْعُلَمَاءُ بِالْكِتَابَةِ عَلَيْهِ،

There is not a single one of these commentaries that scholars have not addressed in their own writings.

وَبَيَانِ مَا فِيهِ مِنْ إِشَارَاتٍ، وَإِكْمَالِ مَا عَسَى أَنْ يَشْتَمِلَ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ نَقْصٍ،

They have clarified its subtle points and filled in any gaps it might have contained.

وَكُلُّ ذَلِكَ بِبَرَكَةِ صَاحِبِ الْأَصْلِ الْمَشْرُوحِ،

All of this is due to the blessing of the author of the original text.

وَبِمَا ذَاعَ لَهُ بَيْنَ أَسَاطِينِ الْعِلْمِ مِنْ شُهْرَةٍ بِالْفِقْهِ فِي الْعَرَبِيَّةِ وَسَعَةِ الْبَاعِ.

It is also a result of his widespread reputation among the masters of learning for his deep understanding of Arabic and his vast expertise.

وَهَذِهِ الشُّرُوحُ مُخْتَلِفَةٌ؛ فَفِيهَا الْمُخْتَصَرُ، وَفِيهَا الْمُطَوَّلُ،

These commentaries vary in nature; some are concise, while others are exhaustive.

فِيهَا الْمُتَعَقِّبُ صَاحِبَهُ لِلنَّاظِمِ يَتَحَامَلُ عَلَيْهِ، وَيَتَلَمَّسُ لَهُ الْمَزَالِقَ،

Some commentators take issue with the poet, treating him harshly and hunting for his slips.

وَفِيهَا الْمُتَحَيِّزُ لَهُ، وَالْمُصَحِّحُ لِكُلِّ مَا يَجِيءُ بِهِ،

Others are partial to him, defending everything he says.

وَفِيهَا الَّذِي اتَّخَذَ صَاحِبُهُ طَرِيقاً وَسَطاً بَيْنَ الْإِيجَازِ وَالْإِطْنَابِ، وَالتَّحَامُلِ وَالتَّحَيُّزِ.

Then there are those who have struck a middle path between brevity and verbosity, between harsh criticism and blind bias.

وَمِنْ هَؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ سَلَكُوا طَرِيقاً بَيْنَ الطَّرِيقَيْنِ بَهَاءُ الدِّينِ بْنُ عَقِيلٍ؛

Baha' al-Din ibn Aqil is one of those who followed this balanced approach.

فَإِنَّهُ لَمْ يَعْمِدْ إِلَى الْإِيجَازِ حَتَّى يَتْرُكَ بَعْضَ الْقَوَاعِدِ الْهَامَّةِ،

He did not aim for such brevity that he omitted important rules.

وَلَمْ يَقْصِدْ إِلَى الْإِطْنَابِ؛ فَيَجْمَعَ مِنْ هُنَا وَمِنْ هُنَا، وَيُبَيِّنَ جَمْعَ مَذَاهِبِ الْعُلَمَاءِ وَوُجُوهَ اسْتِدْلَالِهِمْ،

Nor did he aim for verbosity, gathering bits and pieces from everywhere to list every school of thought and every mode of reasoning.

وَلَمْ يَتَعَسَّفْ فِي نَقْدِ النَّاظِمِ بِحَقٍّ، وَبِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ،

He was not arbitrary in his criticism of the poet, whether justified or not.

كَمَا لَمْ يَنْحَزْ لَهُ بِحَيْثُ يَتَقَبَّلُ كُلَّ مَا يَجِيءُ بِهِ: وَافَقَ الصَّوَابَ، أَوْ لَمْ يُوَافِقْهُ.

Neither did he lean so far in his favor that he accepted everything the poet said, regardless of whether it was correct.

وَلِصَاحِبِ هَذَا الشَّرْحِ مِنَ الشُّهْرَةِ فِي الْفَنِّ وَالْبَرَاعَةِ فِيهِ، وَمِنَ الْبَرَكَةِ وَالْإِخْلَاصِ مَا دَفَعَ عُلَمَاءَ الْعَرَبِيَّةِ إِلَى قِرَاءَةِ كِتَابِهِ وَالِاكْتِفَاءِ بِهِ عَنْ أَكْثَرِ شُرُوحِ الْخُلَاصَةِ.

The author of this commentary possesses such renown, mastery, blessing, and sincerity that scholars of Arabic have been drawn to his work, finding it sufficient to replace most other commentaries on the Khulasa.

وَقَدْ أَرَدْتُ أَنْ أَقُومَ لِهَذَا الْكِتَابِ بِعَمَلٍ أَتَقَرَّبُ بِهِ إِلَى اللَّهِ تَعَالَى،

I wanted to perform a service for this book as an act of devotion to God Almighty.

فَرَأَيْتُ - فِي أَوَّلِ الْأَمْرِ - أَنْ أُتَمِّمَ مَا قَصَّرَ فِيهِ مِنَ الْبَحْثِ: فَأُبَيِّنَ اخْتِلَافَ النَّحْوِيِّينَ وَاسْتِدْلَالَاتِهِمْ،

At first, I thought to complete the research where it seemed lacking by detailing the differences among grammarians and their lines of reasoning.

ثُمَّ نَظَرْتُ فَإِذَا ذَلِكَ يُخْرِجُ بِالْكِتَابِ عَنْ أَصْلِ الْغَرَضِ مِنْهُ،

Upon reflection, I realized this would distract from the book's original purpose.

وَقَدْ يَكُونُ الْإِطْنَابُ بَاعِثاً عَلَى الْأَزْوِرَارِ عَنْهُ،

Excessive length can often drive readers away.

وَنَحْنُ فِي زَمَنٍ أَقَلُّ مَا فِيهِ مِنْ عَابٍ أَنَّكَ لَا تَجِدُ رَاغِباً فِي عُلُومِ الْعَرَبِ إِلَّا فِي الْقَلِيلِ النَّادِرِ؛

We live in a time where, at best, one rarely finds anyone interested in the Arabic sciences.

لِأَنَّهُمْ قَوْمٌ ذَهَبَتْ مَدِينَتُهُمْ، وَدَالَتْ دَوْلَتُهُمْ، وَأَصْبَحَتِ الْغَلَبَةُ لِغَيْرِهِمْ.

They are a people whose civilization has passed, whose power has waned, and whose dominance has been eclipsed by others.

فَاكْتَفَيْتُ بِمَا لَا بُدَّ مِنْهُ، مِنْ إِعْرَابِ أَبْيَاتِ الْأَلْفِيَّةِ، وَشَرْحِ الشَّوَاهِدِ شَرْحاً وَسَطاً بَيْنَ الِاقْتِصَارِ وَالْإِسْهَابِ،

I have therefore limited myself to what is essential: parsing the verses of the Alfiyya and providing a balanced explanation of the citations—neither too brief nor too long.

وَبَيَانِ بَعْضِ الْمَبَاحِثِ الَّتِي أَشَارَ إِلَيْهَا الشَّارِحُ أَوْ أَغْفَلَهَا بَتَّةً فِي عِبَارَةٍ وَاضِحَةٍ وَفِي إِيجَازٍ دَقِيقٍ،

I have also clarified certain topics that the commentator either merely hinted at or entirely overlooked, using clear language and precise brevity.

وَالتَّذْيِيلِ بِخُلَاصَةٍ مُخْتَصَرَةٍ فِي تَصْرِيفِ الْأَفْعَالِ.

Finally, I have appended a concise summary on the morphology of verbs.

Vocabulary · المفردات (34 verbs · 79 nouns)

• شَرَحَ — to explain
• وَجَدَ — to find
• تَنَاوَلَ — to address
• عَسَى — to hope
• اشْتَمَلَ — to contain
• ذَاعَ — to spread
• تَحَامَلَ — to be biased against
• تَلَمَّسَ — to seek
• جَاءَ — to come
• اتَّخَذَ — to take
• سَلَكَ — to follow
• تَرَكَ — to leave
• قَصَدَ — to intend
• جَمَعَ — to gather
• تَعَسَّفَ — to be arbitrary
• انْحَازَ — to lean towards
• تَقَبَّلَ — to accept
• وَافَقَ — to agree
• دَفَعَ — to push
• اكْتَفَى — to suffice
• أَرَادَ — to want
• قَامَ — to stand
• تَقَرَّبَ — to draw near
• رَأَى — to see
• أَتَمَّ — to complete
• قَصَّرَ — to fall short
• نَظَرَ — to look
• خَرَجَ — to exit
• كَانَ — to be
• ذَهَبَ — to go
• دَالَت — to decline
• أَصْبَحَ — to become
• أَشَارَ — to point out
• أَغْفَلَ — to neglect
• مُقَدِّمَة — introduction
• طَبْعَة — edition
• كِتَاب — book
• كَثِير — many
• عَالِم — (male) scholar
• شَرْح — explanation
• كِتَابَة — writing
• بَيَان — clarification
• إِشَارَة — sign
• إِكْمَال — completion
• نَقْص — deficiency
• بَرَكَة — blessing
• صَاحِب — (male) owner
• أَصْل — origin
• أُسْطُوانَة — pillar
• عِلْم — knowledge
• شُهْرَة — fame
• فِقْه — jurisprudence
• عَرَبِيَّة — Arabic language
• سَعَة — breadth
• بَاع — reach
• مُخْتَصَر — abridgment
• مُطَوَّل — lengthy work
• مُتَعَقِّب — (male) follower
• نَاظِم — (male) poet
• مَزْلَق — pitfall
• مُتَحَيِّز — biased
• مُصَحِّح — (male) corrector
• طَرِيق — path
• وَسَط — middle
• إِيجَاز — brevity
• إِطْنَاب — prolixity
• تَحَامُل — bias
• تَحَيُّز — partiality
• بَعْض — some
• قَاعِدَة — rule
• هَامّ — important
• مَذْهَب — school of thought
• وَجْه — aspect
• اسْتِدْلَال — inference
• نَقْد — criticism
• حَقّ — truth
• صَوَاب — correctness
• فَنّ — art
• بَرَاعَة — skill
• إِخْلَاص — sincerity
• قِرَاءَة — reading
• خُلَاصَة — summary
• عَمَل — work
• أَمْر — matter
• بَحْث — research
• اخْتِلَاف — difference
• نَحْوِيّ — (male) grammarian
• غَرَض — purpose
• بَاعِث — motive
• أَزْوِرَار — aversion
• زَمَن — time
• عَاب — fault
• رَاغِب — (male) seeker
• قَلِيل — few
• نَادِر — rare
• قَوْم — people
• مَدِينَة — city
• دَوْلَة — state
• غَلَبَة — dominance
• إِعْرَاب — parsing
• بَيْت — verse
• أَلْفِيَّة — thousand-verse poem
• شَاهِد — evidence
• اقْتِصَار — limitation
• إِسْهَاب — elaboration
• مَبْحَث — topic
• شَارِح — commentator
• عِبَارَة — expression
• وَاضِح — clear
• دَقِيق — precise
• تَذْيِيل — appendix
• تَصْرِيف — morphology
• فِعْل — verb