Abū Bakr, ‘Abd al-Qāhir ibn ‘Abd ar-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Jurjānī (1009 – 1078 or 1081 AD [400 – 471 or 474 A.H.]);[1] nicknamed "Al-Naḥawī" (the grammarian), he was a renowned Persian[2] grammarian of the Arabic language, literary theorist of the Muslim Shafi'i, and a follower of al-Ash'ari. He wrote several celebrated works on grammar and rhetoric, among these are Mi,ut Ạmil and Al-Jumal - introductions to Arabic syntax - and a commentary titled Al-Mughnī in three volumes.[3]
Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani | |
|---|---|
| Born | 400 Hijri (1009 CE) |
| Died | 471 Hijri (1078 CE) |
| Academic background | |
| Influences | Sibawayh, Abi Helal al-'Askari al Balaghi, Abu Ali al-Farisi |
| Academic work | |
| Main interests | literary theory, grammar |
| Notable works | al Maghna fi Sharh al-Idah |
Al-Jurjānī is said to have never left his native town of Gorgan, Iran, yet his reputation in the twin sciences of ilm al balaghah (eloquence and rhetorical art) and ilm al bayan (a branch of Arabic rhetoric dealing with metaphorical language), reached many Arabic scholars who travelled to see him. His two books on these subjects, Asrār al-Balāghah (Secrets of Rhetoric), and Dalāʾīl al-ʿIjāz fi-l-Qurʾān (Arguments of the Miraculous Inimitability of the Quran) show influences of al-Jurjānī's predecessors, the grammarian Sibawayh, the critic Abi Helal al-'Askari al Balaghi, and the linguist and literary theorist Abu Ali al-Farisi, the author of al-Idah (Elucidation). Ali al-Farisi's nephew, Abi al-Hussein Muhammad ibn al-Hassan ibn Abd al-Wareth al-Faressi al-Nawawi, was al-Jurjānī's teacher, under whom he studied the al-Idah, and on which he wrote a thirty-volume work of commentary entitled al Maghna fi Sharh al-Idah .
Critical opinions
edit"The Swiss linguist Saussure's theory of deconstruction is preceded by Abd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī’s theory of deconstruction."
— Muhammad Abdul Mun'em Khafagi, Asrar al-Balaghah (1972)
"There is a similarity between these (al-Jurjānī and Noam Chomsky) two men."
— Muhammad Abdul Muttaleb, "Introduction", Issues of Modernism in the Works of Abd-al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī (1995)
Publications
edit
- Asrār al-Balāghah (The Secrets of Elucidation)
- Al-Awāmil al-Mi’ah (The Hundred Elements) - A short text on 100 modifiers, or particles, in Arabic and their different uses with examples.
- Dalā’il al-Iʿjaz (Intimations of Inimitability)
- Iʿjaz al-Qur’ān (The inimitability of the Qur'an)
- Al-Jumal (Sentences)
- Kitab ʿArūd (Poetic Structure)
- Al-Maghna fī Sharḥ al-Idah’, thirty volumes
- Al-Miftāḥ (The Key)
- Muʿjam al-taʿrifāt (Compendium of Definitions)
- Al-Muqtasad, a short version of Al Maghna.
- Sharḥ al-Fātiḥa fī Mujallad (Explaining Al-Fatiha in a Volume)
- Al-Talkhiss bi Sharḥihi (The Brief of Sentence Elucidation)
- Al-'Umhad fī al-Taṣrīf (The Basis of Morphology)
- An anthology collection on the works of Abi-tammam, al-Buh'turi, and al-Mutannabī.
References
edit- ^ "Jurjānī, al-". Encyclopædia Britannica (15th ed.). 1978.
- ^ "ʿABD-AL-QĀHER JORJĀNĪ – Encyclopaedia Iranica". www.iranicaonline.org. Encyclopedia Iranica. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ Lockett 1814, p. xv.
Bibliography
edit- Deeb, K. Abu (2007). "al-Jurjānī, Abū Bakr Abd al-Qāhir b. Abd al- Rahmān (d. 471/1078)". In Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E.; Donzel, E. van; Heinrichs, W.P. (eds.). Encyclopaedia of Islam. Brill Online: Brill.
- Sutherland (Consultant), John (1999). "Vol.1 A-K". In Murray, Chris (ed.). Encyclopedia of Literary Critics and Criticism. London: Fitzroy Dearborn.
- Abbs, Ihsn (1971). Tarikh al-Naqd al-Adabi 'inda al-'Arab, Naqd al-Shi'r min al-Qarn al-Thani hattá al-Qarn al-Thamin al-Hijri. History of Arabic Literary Criticism (A comprehensive study of Arabic literary criticism from the second century to the eighth century AH. It covers most of the literary critics from al-Asma'ei to Ibn-Khaldoun.). Beirut: Dr al-Amnah.
- Jurjānī (al-), Abd Al-Qāhir (1972). Khafagi, Muhammad Abdul Mun'em (ed.). Asrar al-Balaghah. Cairo: Maktabet al Qāhira.
- Jurjānī (al-), Abd Al-Qāhir (1991). Khafagi, Muhammad Abdul Mun'em; Sharaf, Abdul Aziz (eds.). Asrar al-Balaghah. Beirut: Dar Al Jeel.
- Jurjānī (al-), Abd Al-Qāhir (1959). Al Imam Al Sheikh, Mohammad Abdo; Ridah, Mohammad Rashid (eds.). Asrar al-Balaghah in the Art of Rhetoric (6th ed.). Midan Al Azhar: Mohammad Ali Subeih.
- Jurjānī (al-), Abd Al-Qāhir (1972). Haydar, Ali (ed.). al-Jummal. Damascus.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Jurjānī (al-), Abd Al-Qāhir (1990). Usri Abd al-Ghani, Abdallah (ed.). al-Jummal in Grammar (1st ed.). Beirut: Dar Al Kutub al Ilmieh.
- Muttaleb, Muhammad Abdul (1995). Mahmoud Ali Makki (ed.). Issues of Modernism in the works of Abd-al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī. Egypt: Longman.
- Key, Alexander (2018). "Translation of Poetry from Persian to Arabic: ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī and Others". Journal of Abbasid Studies. 5 (1–2): 146–176. doi:10.1163/22142371-12340037. S2CID 201011701.
- Noy, Avigail (2018). "The Legacy of ʿAbd al-Qāhir al-Jurjānī in the Arabic East before al-Qazwīnī's Talkhīṣ al-Miftāḥ". Journal of Abbasid Studies. 5 (1–2): 11–57. doi:10.1163/22142371-12340036. S2CID 198592091.
- Lockett, Abraham (1814). Pereira, P. (ed.). Mi'ut Amil and Shurhoo Mi,ut Amil, two elementary treatises on Arabic Syntax (by 'Abd al-Kahir ibn 'Abd al-Rahman, al-Jurjani). Calcutta: The Hindoostan Press.
External links
edit- "Summary of Disagreements Between at-Taftazani and al-Jurrujani" is an Arabic work, dating from 1805, which compares Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's work to the work of Taftazani
- Works by Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
