Critical Edition and Study of the Manuscript Bayān al-Majāz fī al-Iʿrāb and the Verification of “There Is Nothing Like unto Him”

Abstract

The scholars of Arabic have left us a vast treasury containing a rich scholarly heritage that has greatly enriched the Islamic library and made it independent of other sources. For this reason, we had a strong desire to serve this great heritage and bring it out from the obscurity of preservation as manuscripts into the light of libraries, so that it may be examined, read, and taught through critical editing and study.

We therefore began preparing for the process of critical editing and study. The nature of the research required that it be divided into two sections. The first section is the study, which includes verifying the author’s name and the attribution of the manuscript to him, examining his works and sources, and identifying his method in writing the manuscript, together with a precise description of the manuscript copy and an explanation of the editorial methodology. The second section is devoted to the critical edition. In editing the text, we relied on sources and references, some of which were specified by the author, while others were consulted for documentation. These included works related to rhetoric, grammar, and exegesis, in addition to biographical dictionaries. Success is granted by God.