al-Wajh al-Ḥaḍārī wa-al-Wujūdī lil-Lughah al-ʻArabīyah fī al-Taʼlīf al-ʻUmānī: Kitāb al-Ibānah lil-ʻAwtabī al-Ṣuḥārī Namūdhajan - Sulaymānī, Mawlāy ʻAlī; al-Muʼtamar al-Duwalī al-Rābiʻ bi-Mālīziyā: al-Risālah al-Ḥaḍārīyah lil-Adab al-ʻUmānī (2017) (Kuwālā Lumbūr) (Kuwālā Lumbūr : Markaz Dhākirat ʻUmān, 2017)
This paper introduces the efforts of one of Oman's scholars to enrich the heritage of his community, preserve the foundations of its civilization and serve its Arabic language: the eminent Salamah ibn Muslim al-ʿAwtabī al-Ṣuḥārī, through his comprehensive linguistic encyclopaedia Kitāb al-Ibānah fī al-Lughah al-ʿArabīyah. The work earned its standing among men of letters and linguists for what it gathers — fine points in the interpretation of Qurʾanic verses, rare material drawn from Prophetic hadith, precious commentary on lines of poetry and Arab proverbs, together with the sayings of eloquent speakers, the anecdotes of literary men and the maxims of the wise. The study sets out the civilizational dimensions of the Arabic language, its system and the logic of its expression as they appear through this book. It was no accident that this was the language of the Holy Qurʾan, given the soundness of its system and the strength of its logic. The argument proceeds through four themes: the characteristics of Arabic; the construction of Arabic; the original and the derived within it; and the principles of taghlīb and taʿlīl in the language.
Permanent citation identifier: MHF-ADAB2017-004.
Text in Arabic; title also romanized (ALA-LC); abstract and keywords in English.
Keywords: al-ʿAwtabī al-Ṣuḥārī; Kitāb al-Ibānah; Arabic lexicography; Omani scholarship; Arabic language; Cultural heritage