Al-Zamakhshar©'Slife and a Critical Edition of His D©W©An
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Durham E-Theses Al-Zamakhshar©'slife and a critical edition of his D©w©an Yuksel, Azmi How to cite: Yuksel, Azmi (1979) Al-Zamakhshar©'slife and a critical edition of his D©w©an, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7964/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk AL-ZAMAKHSHARI'S LIFE AND A CRITICAL EDITION OF HIS DIWAN by Azmi Yuksel The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Arts in the University of Durham for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. January 1979 School of Oriental Studies Elvet Hill, Durham. ABSTRACT This thesis consists of five chapters and a critical edition of a previously unpublished collection of poems by the celebrated Muslim scholar al-ZamakhsharT, entitled "DTwan al-Zamakhshari"; thus adding yet another of his many works to the comparatively short list of those already published. In this way it is hoped to reveal not only to the student of al-Zamakhshari but also Arabic Literature in general, another facet of his skill which had hitherto escaped attention. In editing the text all known manuscript copies of the DTwan together with the biographies in which some portions of al-Zamakhshari1s poetry were quoted, have been completely collated. Variant readings are given in the apparatus. A table of metres and rhymes together with an index of proper names, place-names and tribes have been provided. Chapter One studies the life of al-ZamakhsharT in detail. Because of the scarcity of concrete facts given in biographical works, most of the information has been derived from his own works, namely his DTwan and A^waq al-dhahab. Chapter Two deals with his personality and thoughts, paying particular attention to his Muctazilism and anti- Shu'ubism, his attitude towards some of the scholars and Sufis and his madhhab. Chapter Three attempts to give a complete enumeration of his works, grouping them under three headings; works published, works still in manuscript form and works attributed to him but have not come down to us. ii Chapter Four describes the manuscripts used in the edition, and discusses their relationship vis-a-vis one another. It also explains the way the text has been edited. Chapter Five is a general survey of the Diwan itself. After enumerating the themes of the PIwan, it discusses at some length the more important ones, namely panegyric, elegy and love poetry. It also studies the metres and the rhymes that al-Zamakhshari employed. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Abstract Table of Contents Acknowledgements Table of Transliteration VI Abbreviations Vll Chapter One His Life Chapter Two His Personality and Thoughts 49 Chapter Three His Works 77 A. Works Published 78 B. Works still in manuscript form, 86 C. Works attributed to him but have not come down to us 88 Chapter Four The Manuscripts and The Edition 92 Chapter Five The Dlwan A. The Themes of the Dlwan 104 B. Panegyric 104 C. Elegy 132 D. Love Poetry 144 E. Metre and Rhyme 155 Bibliography .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 162 Page The Text Table of Metres and Rhymes » • ° Index of Proper Names and Tribes T i Y Index of Place Names V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS In making acknowledgements, I have in the first place to express my sincere gratitude to the late Professor Muhammad T. Tanji of Ankara University who drew my attention to the Piwan of ai-Zamakhsharl. Sadly he died before the completion of this work. I would also like to thank my supervisor Dr. R.W.J. Austin, under whom I had the privilege of studying while in Durham, and whose constant assistance, advice, and criticism have been invaluable. I am deeply indebted to Mr. A.M.T. Farouki for patiently reading the first draft of the Arabic text and making some valuable suggestions. I must thank the Turkish Ministry of Education for granting me a scholarship, without which I could not have embarked on this study. I am grateful to the staff of the School of Oriental Studies Library who gave me their unstinted assistance. I wish to thank my wife for her encouragement, stimulus and understanding throughout the preparation of this work. Finally, my thanks are due to Mrs. Adele Lavery who carefully typed the final draft of this thesis. vi TABLE OF TRANSLITERATION. Consonants hamzah; not shown when initial, otherwise > = b = = t ±> t - th = z c G. = j L = C = h i = gh C = kh = f = d 6 = q j = dh = k J = r J = 1 z = J = f m = s o = n = sh -ft = h = s 3 = w = y Dipthongs Long Vowels » = aw = ay ^£- = u —= iyy a— = UWW Short Vowels •= a • = u • = i I have followed the above system of transliteration except when I quoted other sources. Abbreviations GAL. C. Brockelmann, Geschichte der Arabischen Literatur (second edition, 2 Vols., Leiden, 1943-9) and three Supplementary Volumes (Leiden, 1937-1942). Kashf. Katib Celebi, Kashf al-zunun 4an asaml al-kutub wa*1-funun, ed. S. Yaltkaya and Kilisli Rifat, 2 Vols., Istanbul, 1941-2. Mu. Sarkls Yusuf Ilyas, Mu<jam al-matbucat al-<arabiyyah wa1l-mucarrabah, Cairo, 1346/1928. The translation of the verses of the Qur'an are taken from J.R. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (The World's Classics 596) Oxford University Press, 1964. * When two dates are given thus: 1377/1958, the first is the Hijrah date. When Christian era dates alone are given nothing is normally added. CHAPTER ONE HIS LIFE HIS LIFE The author gave his full name in a letter he sent to al-Silafl, who had sent him a letter for the second time - first time being refused - asking him for his permission to teach his works. The author at the end of this above-mentioned letter, in which he authorised al-Silafl to teach his works, gave his name as Mafrmud b.'Umar b. Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Kharazml 1 al-ZamakhsharT. However some of his biographers who did not seem to have been aware of the letter differed in giving his lineage after his grand-father; some gave his great-grand- father's name as 'Umar, while others did not go further than 3 his grand-father. 1. Shihab al-Dm Ahmad b. 'All al-Hasanl al-MalikT, al- cIqd al-tham~n fT tarikh al-balad al-amTn, ms., Vol. IV, p.63, Iraqi Museum Lib., No: 643 quoted by Fadil §alih al-Samara-* I, al-Dirasat al-nahwiyyah wa al-lughawiyyah 'inda al- ZamakhsharT, Baghdad 1971, p.22 2. Ibn Khallikan Shams al-DTn Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Abl Bakr, Wafayat al-atyan wa anba^ al-zaman, ed., Muhammad MuhyT al-DTn cAbd al-Hamid, Cairo 1948, Vol. IV, p.254, Ibn Taghrl BardI Jamal al-DIn Abi al-Mahasin Ytlsuf, al-Nujum al-zahirah fT muluk Misr wa al-Qahirah, Cairo 1935, Vol. V, p.274, Ibn Kathir 'Imad al-DTn AbT al-Fida* Isma4il b. lUmar, al-Bidayah wa al-nihayah, Cairo 1932, Vol. XII, p.219, Ibn al-'lmad al-HanbalT, Shadharat al-dhahab fT akhbar man dhahab, Cairo 1350 A.H., Vol. IV, p.118, al-Laknawi Muhammad 4Abd al-Hayy, al-Fawa^ id al-bahiyyah fT taraj im al-hanafiyyah, ed., Muhammad Badr al-DTn, Cairo 1324 A.H., p.209 al-HasanT BahTjah Baqir, "A Biography of al-ZamakhsharT with a critical edition of a part of Rabi al-Abrar? Ph.D. thesis, Cambridge 1964, p.2., Zaydan JurjT, TarTkh adab al-lughah al-carabiyyah, Beirut 1967, Vol. 3, p.47, 'Abdulhallm b. Muhammad," A Critical Edition of Ru>us al-Masa, il by al-ZamakhsharT Ph.D. Dissertation, St. Andrews, January 1977, p.9. 3. Yaqut al-RumT, Irshad al-arTb ila macrifat al-adib, ed., D.S. Margoliouth, (E.J.W. Gibb Memorial Serious, London 1926) Vol. VII, p.147, al-Yafic 1 Abu Muhammad cAbd Allah, Mir,at al-jinan wa cibrat al-yaqazan, Beirut 1970, Vol. Ill, p.269. - 2 - Nevertheless all his biographers attributed to him the patronymic name of Abu al-Qasim, as well as the surname Jar Allah (neighbour of God), which the author used himself in 1 his poetry, on account of his lengthy stay in Mecca. He was well known by his nisbah, al-Zamakhshar!, as he was born at Zamakhshar, a village in Kharazm. al-ZamakhsharT was also attributed with some honorific 2 titles; FarTd al-^asr (the peerless of his age), Maqbul al- haramayn, al-Shaykh, al-Imam, Ustadh al-dunya (doctor of the universe), al-MuctazilT, and Shaykh al-^arab wa al-cajam (master of the Arabs and Persians). This last title was given to him because of his Persian origin and Arab upbringing. He taught both Arab and Persian students.