UNIVERSITY OR LONDON FACULTY OF ARTS School of Oriental and African Studies THE METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF THE EARLY ARAB ANTHOLOGISTS by EZZEDIN IBRAHIM MUSTAFA being' a Thesis submitted for the Ph* D# Degree* 1963. ProQuest Number: 10731151 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10731151 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 XX ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to provide a critical survey of the earl3r Arabic anthologies compiled between the end of the first century and the beginning' of the fourth century A.H. These are s four consisting oX complete poems (treated in chs• 1 - ty), Xour oX extracts (chs. 5 - 6 ) > and three oX single verses (ch. 7 )* Although it seemed convenient and preferable to group these anthologies in this way, they have been studied individually. Xn chapter 7, however, the anthologies oX single verses have also been studied collectively. The study oX each anthology opens with an enquiry about the worlc as it now exists. This usually entails reference to the various recensions, editions, manuscripts and commentaries known and available. This is followed by a’ 'threefold study of (l) the subject matter, (2 ) the authenticity of the work and genuineness of the contents and (3 ) the criteria of selection and method of compilation, Xn the epilogue, reference is made to eight anthologies compiled between the fourth and seventh centuries - thus pointing to the continuity of this kind of works. Ill From th&se investigations, conclusions have been drawn about the anthologies as a whole - their development, preservation, reliability, criteria of excellence, and other striking features* A critical survey of the kind provided has not been made before, and it covers several works not i:>reviously studied* XV CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ................. V Anthologies of complete poems Chapter I " AL-MU1ALLAQAT".. ................................... 1 - 42 XX »AL-MUFADDALIYYAT" 4-3 - 79 « t XXI "AL-ASMA1IYYAT" ................................. 80 - 114 IV " JAMHAHA'X ASH 1AR AL- ’ARAB" ............. ' 115 - 149 Anthologies of Extracts V nAL-HAMASAH"OP ABU TAMMAm "................ '•.......150 - 195 VI "ANTHOLOGIES OF EXTRACTS COMPILED IN THE THIRD CENTURY ................ 196 - 227 "Al-Wahshiyyat" d "Al-Hamasah11 of al-Buhturisl o • "Al-Zahrah" Anthologies of Verses VII ANTHOLOGIES OE SINGLE VERSES .......... *...... 228 - 278 "Ha1ani al-Shi'r al-Kabir" oi Ihn Qutaibah "Ma'ani al~Shifr 6P Al- ’Uslinandani" "Kitab al-Tashbiliat" EPILOGUE ......................... 279 - 293 Later anthologies Conclusions BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................’..... 294 V INTRODUCTION In this study the beginning' of the fourth century A.H. is taken as a dividing line between what may be termed early and later Arabic anthologies, Works compiled after the fourth century are mostly imitations of those preceeding them and they usually contain selections from obviously later poets. Early anthologies are of great importance for two reasons*. First, they preserve a great deal of early Arabic poetry, especially the works of the Muqillin, most of which are not found elsewhere, Secondly, they set before us numerous specimens of early works that were considered outstanding either by general opinion or by the compilers, who were themselves eminent scholars and critics. Some of the anthologies, namely"al-Mu1allaqat", "al-Mufaddaliyyat11 and the l,Hamasahn of Abu Tammam have been the subject of several valuable studies; but, others such as "Jamharat A s h ’ar al-’Arab", the "Hamasah11 of al-Buhuri, * • ,fal»¥ahshiyyat11, not to mention the anthologies of single verses which are usually overlooked, have not received due a 11 e n t i on. This study is an attempt to fill this gap as well as providing a general survey of all the early anthologies. VI The anthologies have been classified into three groups! (l) complete poems, (2 ) extracts, and (3 ) single verses# This arrangement is roughly chronological and, because it reveals the nature of the works was preferred to a strict chronological classification • Within their groups, the anthologies have been studied individually* The study is fundamentally a fresh examination of the anthologies surveyed and, whenever possible, of their extant manuscripts. Early commentaries on these works and the writings of early scholars, which furnish valuable background information, have also been regarded as main sources* The studies pf modern scholars have been always consulted and discussed* In considering the contents of the anthologies and the anthologists*.1' methods and techniques, the study is somewhat detailed. Regarding the difficult question of the genuineness of the contents, however, the study tends to be of a general nature - a detailed examination for this purpose of the vast material contained in the anthologies is obviously beyond the scope of this work. In this connection, studies of modern researchers have been utilised. This study is thus hoped to illuminate an important series of early Arabic poetic works. CHAPTER I "AL-MU*ALLAQAT" I So far as is known, the collection of the seven odes constitutes the earliest Arabic verse anthology* The popular name of these poems is "al-Muf allaqatM . This name arises from the belief that, in token of honour, they were suspended in the Ka'bah. The number of the poems is commonly given as seven. 1 These traditions, however, have been contested. To arrive at the Tacts, a survey of the divergent views will be helpful. * • # As to the title, 11 al-Mu1 allaqat,f, it is found that the earliest scholar to apply it was Ibn 1 Abd Rabbih 1. fAbd al-Qadir ’Umar al-Baghdadi, Khizancft al-Adab, (Bulaq 1299 A.H.)> I. 6l. 3 (ob. 327 A .H.) In bis "al-^Iqd al-Faridn, be writes, ”*Tbe Mudhahhabat * , i.e. 'The Gilded Poems1, are seven and 1 they mi gilt be called 1 al-Mu * allaqat " It is patent from tbis statement that, although the title, 11 al-Mu • allaqat11 is applied, it is given a subordinate position to that of the other title, ual-Mudhahhabat. 11 Similarly, al-Qurashi, who was more or less a 2 contemporary of Ibn fAbd Rabbih, apx^lied the title, nal- Mu *allaqat"; but stated that the Arabs used to name the O *poems "al-Sumuttr• , i.e. "The Necklaces". Later on, the title, "al-Mu' al l a q a t w a s used by Ibn Rasbiq^ (ob. 463 A.H.), Ibn Khaldun"* and al-Suyuti;^ and has come to be commonly used. On the other band, all the critics before Ibn 'Abd ^abbih and all the main commentators on the poems employed titles other than "al-Mu ' allaqat. " 1. Ahmad b. Muhammad b* 'Abd Rabbih, al-'Iqd al-Farid, (Cairo 1398, 1316 A.H.), III, S3 . 2. See ch.IV of this thesis, 3 . Abu Zaid Muhammad b.Abi al-IChattab al Qurashi, Jamharat A s h 1 ar al-'Arab, (Bulaq 1308 A.H.), 3^-• 4. Hasan^b. Rashiq al-Qairawani, al-*Umdah, ed. Muhammad Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-^amid, (Cairo 1955), X, pp. 9 6 , 102, 105. 5. 'Abd al-Rahman b. Muhammad b. Khaldun, al-Muqaddimah, (Bulaql902, 13^0 A.H.), p.576. 4 Ibn Sallam (ob, 232 A.H.) applies the title, ”al- Wahidah", i.e. ’’The Unique One1’, to four of these poems* He also calls their composers »' , i.e. "The Composers of fThe Ones While considering the poem of ’Antarah, he writes, ’’This poem is unique among the abundant output of fAntarah and was therefore included among ’The Ones ’ * " Twice in his "al-Shi’r wal-Shu1ara", Ibn Qutaibah (ob. 276 A.H.) refers to these poems simply as ’’The Seven.” About the poem of 'Antarah, he writes, "it used to be called 4 1 al-Mudhahhabah ’ , i.e. ’The Gilded Poem1'1, and to the poem of Tarafah he applies two titles: ”Tawilah” , i.e. "The Long Poem” and, on the authority of Abu ’Ubaidah, ”¥ahidah”, i.e. ”The One.”5 6 . (Contd. from previous page) ’Abd al Rahman b. Abi.. Ba&r Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti, al-Muzhir, ed.’Muhammad Ahmad Jad al-Mawla and others, (Cairo, n.d.), ll, 487. 1. Muhammad b, Sallam al-Jumahi, Tabaqul Puhul al-Shu’ara* ed. Mahmud Muhammad Shakir, (Cairo 1952 ) , pp.127,1 2 8 ,115. 2. Ibid, 128. The title ”al~¥ahidah" means either ”The Unique Poem”, in the sense that*it is unparallelled, or ”The One Poem produced by its composer.” Since the composers of such poems produced more than one poem each, the first interpretation is clearly that intended. 3. ’Abd Allah b. Muslim b. Qutaibah, al-Shi’r wal-Shu’ara* ed. De Goeje, (Leiden, 1904), pp.120, 144. 4. Ibid, 132. 5 . Ibid, pp.8 8 , 9 2 . 5 Ahmad b. Abl Tahir Taifur (ob* 280 A.H*) names the * * >• 1 - - - 1 poems "Qasa'id al-Sab* al-Tj£wal al-Jahiliyyat," i.e. 11 The Seven Long Pre-Islamic Poems*" According to Ibn al-Nadim, an abbreviation of this name is applied by al-'Umari, the judge of Takrit, who calls the poems "al- Sab f al-Jahiliyyat, i.e. "The X^re-Islamic Seven, 11 The earliest commentaries that have reached us are those of Ibn Kaisan (ob. 299 A.H.), Abu BafcSr b. al-Anbtari (ob. 327 A.H.) and Ibn al-Nahhas (ob.