nazm of mughni al labeeb

Wa 'alaykum assalamu warahmatullahi wabarakatuh

Masha Allah, this is a really good question.

A long time ago I used to think of Nahw as a monolithic discipline, and then I had a look at the Nahw books in my personal library and I realised that there are actually a number of sub-categories and areas within the discipline of Nahw. I have tried to list them in this thread. The same, of course, to numerous other Arabic and Islamic disciplines such as Fiqh, Hadith, etc. Now when you check out the list then you will notice that number (1) I have Nahw (& Sarf) per se, and at number (4) I have Qawa-‘id al-I‘rab (Rules & Principles of I‘rab). If you consider the al-Alfiyyah then you will clearly place it within number (1) because of its very specific Nahw and Sarf content and organisation. However, when you consider Mughni al-Labib, its content and how this content is organised you will see that it is quite different from the al-Alfiyyah. The Mughni al-Labib is divided into 8 chapters:

األّو�ل البابأحكامها ّوذكر المفردات تفسير في

الثاني البابالجملة تفسير في

الثالث البابّوالمجرّور ّوالجار� الظرف ّوهو الجملة يشبه ما ذكر في

الرابع البابّوجهها على معرفتها ّوعدم 2ها جهل بالمعر3ب ّويقبح دّورها يكثر أحكام في

الخامس البابجهتها من المعر3ب االعتراضعلى يدخل التي الجهات ذكر في

السادس البابخالفها ّوالصواب المعر3بين بين اشتهرت@ أمور ذكر في

السابع البابالمبتدئون الباب هذا بمعظFم ّوالمخاَطFب اإلعراب �ة كيفي في

الثامن البابJة الجزئي الصور من ينحصر ال ما عليها ج Jيتخر �ة �ي كل أمور ذكر في

The Mughni al-Labib of Ibn Hisham is in fact a massive elaboration of an earlier work of his entitled "al-I'rab 'an Qawa'id al-I'rab" ( اإلعراب اإلعراب قواعد عن ) which I have made into chart, and which I will make available soon insha Allah. In fact, the fullname of Mughni al-Labib is "Mughni al-Labib 'an Kutub al-A'arib" ( اإلعاريب كتب عن اللبيب So it is the .(مغنيultimate manual on the art of I'rab such that you will not require another book on i'rab as the title clearly states.

So, I would place the Mughni al-Labib in number (4) of the list of sub-categories of Nahw (& Sarf) that I made. My answer to your question, then, is "yes", the al-Alfiyyah and al-Mughni

cover different topics. Chapters One,Two and Three on the Adawaat, Jumal and Ashbaah al-Jumal respectively form the bulk of the al-Mughni are not treated in the al-Alfiyyah, nor are the remaining chapters. The two classics, therefore, follow two totally different organisations and cover different content. This does not mean that the subjectmatter does not overlap here and there but that is really inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things. In the bigger scheme the al-Alfiyyah deals with Nahw and Sarf per se and the Mughni al-Labib with I'rab and the Art of doing Correct I'rab. It is to the Mu'ribin whether beginners or seasoned ones that he primarily addresses his work. Amongst these Mu'ribin are those who have done an i'rab of the Qur'an or have given i'rab of specific verses here and there in their works, and its is often these types of analyses that Ibn Hisham critically assesses in terms of their soundness and plausibility. Because of its highly critical and evaluative nature it is often studied in postgraduate degree programs but this does not necessarily have to be the case.

I hope you find this response useful, insha Allah.

أعلم ّوالله

Ps We will move this thread to the Highly Adavanced Nahw Forums insha Allah.