Alfiyat ibn Malik

[hearandobey]

whether you've studied the alfiyah or not, i think people will find the text and the fawa'id really interesting inshallah. before i post what i've learnt, pls feel free to give your thoughts or any info you have on any of the abyaat.

http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/6005/image1bd5.png

[hearandobey]

anyone? come on people, give it a try!

[Fajr]

Sorry sis, what kind of input were you looking for? In the above abyat bas? :)

[hearandobey]

aywa ya ukhti :)

or for example any interesting things the nu7aat have said about the alfiyyah, the author etc.

[hearandobey]

okay, inshallah let's start with why one must learn nahw, the hukm and the benefits. (i'm sure you, sis fajr, know this already:))

what is the subject/topic (mawdhoo') of nahw?

* it is the kalaam (the speach) of the arabs, in particular the way they compose their speech and sentences *

what is the hukm (the legal ruling) on it?

the scholars have said that it is fardh 'ayn on the qaari of quran & hadith (ie anyone that reads quran & hadith). because if you don't know nahw, you will make mistakes and recite wrong, resulting in:

- QURAN: changing the meaning--> committing kufr
- HADITH: claim something about the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) --> lying about the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam). and we all know the hadith "whoever lies about me, let him prepare his seat in the hell-fire".

it is waajib upon qaari' al-fiqh and other islamic sciences to know nahw, because at worst you will take away what wasn't intended in the text or at the least, you will not understand.

other nicities

- being eloquent
- speak arabic in a correct manner without mistakes (على شكل صحيح, بطلاقة, بدون أخطاء )

the poet said:

كلام بلا نحو *** كطعام بلا ملح

speach without nahw, is like food without salt.

[hearandobey]

al-hasan al-basri was asked about a person spending their time in studying arabic, he said: "he has done good. he is studying the language of his prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam).

[Abuz Zubair]

I remember reading that Ibn Malik was Majd Ibn Taymiyya's contemporary and held him in high regard. He said some words about him which I cannot recall right now.

[Contemplation]

I remember reading that Ibn Malik was Majd Ibn Taymiyya's contemporary and held him in high regard. He said some words about him which I cannot recall right now.

Are you referring to this one?

The famous scholar in the Arabic language, poetry etc. the Imam Jamâl al-Din Ibn Mâlik, author of the famous grammar poem al-Alfiyyah said about him (i.e. Majd al-Dîn):

“To the Shaykh al-Majd [al-Dîn] Jurisprudence (al-fiqh) was made easy, as to Dawûd ['alayhi al-salâm] iron was made easy”

http://ibntaymiyyah.wordpress.com/banu-taymiyyah-family/

[Abuz Zubair]

Oh, yes! JK for this!

[hearandobey]

Alfiyyat ibn Malik


What is an alfiyyah?

Alfiyyah comes from the word alf (one thousand). Alfiyyah is a poetry composed of at least a thousand lines (abyaat). Some say 2000, as they count both sides of each line (bayt).

History of the usage of poetry in Islamic sciences

The ahlul Ilm of the past took great care in preserving the sciences and drawing them closer to the students. They exterted a lot of efforts and spent a lot of time. With time, the sciences increased and the ways of writing them down varied.

After 200H, poetry became a style of memorising/studying a science. The reason for this was because the text being in the form of a poetry was an easy way to memorise a science and thus students were more eager and interested in it. In fact, it wasn't restricted to the science of nahw, rather it was used in other sciences as well, such as the Qiraa'aat, usool al-fiqh, usool al-tafseer, mustalah al-hadeeth, and from amongst these poems is "Alfiyyat ibn Malik", which was composed by allamah Muhammad bin Abdullah bin Abdul-Malik al-Andalusi (d. 672H). He wrote the alfiyyah after his famous book on nahw, "al-Kaafiyah".

Ibn Malik was preceeded in compiling a poetry on nahw of this stype by allamah ibn Mu'ti (d. 628H), and what it seems like is that Ibn Malik looked into the alfiyyah of ibn Mu'ti and read it to his students and that encouraged him to compile something like it, if not better. This was out of desire and wish to serve the Arabic language.

The alfiyyah became very famous and is known for many students having memorised it, just as it was lucky to be under the care of the ulamaa; so from amongst them are those that explained it, those that did nathr of it and those that did i'raab of it.

And there were a lot of explanations (shurooh) for the alfiyyah, some that were detailed and some that were concise. In addition to footnotes and commentaries to the majority of the shurooh.

And from amongst its explanations and commentaries that are printed:

- Sharh of al-allaamah Abdullah Bahaa' ad-Deen Abdullah ibn Abdul Rahmah ibn Aqeel (d. 769H). And this is the most famous explanation and the most widespread

- Sharh ibn Qasim al-Muradi

- an explanation of the above^ with commentary by Abdul Rahmaan Sulayman.

- Sharh ibn an-Nadhum

- Sharh al-Ashmooni

- Sharh Jalaal al-Deen al-Suyooti

- Sharh abi Zaid al-Faasi

and from the ones that did nathr of it are:

- Jamaal al-Deen, known famously as Ibn Hisham an-Nahwi (d. 672H), whose work (awdhah al-masaalik ila alifyyat ibn maalik, famously known as: al-tawdheeh) has an explanation by sh Khalid al-Azhari an-Nahwi (d. 905H), which he named as (al-tasreeh bi madhmoon al-tawdheeh), which is a beneficial sharh and is printed in two volumes.

and from the ones that did i'raab of the alfiyyah is:

- sh Khalid al-Azhari (the above mentioned) which is in one volume, called: tamreen al-tallaab fee sinaa'at al-i'raab, which is printed. And a haamish for it: muwassil al-tallaab ila qawaa'id al-i'raab by the same shaykh.

So these are some of the shurooh of the alifyyah and the services of the ulamaa for it. And these are from many (shurooh), which points out to the importance of the alfiyyah and it's worth with the ulamaa.

فان كثرة الشروح لكتاب ما دليل على أهميته وفائدته

Verily the abundance of explanations over a certain book, is a sign/evidence of it's importance and benefit.

And according to some researchers, Ibn Malik did not explain his book, which is opposed to his usual methodology in writing, as he used to explain his texts. Perhaps he left the explanation, thinking that it was sufficient as an explanation of the original, which is al-Kaafiyah. As he explained it before he composed the alfiyyah. and the explanation of the alfiyyah is an explanation of al-Kaafiyah. (pls see the muqaddimah of sharh al-Kaafiyah by the muhaqqiq of it and "bughyat al-wi'aat) by al-Suyooti.

And because the alfiyyah is in such a high status, it is not safe from criticism on it's composer - it's affair is like that of every writer - but these reservations do not carry weight when compared to the benefit of the alfiyyah (in terms of knowledge) on one hand and the effect of the author and the benefits from him in the studies of nahw on the other hand.

May Allah have mercy on Ibn Malik and reward him for serving the language of the Qur'aan. And peace and blessings be upon the prophet, his family and his companions, ameen.

(Translated and edited from "Daleel al-Saalik ilaa Alfiyyat ibn Malik" by sh Abdullah al-Fawzaan).


next: "Who was Ibn Malik?"

[hearandobey]

Who was ibn Malik?

He is abu Abdullah Muhammad Jamal al-Deen ibn Abdullah al-Maaliki, al-Ta'i through kinship, al-Shafi'i by madhhab from Jayyaan (a city in Andalus), in which he was born. And he travelled to Dimashq (Damascus), so he became Dimashqi by settling and dying there. He died in 672H, he was 75 years old. And he was an Imam in the Arabic language but didn't get to teach, except very little. He would stand outside and call people to come learn Arabic and very few would respond. He was affraid of "aaffat al-kitmaan", ie. hiding knowledge and not teaching and benefiting people. And after standing out for so long, he would say that atleast he didn't try to hide what he had of knowledge and had done his part of calling people to it. Of his teachers is the author of "al-Mufassal", ibn Ya'eesh, and of his students is the famous Imam an-Nawawi, whom he (Ibn Malik) perhaps may be referring to in one of the abyaat (lines) of the alfiyyah, when he says: "و رجل من كرام عندنا".


next: the muqaddimah of the alfiyyah, explanations and fawa'id. (see the first post for the text).

[hearandobey]

inshallah before i post more about the abyaat in the muqaddimah, would anyone like to answer this question:

why did ibn malik say "ahmadu rabbi..." instead of saying alhamdulillaah in bayt no.1?

[Fajr]

why did ibn malik say "ahmadu rabbi..." instead of saying alhamdulillaah in bayt no.1?
I think maybe to keep the bayt in line with the bahr al-shi3r (poetic metre), so that all the abyat are balanced out.

And after standing out for so long, he would say that atleast he didn't try to hide what he had of knowledge and had done his part of calling people to it.Subhan'Allah.
Jazakillahu khayran for this sis, keep it coming!

[hearandobey]

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/1036/image2si7.jpg
ibn malik starts with qaala muhammad... sh abdullah b. salih al-fawzaan says that he uses ibn malik because of his famous grandfather malik, whereas he is really muhammad ibn Abdullah (see the previous post for his full name etc).

he then continues, ahmadu rabbi... i asked for any guesses as to why he chose ahmadu instead of al-hamdulillah?

I think maybe to keep the bayt in line with the bahr al-shi3r (poetic metre), so that all the abyat are balanced out.

that is probably the the main and original reason ibn malik chose "ahmadu", however if we think about it saying alhamdulillah would work as well (although wouldn't sound as nice as ahmadu in the line).

according to my teacher, there is a deeper, more personal reason as to why he chose ahmadu. in my teacher's words:



الحمد إسم ثابت لا يتعلق بزمن. من تعريفه أنه كلمة لها معنى في نفسها غير متعلقة بزمن. و قد أئختار إبن مالك الفعل المستمر التجددي وبالموافقة بين الحمد والمحمود عليه فكما أن آلاء الله لا تزال تتجدد و كما أن نعم الله تنزل علينا في كل وقت و حين بدون إنقطاع فنحمده على نفس الشكل

so he wants the praise of Allah swt to keep on going and not stopping, because when we say alhamdulillah it starts when we say it and ends when we've said it, ie. ism thaabit ghayr mut'3llaq bi-zamn, whereas ahmadu is present and continuous! subhanAllah

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4934/image3zw7.jpg

he then continues saying مصليا على النبي المصطفى...

according to sh al-fawzaan, what is intended is that immedieately after the praise of Allah swt, comes to the praise of the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) because this is the correct order.

however, my teacher said that here he is praising Allah swt and asking for salah & salam upon the prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the same time, because the word is musalleyan ("while praising") and not thumma usolli... wallahu a'lam.

with regards to "و اله المستكملين الشرفا "

according to sh fawzaan and my teacher, the aal here is not just his family (Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam), rather all those that were close to him and followed him (ummat al-ijaaba).

inshallah more later :)

[Fajr]

that is probably the the main and original reason ibn malik chose "ahmadu", however if we think about it saying alhamdulillah would work as well (although wouldn't sound as nice as ahmadu in the line).

according to my teacher, there is a deeper, more personal reason as to why he chose ahmadu. in my teacher's words:



الحمد إسم ثابت لا يتعلق بزمن. من تعريفه أنه كلمة لها معنى في نفسها غير متعلقة بزمن. و قد أئختار إبن مالك الفعل المستمر التجددي وبالموافقة بين الحمد والمحمود عليه فكما أن آلاء الله لا تزال تتجدد و كما أن نعم الله تنزل علينا في كل وقت و حين بدون إنقطاع فنحمده على نفس الشكل

so he wants the praise of Allah swt to keep on going and not stopping, because when we say alhamdulillah it starts when we say it and ends when we've said it, ie. ism thaabit ghayr mut'3llaq bi-zamn, whereas ahmadu is present and continuous! subhanAllahExcellent masha'Allah!

http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/4934/image3zw7.jpg

he then continues saying مصليا على النبي المصطفى...

according to sh al-fawzaan, what is intended is that immedieately after the praise of Allah swt, comes to the praise of the prophet (sallallahu alayhi wa sallam) because this is the correct order.

however, my teacher said that here he is praising Allah swt and asking for salah & salam upon the prophet (salallahu alayhi wa sallam) in the same time, because the word is musalleyan ("while praising") and not thumma usolli... wallahu a'lam

Musalliyan is haal in this case right? Hence what your teacher said re: at the same time, sounds more correct - but I guess both cases can also be derived from the bayt

Check your PM sis :)

[suhailp]

Brings back memories, studied its Sharh by Ibn Aqeel.

[hearandobey]

Excellent masha'Allah!


Musalliyan is haal in this case right? Hence what your teacher said re: at the same time, sounds more correct - but I guess both cases can also be derived from the bayt

Check your PM sis :)

نعم منصوب للحال :)

[hearandobey]

Brings back memories, studied its Sharh by Ibn Aqeel.

brother pls feel free to contribute to this thread inshallah. would be nice to get other people's notes, fawa'id etc. from their studies...

[Fajr]

I really like this qira'ah of the matn by Salih al-Khuzaym: http://islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesson&iw_a=view&lesson_id=25261

[hearandobey]

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/7912/image2zh8.jpg

ibn malik says: and I seek Allah swt's aid in my alfiyyah, the maqaasid (aims and objectives) of nahw are contained in it.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/9549/image3aj1.jpg

ibn malik says: it (the alfiyyah) brings closer (to your understanding) what is hardest to understand with/through a succinct word(ing) and extends a gift with a swift promise

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/7818/image4wj7.jpg

ibn malik says: and it (the alfiyyah) necessitates ridhaa (your pleasure/acceptance) without anger/hasad (ie. don't be hasty or disapprove of ibn malik's work and criticise). it (the alfiyyah) exceeds the alfiyyah of ibn mu'ti. (pls see the first post about the alfiyyah for more on ibn mu'ti's alfiyyah).

sh al-fawzaan comments on this saying that ibn malik's alfiyyah "tufawwiq" (is better, excels) the alfiyyah of ibn mu'ti by lafdh and ma'na.

by lafdh: because it is from one bahr, ie. that of al-rajz wheareas ibn mu'ti's alfiyyah is of al-rajz and is fast.

and by ma'na: because it has more ahkaam in it.

sh al-fawzaan says that these do not however necessitate that ibn malik's alfiyyah is (by default) completely better. for example, ibn mu'ti is the founder of this idea (ie. alfiyyah poetry of grammar) and ibn malik treaded this path. and secondly because ibn mu'tis alfiyyah has things that ibn malik's doesn't, and this is clear for the one who studies them both. for example, ibn mu'ti's is filled with ayaat from the qur'aan and examples from poetry and this is little in the alfiyyah of ibn malik. ibn mu'ti also begins with ta'reef (definition) then gives the ahkaam and this is missing in many important places in the alfiyyah of ibn malik. (pls. see page 15 from daleel al-salik ila alfiyyat ibn malik by sh al-fawzaan to read on this topic and more).

http://img68.imageshack.us/img68/109/image5xv9.jpg

ibn malik says and by his (ibn mu'ti's) sabq (preceeding me), he possesses a tafdheel (ie he is better than me, as he preceeded me). he is deserving of my beautiful thanaa's (praises)

faa'ida: you can see the attitude of the khalaf with their salaf from the above.

sh al-fawzaan comments on the second part of this line saying, that what is meant is that he is deserving of the praises because of him (ibn malik) benefiting from what he (ibn mu'ti) composed and for following him in that way. and by that (the 2nd part of the line) he is pointing to the fadhl of the one before to the one present, ie. of the salaf to the khalaf. and what the salaf deserve from the khalaf, from their du'as and praises.

http://img99.imageshack.us/img99/5955/image6gw1.jpg

ibn malik says: that Allah swt decrees (yaqdhee, yahkum) with abundant gifts, forr me and him in the darajaat (levels) of the aakhira.

here ibn malik is making dua to Allah swt that He decrees for himself and ibn mu'ti abundant gifts in the aakhira.

my teacher and sh al-fawzaan both commentate on this, saying that he preceeded himself before ibn mu'ti in his du'aa, acting thereby on the hadith of ubay ibn ka'ab (RA) that if someone make's duaa, let him start with himself first.

my teacher further said that this shows that he is an aalim. ie, he has knowledge.

sh al-fawzaan commentates that it would have been better, if he included all the muslims in his du'aa.

[hearandobey]

I really like this qira'ah of the matn by Salih al-Khuzaym: http://islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesson&iw_a=view&lesson_id=25261

yes mashallah that's a nice one :) i used that when i started with the alfiyyah.

[Fajr]

my teacher and sh al-fawzaan both commentate on this, saying that he preceeded himself before ibn mu'ti in his du'aa, acting thereby on the hadith of ubay ibn ka'ab (RA) that if someone make's duaa, let him start with himself first.

my teacher further said that this shows that he is an aalim. ie, he has knowledge.
That's very interesting masha'Allaah.

[hearandobey]

inshallah i'll try to post more notes this weekend... just need to find time! allahumma baarik lanaa fee waqtina, aameen.

[hearandobey]

http://img95.imageshack.us/img95/1932/89885581bm9.jpg

al-kalaam and what it is composed of

ibn maalik says our speech is (that of) beneficial utterance like "be upright", and a noun, a verb and a particle (is) al-kalim (pl. of kalima)

kalaamuNA (our speech) here means the speech of the grammarians. the evidence for this, according to my teacher, is what follows "beneficial utterance", because the word lafdh (utterance) can mean anything the mouth speaks be it proper words or babbling (ie beneficial or non-beneficial). it is wrong to assume that the kalaamuna here is referring to the speech of the arabs because they can utter that which is beneficial and isn't beneficial.

what is meant by beneficial/non-beneficial?
"الذي يحسن السكوت عليه"
ie. once the the utterance is done from the one speaking to you, you can remain silent, meaning that you don't need to inquire further as to what was meant because the speach was clear. and that is beneficial, lafdhun mufeed.

for example: جاء زيد. the sentence is clear, you can remain silent after that. whereas إذا جاء أخوك is unclear, you cannot remain silent after that because you would be inquring ثم ماذا؟

so it is clear that kalaamuna here is that of the grammarians.

regarding "ka-astaqim" (like, be upright), my teacher said that here when citing an example of benefical utterance, he used something that would also be a naseeha for us which is from the hadith of being upright. (again another evidence of him being an "aalim").

he then says noun, verb and harf are al-kalim (pl. of kalima), ie. they are what kalim is composed of.

note that after the fi'l (verb) he used thumma, here the thumma isn't that of the harf (then), rather what is meant here is "wa" (and).

inshallah i'll write about line no. 9 soon... make du'a for me.

[hearandobey]

found another qira'ah, different syle than salih al-khuzaym's one. by yasir salamah:

http://www.islamway.com/?iw_s=Lesson&iw_a=view&lesson_id=75191

[Yasir]

and from the ones that did i'raab of the alfiyyah is:
- sh Khalid al-Azhari (the above mentioned) which is in one volume, called: tamreen al-tallaab fee sinaa'at al-i'raab, which is printed. And a haamish for it: muwassil al-tallaab ila qawaa'id al-i'raab by the same shaykh.Do you happen to know who the publishers of this work are?

according to my teacher, there is a deeper, more personal reason as to why he chose ahmadu. in my teacher's words:


الحمد إسم ثابت لا يتعلق بزمن. من تعريفه أنه كلمة لها معنى في نفسها غير متعلقة بزمن. و قد أئختار إبن مالك الفعل المستمر التجددي وبالموافقة بين الحمد والمحمود عليه فكما أن آلاء الله لا تزال تتجدد و كما أن نعم الله تنزل علينا في كل وقت و حين بدون إنقطاع فنحمده على نفس الشكل

so he wants the praise of Allah swt to keep on going and not stopping, because when we say alhamdulillah it starts when we say it and ends when we've said it, ie. ism thaabit ghayr mut'3llaq bi-zamn, whereas ahmadu is present and continuous! subhanAllahJZK! A very interesting point...
Do you happen to have your teacher’s (or your own) notes on the Alfiyyah in text format which you can share, insha’Allah?

[Yasir]

Here (http://www.khayma.com/tajweed/taha/ebnmalek.mp3) is another recitation of the matn – very clear and at a slow pace, masha’Allah. (Right click and select “Save Target As...”)

The site has several other excellent recitations of essential mutoon.

[hearandobey]

Do you happen to know who the publishers of this work are?

JZK! A very interesting point...
Do you happen to have your teacher’s (or your own) notes on the Alfiyyah in text format which you can share, insha’Allah?

barakAllahu feek, i don't have my teacher's notes because it's a weekly class in which he explains and i take notes. he bases his sharh on the hashiyah of al-khudhari (obviously that has ibn aqeel's one), the hashiyah of al-sabbaan on sharh al-ashmouni and on sh al-fawzan's one.

inshallah if you're interested i can start posting my notes up again, we've done over 40 bayts now alhamdulillah.

[hearandobey]

Here (http://www.khayma.com/tajweed/taha/ebnmalek.mp3) is another recitation of the matn – very clear and at a slow pace, masha’Allah. (Right click and select “Save Target As...”)

The site has several other excellent recitations of essential mutoon.

jazakAllahu khayran for that! his recitation is much clearer than the others i've listened to, inshallah i'll use this one from now on.

(ps, sorry your post says edit, i clicked that by mistake!)

[hearandobey]

Do you happen to know who the publishers of this work are?


dar al-kotob al-ilmiyyah have definitely published it, see here (http://www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.aspx?id=lbb135502-95565&search=books).

edit: just found it online! you can download it here (http://www.archive.org/download/ateeq/k20zdvnqg1hcnea1jhkfr333-633161496662343750-earab-ebn-malk-ar.pdf) inshallah.

[Yasir]

barakAllahu feek, i don't have my teacher's notes because it's a weekly class in which he explains and i take notes. he bases his sharh on the hashiyah of al-khudhari (obviously that has ibn aqeel's one), the hashiyah of al-sabbaan on sharh al-ashmouni and on sh al-fawzan's one.

inshallah if you're interested i can start posting my notes up again, we've done over 40 bayts now alhamdulillah.If it’s not too much trouble, that’d be great.
If your notes are handwritten then to save time typing them out, (if possible) please just scan them, insha’Allah... JZK.

dar al-kotob al-ilmiyyah have definitely published it, see here (http://www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.aspx?id=lbb135502-95565&search=books).

edit: just found it online! you can download it here (http://www.archive.org/download/ateeq/k20zdvnqg1hcnea1jhkfr333-633161496662343750-earab-ebn-malk-ar.pdf) inshallah.JZK, that’s excellent!

[hearandobey]

If it’s not too much trouble, that’d be great.
If your notes are handwritten then to save time typing them out, (if possible) please just scan them, insha’Allah... JZK.

i've got so much notes subhanallah, all over the text and in my notebook, plus my scanner isn't the best (remember the scans from the nimaas thread?). inshallah i will post more notes this week because it's revision for me too.

[hearandobey]

Assalamu alaykum wr wb,

By the fadhl of Allah swt, I am pleased to announce that there will soon be FREE classes on the sharh of the Alfiyyah of Ibn Malik for everyone all over the globe. All you need is a good computer so that you access skype and a white board online.

The lessons are conducted through online conferencing and is for brothers and sisters.

All you need to know is Arabic and some basic nahw :)!

Watch this (http://forums.islamicawakening.com/showthread.php?t=15001) space for more insha'Allah :D