Sybawayh سيبويه | |
|---|---|
 Entrance to Sybawayh's tomb inShiraz | |
| Born | c. 760,Shiraz,Persia,[1] Abbasid Caliphate |
| Died | c. 796,[2]Shiraz,Persia orBasra,Iraq,Abbasid Caliphate |
| Philosophical work | |
| Era | Medieval philosophy |
| Region | Islamic philosophy |
| Main interests | Arabic andPersian |
Sibawayh (Arabic:سِيبَوَيْهIPA:[siːbawajh] (also pronouncedIPA:[siːbaweː(h)] in many modern dialects)Sībawayh;Persian:سیبُویهSēbūya[seːbuːˈja];c. 760–796), whose full name isAbu Bishr Amr ibn Uthman ibn Qanbar al-Basri (أَبُو بِشْر عَمْرو بْن عُثْمَان بْن قَنْبَر ٱلْبَصْرِيّ,ʾAbū Bišr ʿAmr ibn ʿUṯmān ibn Qanbar al-Baṣrī), was aPersian[3][4] leadinggrammarian of Basra and author of the Third book on Arabicgrammar. His famous unnamed work, referred to asAl-Kitāb, or "The Book", is a five-volume seminal discussion of theArabic language.[5]
Ibn Qutaybah, the earliest extant source, in his biographical entry underSibawayh simply wrote:
He is Amr ibn Uthman, and he was mainly a grammarian. He arrived in Baghdad, fell out with the local grammarians, was humiliated, went back to some town in Persia, and died there while still a young man.[6]
The tenth-century biographersIbn al-Nadim andAbu Bakr al-Zubaydi, and in the 13th-centuryIbn Khallikan, attribute Sibawayh with contributions to the science of the Arabic language and linguistics that were unsurpassed by those of earlier and later times.[7][8] He has been called the greatest of all Arabic linguists and one of the greatest linguists of all time in any language.[9]
Born circa 143/760, Sibawayh was fromShiraz, in today'sFars province,Iran.[1][n 1] Reports vary, some saying he went first toBasra, then toBaghdad, and finally back to the village of al-Baida near Shiraz where he died between 177/793 and 180/796, while another says he died in Basra in 161/777.[11][12][7]His Persian nicknameSibuyeh, arabized asSībawayh(i), means "scent of apples" coming from the Persian root wordsib meaning apple and reportedly refers to his "sweet breath."[13] A protégé of theBanu Harith b. Ka'b b. 'Amr b. 'Ulah b. Khalid b. Malik b. Udad,[14][15] he learned the dialects (languages) from Abu al-Khattabal-Akhfash al-Akbar (the Elder) and others. He came toIraq in the days ofHarun al-Rashid when he was thirty-two years old and died in Persia when he was over forty.[12] He was a student of the two eminent grammariansYunus ibn Habib andAl-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, the latter of whom he was most indebted.[16][17][18]
Despite Sibawayh's renowned scholarship, his status as a non-native speaker of the language is a central feature in the many anecdotes included in the biographies. The accounts throw useful light on early contemporary debates which influenced the formulation of the fundamental principles of Arabic grammar.
In a story from the debate held by theAbbasid vizierYahya ibn Khalid of Baghdad on standard Arabic usage, Sibawayh, representing theBasra school of grammar, andal-Kisa'i, one of the canonicalQuran readers and the leading figure in the rival school ofKufa,[19] had a dispute on the following point of grammar, which later became known as المسألة الزنبوريةal-Mas’alah al-Zunbūrīyah ("The Question of the Hornet").
The discussion involved the final clause of the sentence:
Both Sibawayh and al-Kisa'i agreed that it involved an omitted verb, but disagreed on the specific construct to be used.
Sibawayh proposed finishing it withfa-'iḏā huwa hiya (فإذا هو هي), literally "and-thus he [is] she",[21] using "he" for the scorpion (a masculine noun in Arabic) and "she" for "stinging, bite" (a feminine noun), arguing that Arabic does not need or use any verb-form likeis in the presenttense, and that object forms like('iyyā-)hā are never the main part of a predicate.
Al-Kisa'i argued instead forfa-'iḏā huwa 'iyyā-hā (فإذا هو إياها), literally "and-thus he [does] onto-her", supporting the object pronoun-hā ("her") with the particle 'iyyā-. The grammatical constructions of the debate may be compared to a similar point in the grammar of modern English: "it is she" vs. "it is her", which is still a point of some disagreement today.
To Sibawayh's dismay, al-Kisa'i soon ushered in fourBedouins who had "happened" to be waiting near the door.[22][23] Each testified thathuwa 'iyyā-hā was the proper usage and so Sibawayh's was judged incorrect. After this, he left the court,[21] and was said to have returned in indignation to Shiraz where he died soon, apparently either from upset or illness.[7]
A student of Sibawayh's, al-Akhfash al-Asghar (Akhfash the Younger), is said to have challenged al-Kisa'i after his teacher's death asking him 100 questions on grammar, proving al-Kisa'i's answers wrong each time. When the student revealed who he was and what had happened, al-Kisa'i approached the CaliphHarun al-Rashid and requested punishment from him knowing he had had a share in "killing Sibawayh."[24]
Sibawayh'sAl-Kitab was the first formal and analytical Arabic grammar written by a non-native speaker of Arabic, i.e. as a foreign language. His application of logic to the structural mechanics of language was wholly innovative for its time. Both Sibawayh and his teacher al-Farahidi are historically the earliest and most significant figures in respect to the formal recording of the Arabic language.[25] Much of the impetus for this work came from the desire of non-ArabMuslims for correct interpretation of theQuran and the development oftafsir (Quranic exegesis); The poetic language of the Qur'an presents interpretative challenges even to the native Arabic speaker.[10] In Arabic, the final voicedvowel may occasionally be omitted, as in the Arabic pronunciation of the nameSibawayh where the name terminates asSibuyeh. Discrepancies in pronunciation may occur where a text is read aloud (Seeharakat); these pronunciation variants pose particular issues for religious readings of Qur'anic scripture where correct pronunciation, or reading, of God's Word is sacrosanct.
Later scholars of Arabic grammar came to be compared to Sibawayh. The nameNiftawayh, a combination of "nift", orasphalt – due to his dark complexion – and "wayh", was given to him out of his love of Sibawayh's works.[26]Abu Turab al-Zahiri was referred to as the Sibawayh of the modern era due to the fact that, although he was of Arab descent, Arabic was not his mother tongue.[27]
Al-Kitāb[n 2] orKitāb Sībawayh ('Book of Sibawayh'), is the foundational grammar of the Arabic language, and perhaps the first Arabicprose text. Al-Nadim describes the voluminous work, reputedly the collaboration of forty-two grammarians,[12] as "unequaled before his time and unrivaled afterwards".[12] Sibawayh was the first to produce a comprehensive encyclopedic Arabic grammar, in which he sets down the principles rules of grammar, the grammatical categories with countless examples taken from Arabic sayings, verse and poetry, as transmitted byAl-Khalil ibn Ahmad al-Farahidi, his master and the famous author of the first Arabic dictionary, "Kitab al-'Ayn", and of many philological works on lexicography, diacritics, poetic meter (ʻarūḍ), cryptology, etc. Sibawayh's book came from flourishing literary, philological andtafsir (Quranic exegetical) tradition that centred in the schools ofBasra,Kufa and later at theAbbasid caliphal seat ofBaghdad.[28]Al-Farahidi is referenced throughoutAl-Kitāb always in the third person, in phrases such as "I asked him", or "he said".[29][30] Sibawayh transmits quotes, mainly via Ibn Habib and al-Farahidi, ofAbu ʻAmr ibn al-ʻAlāʼ 57 times, whom he never met.[31] Sibawayh quotes his teacherHarun ibn Musa just five times.[32]
Probably due to Sibawayh's early death, "no one", al-Nadim records, "was known to have studiedAl-Kitāb with Sibawayh," nor did he expound it as was the tradition. Sibawayh's associate and pupil, Al-Akhfash al-Akbar, or al-Akhfash al-Mujashi'i, a learned grammarian of Basra of theBanu Mujashi ibn Darim, transcribed Sibawayh'sAl-Kitāb into manuscript form.[33][34][35][36] Al-Akhfash studiedAl-Kitāb with a group of student and grammarian associates includingAbu 'Umar al-Jarmi andAbu 'Uthman al-Mazini, who circulated Sibawayh's work,[33] and developed the science of grammar, writing many books of their own and commentaries, such as al-Jarmi's "(Commentary on) The Strange in Sibawayh". Of the next generation of grammarians,Al-Mubarrad developed the work of his masters and wrote anIntroduction to Sibawayh,Thorough Searching (or Meaning) of "the Book" of Sibawayh, andRefutation of Sibawayh.[12] Al-Mubarrad is quoted as posing the question to anyone preparing to read theBook,
Al-Mabriman ofal-'Askar Mukram andAbu Hashim debated educational approaches to the exposition ofAl-Kitāb. Among Al-Mabriman's books of grammar wasAn Explanation of "the Book" of Sibawayh (incomplete). Al-Mubarrad's pupil and tutor to the children of the Caliphal-Mu'tadid,Ibn as-Sarī az-Zajjāj wrote aCommentary on the Verses of Sibawayh, focusing on Sibawayh's use of both pre- and post-Islamic poetry. Al-Zajjaj's pupil,Abu Bakr ibn al-Sarraj, also wrote aCommentary on Sibawayh. In an anecdote about Ibn al-Sarraj being reprimanded for an error, he is said to have replied "you have trained me, but I've been neglecting what I studied while reading this book (meaning Sibawayh'sAl-Kitāb), because I've been diverted by logic and music, and now I'm going back to [Sibawayh and grammar]", after which he became the leading grammarian after al-Zajjaj, and wrote many books of scholarship.Ibn Durustuyah an associate and pupil of al-Mubarrad andTha'lab wroteThe Triumph of Sibawayh over All the Grammarians, comprising a number of sections but left unfinished.Al-Rummani also wrote aCommentary on Sibawayh.Al-Maraghi a pupil of al-Zajjaj, wrote "Exposition and Interpretation of the Arguments of Sibawayh".[12]
Al-Kitāb, comprising 5 volumes, is a long and highly analytic and comprehensive treatment of grammar and remains largely untranslated into English. Due to its great unwieldiness and complexity the later grammarians produced concise grammars in a simple descriptive format suitable for general readership and educational purposes.[10] Al-Kitāb categorizes grammar under subheadings, fromsyntax tomorphology, and includes an appendix onphonetics.[37] Each chapter introduces a concept with its definition.[38]Arabic verbs may indicate three tenses (past, present, future) but take just two forms, defined as "past" (past tense) and "resembling" (present and future tenses).[39]
Sibawayh generally illustrates his statements and rules by quoting verses ofpoetry, grabbing material from a very wide range of sources, both old and contemporary, both urban and from the desert: his sources range frompre-Islamic Arabian poets, to laterBedouin poets, urbanUmayyad-era poets, and even the less prestigious and more innovativerajaz poets of his time.[40]
Although a grammar book, Sibawayh extends his theme intophonology, standardised pronunciation of thealphabet and prohibited deviations.[28] He dispenses with the letter-groups classification of al-Farahidi's dictionary.[41] He introduces a discussion on the nature of morality of speech; that speech as a form of human behavior is governed by ethics, right and wrong, correct and incorrect.[42]
Many linguists and scholars highly esteemAl-Kitāb as the most comprehensive and oldest extant Arabic grammar.Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati, the most eminent grammarian of his era, memorized the entireAl-Kitāb, and equated its value to grammar as that ofhadiths toIslamic law.[43]
Persians have been prominent as well in the fields of Arabic grammar, philology, and lexicography. The greatest name in Arabic grammar belongs to the Persian Sībawayh (Sībūya) Bayżāwī (fl. 180/796), whose work, al-Ketāb (The book), remains to the present day the most authoritative exposition of Arabic grammar.
Some of these cultural figures were of Iranian descent, including the early paragon of piety Ḥasan al-Baṣrī; Sebawayh, one of the founders of the study of Arabic grammar; the famed poets Baššār b. Bord and Abū Nowās; the Muʿtazilite theologian ʿAmr b. ʿObayd; the early Arabic prose stylist Ebn al-Moqaffaʿ; and probably some of the authors of the noted encyclopedia of the Eḵwān al-Ṣafāʾ.
Of Persian origin, he attached himself in the middle of the second/eighth century to a number of early authorities on the Arabic language in Basra, notably al-Khalil ibn Ahmad and Yunus ibn Habib.
