Some of al–Mubarrad’s narrations from the Imams of the Ahl...

Some of al–Mubarrad’s narrations from the Imams of the Ahl al–Bayt which I mentioned in the original version of this book are a testimony to the fact that al–Mubarrad was a Shi'ah. He was born in 220 and died in 285 A.H.

Among his books are: Kitab Ma'ani al–Qur'an (Book of the Meanings of the Qur'an), Kitab Nasab 'Adnan wa Qahtan (Book of the Genealogies of Adnan and Qahtan), Kitab al–Radd 'ala Sibawayh (Book of Refutation of Sibawayh), Kitab Shawrh Shawahid al–Kitab (Commentary on the Citations from Al–Kitab –Sibawayh’s book on grammar); Kitab Darurat al–Shi’r , a book on what permits the violation of grammatical rules in order to conform to poetic metre ( darurat al–shi’r ); Kitab al–'Arud (Book of Prosody) KitabMan ittafaqa lafzuh wa ikhtalaf ma'nah , a book of words with the same pronunciation but carrying different meanings) and Kitab Tabaqat al–Basriyyin (Book of the Classes of the Basrans), e.t.c.

Among them was Abu Bakr ibn Durayd al–Azdi, a master of lexicology. He held a leading position in learning for sixty years. He was born in Basra in 223 A.H. and he grew up there but when the Blacks ( al–Zinj ) overtook it he fled to Amman. After twelve years he returned to his country and later left for Persia where he resided with the Banu Mikal, who soon noticed Ibn Duraid’s eminence. He worked as head of the diwan , the treasury department.

When the Banu Mikal were deposed, he returned to Baghdad in the year 308 where he eatablished contact with Ibn al–Furat, al–Wazir of Al–Muqtadir bi Allah. The latter received Ibn Duraid warmly and appointed him a post that earned him about fifty dinars (gold coins) monthly. He spent the rest of his life honoured and venerated till he died in the month of Sha’ban in 321 A.H., having lived for ninety–eight years.

The works of Ibn Durayd include: Kitab al–Suruj wa al–Lijam (Book of Saddles and Harnesses), Kitab al–Muqtabas (Book of Adaptations), Kitab Zuwwar al–'Arab (Book of Visitors of the Arabs), Kitab al–Silah (Book of Arms), Kitab Gharib al–Qur'an (Book of Unusual Qur’anic Terms), Kitab al–Wishah (Book of Sashes) and Kitab al–Jamharah fi al–Lughah (The Lexicon) in six parts, each of which makes up a whole volume.

I remember seeing copies of the third and forth parts which have been written during the days of the author. He also has a collection of well–constructed pieces in verse form such as the poem on the maqsur and the mamdud .