The Example of a Verse with Its Unknown Author Qawaid al-Nahwiya

Abstract

Learning Arabic has been extremely important for Muslim nations since it is the language of the main sources of Islam, especially the Qur'an and hadiths. In the classical education systems of Muslims, great care was given to the teaching of Arabic, which is called the science of instrument, that is, the tool or device to learn the basic religious sciences. Efforts to learn Arabic correctly and to preserve its language structure started among Arabs before other Muslim nations. It is generally accepted that the first studies to determine the grammatical structure and rules of the Arabic language were initiated by Ali the Companion of the Prophet in order to understand the meaning and message of the Qur'an correctly, to prevent the changes and loss of its meaning. Studies on the Arabic language increased later, especially with the changing social conditions. Many works have been written about the grammar science of Arabic, sarf, and nahw. One of the most famous of these works is Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani's Al-Awamil al-Mi'ah (The Hundred Elements). This work has been one of the bedside books of Muslim societies on syntax (nahw) for centuries, and many sharhs, hashiyas, ta'liqs, and similar things have been written about the work that has been translated into many languages. Again, al-Awamil has been translated into different languages in order to easily memorize and remember the rules mentioned. In this study, a verse translation of al-Awamil, the author of which is unknown, is examined. The only identified copy of this work is registered to the Manisa Provincial Public Library with fixture number 45 Hk 6943/2. The work, which has striking features of Old Anatolian Turkish, consists of 160 couplets. Before the poem, there is a section where the Arabic commentary of Jurjani's work is written. No author, copyist or historical record was found in the work. The work, which has striking features of Old Anatolian Turkish, consists of 160 couplets. All the couplets in the poem have a rhyme among themselves, that they show mesnewi characteristics, but two meters (wazn) are used as failatun failatun failun and failatun failatun failatun failun. These meters are distributed in various ways in the text according to the subjects, not in a certain order. The didactic and memorization-based feature of the work is dominant. The beginning of a significant number of couplets with know/ know that is one of the most concrete indicators of this feature. An important part of couplets consists directly of syntax rules or words and prepositions related to rules. It is indicated that memorizing the subject described in some lines (misralar) and not knowing this subject will be an important defect, learning it will make the person successful. In the poem, the subjects are briefly explained, especially the points that need to be memorized and kept in mind are specified. With this feature, it is aimed to easily memorize the information that the students will need in the following lessons and to benefit from it when necessary.In the work, aruz is used successfully in general. This is important in terms of showing that the author has mastered the aruz prosody. However, some savings are still noticeable. It is seen that puns are used in a remarkable way in the poem in which radifs (repeated voice) are made with some Turkish words from time to time. In the work, the word, which is divided into three parts as noun, verb and letter, is defined first, and the descriptions and characteristics of marifa and nakra (words whit definite and Indefinite articles), muannath and muthakkar (masculine and feminine), mabni-i asl, murab and mabni are given respectively. In the work in which fail (subject), maf'al (object), adverb and illa istisnaiyye are explained, the subjects of tasniya (dual) and cam-i salim (plural) have been dwelled on for a relatively long time. Later, masdar (gerund infinitive) and harf-i jarrs (prepositions) were explained, and the narration of new's was started. After the important features of the aspects related to the words are explained and the features of the related structures are explained, the subject of the sentence is discussed. In this context, noun, verb, adverb and conditional sentences are mentioned, but no details are given. Sentences that are mahallan murab and sentences that are not mahallan murab are mentioned. Then, the descriptions and types of amili lafzi and amil-i kiyasi are explained. The work, is considered important because it is a successful concise poetic translation of al-Awamil, who has an important place in the madrasa tradition.