Lisanou al-arab 1/10 The Lisan al-'arab - the encyclopedic dictionary of the Arabic language لسان العرب 1/10 - ابن منظور

The Lisan al-'arab (Arabic: لسان العرب, literally the Language of the Arabs) is the encyclopedic dictionary of the Arabic language, which encompasses Arabic lexicology since the 9th century. This lexicon has existed since the 9th century and its writing seems to have been completed by Abul-Fadl Jamal ad-Din Muhammad Ibn Manzur (1232-1311) in 1290.

معجم من أهم المعاجم التي عرفتها اللغة العربية على الإطلاق يقدم للق ارىء بحلة جديدة مما يسهل تناوله وتكمن أهمية هذه الطبعة الجديدة في أ نها مقابلة على نسخة مخطوطة تعود إلى عصر ابن منظور، وعليها قراءات جما عة من العلماء أبرزهم السيد مرتضى الزبيدي صاحب تاج العروس الذي أغنى هذه المخطوطة وتعليقات وتصويبات أدرجت في حواشي هذه الطبعة مضافا أخطاء لسان العرب) وعبد السلام هارون تصويبات لسان العرب) فضلا عن ملاحظات أخرى يجدها القارىء في ثنايا هذه الطبعة الجديدة التي تم تخريج جميع شواهدها الشعرية وعزوها إلى مصادرها المختلفة

لسان العرب
لسان العرب هو أشمل معاجم اللغة العربية وأكبرها، قام ابن منظور بجمع مادته من خمسة مصادر وهي:

• تهذيب اللغة للأزهري
• المحكم لابن سيده
• الصحاح للجوهري
• حواشي ابن بري
• النهاية في غريب الحديث لعز الدين ابن الأثير.

We will in this present article evoke the life and work of Ibn Manzûr, who is an Arab encyclopaedist author of the famous dictionary Lisan al-'Arab.
Ibn Manzûr's full name is Muhammad ibn Jalâl al-Dîn ibn Nadjîb al-Dîn al-Ruwayfi'î al-Ansârî; he counts among his ancestors the Companion Ruwayfi' ibn Thâbit al-Ansârî, who participated in the battle of Khaybar alongside the Prophet (), he was appointed by Mu'âwiyya ibn Abî Sufiyân judge of the city of Tripoli in the year 46 of the Hegira, and if most of those who have written a biography of Ibn Manzûr do not trace his ancestry back to this Companion, it should nevertheless be remembered that Ibn Manzûr affirms and demonstrates in the introduction to his dictionary Lisan al-'Arab that he is indeed descended from him. Moreover, historians have differed about the place of his birth, some of them think he was born in the city of Cairo, while others say he was born in Tripoli (Libya); in any case what is certain is that he grew up in Egypt.
Ibn Manzûr devoted his whole life to studying and writing books, he particularly endeavored to summarize very important Arabic books, this laborious work "did not bother him in the least" as said about him Ibn Hadjar. Ibn Manzûr had a very good reputation, moreover his relentless work as well as his great moral qualities allowed him to work in publishing houses in Cairo and then to access the judicature.
There is no doubt that the most famous work of Ibn Manzûr is his dictionary entitled Lisan al-'Arab, the latter is moreover considered as the most scholarly and complete dictionary, and therefore as an essential reference for all the Arabic-speaking ulama. Ibn Manzûr wrote his dictionary based on five previously written dictionaries: the Tahdhîb al-lugha of al-Azharî, the Mahkam of Ibn Saydih, the Sihâh of al-Djawharî, the Hâchiyat al-sihâh of Ibn Barî and the Nihâyafîgharîb al-hadîth of 'Izzal-dîn ibn al-Athîr. It should be noted that in the preamble of Lisan al-'Arab Ibn Manzûr in no way denigrates the efforts made by his predecessors, he simply affirms that his goal in writing his dictionary was to simplify the organization of the text in order to help those who consult it to find the information they are looking for more easily. Our brilliant encyclopaedist says in the introduction to his famous Lisan al-'Arab the following thing: "There is not in this book a merit for which I am responsible or a means for which I master the cause, I have not here is only bringing together what was scattered in the science books […] Everything I wrote in this book is based on texts; so whoever quotes my book here must comply with citing these five foundations.”
What Ibn Manzûr says in his introduction is considered a living example of the establishment of the principle of literary (copyright) rights in Arabic literature, moreover we understand that respecting this right and complying with it emanates from a feeling liability, which today is called "intellectual property rights", rights which the law strongly enforces.
Besides the fact that he wrote books on linguistics, In Manzûr composed poems whose style oscillates between delicacy and wisdom, here are some of his verses:

People have imagined things about us but I have resolved / to the idea that such is their soul and their heart
They assumed things while some assumptions are sins and all/committed a sin by assuming things about us.
Al-Safadî said about his poems in his book A'yân al-'Asr that he possesses an art of poetry with a very deep meaning and which rejoices the one who suffers.
Finally, after Ibn Manzûr had completed his mission as a judge in Tripoli, he returned to Egypt and remained there until his death at the age of 82, it is said that he suffered from blindness before he died .

source/islamweb