Rawḍat al-Adhkiyāʾ fī Sharḥ Risālat al-Istiʿārah

(روضة الأذكياء في شرح رسالة الاستعارة)

Overview & Scholastic Significance

Rawḍat al-Adhkiyāʾ is a distinguished work of classical Arabic rhetoric (ʿIlm al-Balāghah), focusing particularly on ʿIlm al-Bayān—the study of figurative expression, imagery, and metaphor (istiʿārah).

The work is an integrated commentary (sharḥ mazjī) on Bayān al-Bayān, the concise and influential rhetorical treatise of the renowned scholar Abū Bakr al-Mīr al-Rustamī. Its concise yet rigorous treatment of istiʿārah earned it a place in the traditional curriculum of Islamic seminaries, where it was studied, taught, summarized, and annotated by successive generations of scholars.

The Four Scholarly Layers

1. The Core Text (Matn): Bayān al-Bayān

Author: Abū Bakr al-Mīr al-Rustamī

The matn, printed at the top of the page, presents the foundational principles and classifications of istiʿārah in a concise and highly technical form.

2. The Primary Commentary (Sharḥ): Rawḍat al-Adhkiyāʾ

Author: Shaykh ʿAbdullāh ibn Khiḍr al-Māmūndī al-Kurdī (d. after 1265 AH / c. 1849 CE)

Al-Māmūndī’s extensive sharḥ mazjī interweaves the original words of al-Rustamī with detailed explanation. It examines subtle rhetorical questions, discusses differing positions within the Arabic rhetorical tradition, and incorporates the author’s own teaching notes (manhūwāt). Its depth and clarity established it as an important instructional text of its time.

3. The Super-Commentary (Ḥāshiyah)

Author: Shaykh Nabī al-Māwelī

The ḥāshiyah, printed beneath the principal commentary, offers further analysis of difficult and subtle points. Of particular interest is the tradition that Shaykh al-Māwelī composed these notes in the presence of Shaykh al-Māmūndī himself, giving the work a distinctive connection to the author of the sharḥ.

4. Critical Edition (Taḥqīq) and Scholarly Notes

Editor: Mullā Aḥmad Shaʿbān Yāsīn al-Girdī

This edition represents the first critical printed edition of the work and is based on eight valuable manuscripts. Especially significant is a manuscript that was reportedly read directly to Shaykh al-Māmūndī and contains his handwritten notes and authorizations (manhūwāt).

The editor further provides textual variants, references for Qur’anic verses and Hadith, and identifications and sources for classical poetic citations (shawāhid), making the edition particularly valuable for researchers.

Why This Work Matters

Within the Sunni scholarly tradition, ʿIlm al-Bayān and the study of istiʿārah are important tools for advanced engagement with the Qur’an and Prophetic Hadith. A sound understanding of rhetorical expression enables students of Tafsīr and Fiqh to recognize subtle linguistic meanings and better appreciate the Qur’an’s rhetorical eloquence and iʿjāz.

With its rare combination of the original matn, integrated sharḥ, traditional ḥāshiyah, and modern critical apparatus, this edition preserves not only a significant work of Arabic rhetoric but also an exemplary model of the traditional Islamic method of transmitting and studying scholarly texts.