Tuhfat al-Ahbab fi Sharh Mulhat al-I'rab تحفة الأحباب في شرح ملحة الإعراب

Tuḥfat al-Aḥbāb fī Sharḥ Mulḥat al-Iʿrāb (The Gift of Loved Ones: A Commentary on “The Beauty of Desinential Inflection”)

Tuḥfat al-Aḥbāb is a highly esteemed classical commentary on Mulḥat al-Iʿrāb, a celebrated didactic poem (manẓūmah of approximately 375 verses) on Arabic grammar (Naḥw) composed by the master lexicographer Imam al-Ḥarīrī al-Baṣrī (d. 516 AH / 1122 CE). It was designed as an accessible introduction to Arabic grammar, declension (i’rab), and basic syntactic structure, suitable for memorization and foundational study. Imam Bahraq al-Hadrami, a jurist, linguist, and Sufi scholar from Hadramawt, wrote this commentary to clarify and unpack al-Hariri’s verses. His explanation is noted for its clarity and balance, offering detailed grammatical analysis without overwhelming the learner. He systematically explains vocabulary, grammatical principles, and provides illustrative examples for each section.

Key Features & Methodology

The commentary systematically deconstructs each poetic verse, explaining obscure vocabulary, clarifying syntactic structures, and outlining the underlying linguistic principles of the Basran school of grammar.

By transforming concise, rhyming rules into comprehensive prose, the author provides rich, practical examples—often drawn from the Holy Quran, Prophetic Hadith, and classical Arabic poetry—to ground abstract rules in live usage.

It remains a time-honored staple in traditional Islamic seminaries (madāris), widely utilized as a core intermediate-level textbook to master the science of I’rāb (grammatical analysis and inflection).

About the author
Imam Bahraq al-Hadrami was among the leading scholars of the 10th Islamic century in the Indian Ocean scholarly tradition. Alongside his expertise in Shafi’i jurisprudence and spirituality, he was a skilled grammarian whose works contributed to the preservation and transmission of Arabic linguistic sciences across Yemen, East Africa, and Western India, where he spent his later years.

The Dar al-Minhaj edition
The Dar al-Minhaj (Jeddah) edition of Tuhfat al-Ahbab is regarded as a carefully produced scholarly print of this important work. Its notable features include:
• Critical editing (tahqiq): The text is established through comparison of reliable manuscripts, reducing errors found in earlier printed editions.
• Clear presentation: The poetic text of Mulhat al-I’rab is clearly distinguished from the commentary, with full vocalization (tashkeel) to aid accurate reading and study.
• Scholarly reliability: Dar al-Minhaj is known for its high-quality editions of classical Sunni works, making this publication suitable for structured study in madrasahs, universities, and independent learning environments.