Poetry and Elegant Prose [IO Islamic 2289]

Poetry and Elegant Prose. This manuscript is now IO Islamic 2289 in the India Office collections. [metadata: Otto Loth, A Catalogue of the Arabic Manuscripts in the Library of the India Office, (volume 1), no. 822 here with further notations and hyperlinks]. 822. 2289. Size 71/2 in. by 51/2 in.; foll. 56. Twenty-one lines in a page. كتاب شرح بردة المديح للامام العلامة الشيخ خالد الازهرى النحوى الخ A Commentary on the Burdah, by (Zain al-dîn) KHÂLID (b. ‘Abdallah) AZHARÎ (d. A.H. 905), who wrote it A.H. 903. Cf. Ḥ. Kh. iv. 526. The worthlessness of this compilation is pointed out by Ralfs, die Burda, p. 25. The preface begins: اما بعد حمد الله المستحق التحميد ( sic ) الخ. The author gives in it an account of the origin of the poem. The text is given in portions, according to the connexion of the verses. The commentary is very circumstantial at the beginning. It consists usually of three sections: explanation of words, grammatical analysis (الاعراب) , and general interpretation (معنى البيت) . This copy is rather carelessly executed, and only the earlier portion of it has been emended. A Persian translation of verses is added on the margin, by a different hand. The writing is much injured by damp. [College of Fort William.]