Al-Safadi's (d. 764 AH) linguistic views on Tamam al-Matun on Ibn Zaydoun's epistle

Abstract

This research examines linguistic issues at various levels of phonetics, morphology, syntax, and semantics, as mentioned by a renowned scholar of the eighth century AH, Khalil ibn Ayyub, known as al-Safadi (d. 764 AH), in his book Tamam al-Matun fi Sharh Risalat Ibn Zaydun (The Completion of Texts in the Explanation of Ibn Zaydun's Treatise). The importance of the research stems from the value of the treatise and his interest in explaining it. The research highlights the book to explain and clarify its linguistic issues. The aim of the research was to explain his linguistic statements, which reveal another side of Al-Safadi that was not known, namely that he was a linguist knowledgeable about language, its rules, and its origins, in addition to his knowledge and fame in poetry, composition, literature, and rhetoric. He was known to be a writer, poet, prose writer, and historian, and he has many classifications. Therefore, the book is an example of his linguistic views in particular and the views that prevailed in the eighth century AH in general. This raises the following research questions: Did Al-Safadi have his own linguistic views that differed from those of other linguists? Or did he follow them? The research required the use of a descriptive and analytical approach to monitor and analyze the views and then reach the research results.