Ibn Ṭabāṭabā [d. 322/933] on the Concept of Lafẓ wa-ma᾽nᾱ (Word and Meaning) in the Arabic Literary Discourse

Abstract

In ibn Ṭabāṭabā’s magnum opus kitᾱb ‘iyᾱr al-shi‘r, which epitomizes the earliest systematic theoretical contemplation in medieval Arabic poetics, is encapsulated a plethora of topics on naqd al-shi‘r including lafẓ wa ma’nᾱ. This issue predated Arabic intellectual investigation as it featured conspicuously in autochtonous Hellenistic patrimony as represented by Plato and Aristotle.However, it crept into the oriental literary cosmos through the efforts of the scholastics- the Asharites and Mutazilites - and later assumed by all entrepreneurs of disciplines that have nexus with language, including connoisseurs of literary criticism who were later polarized into various coteries owing to their homogenous views on the issue. This paper will examine, not only the group with which ibn Ṭabāṭabā pitched his tent, but also highlight the taxonomy of defects relating to the issue exploiting descriptive cum analytical touchstones