A Fragment of Abū Al-Faraj Hārūn's Al-Kitāb Al-Muštamil in Arabic Script

In this paper I deal with MS II Firk. Arab.-Evr. 301, in the Russian National Library in St. Petersburg, which consists of a single leaf. A comparison of this manuscript with II Firk. Evr.-Arab. I. 2388 (fol. 56a, 1.8 to fol. 57a., 1.11) which contains most of part one of Abū al-Faraj Hārūn's al-Kitāb al-muštamil ʿalā al-ʾuṣūl wa-al-fuṣūl fī al-luġa al-ʾibrāniyya (The Comprehensive Book concerning the Foundations and Branches of the Hebrew Language), the first grammar book that he wrote, proves beyond doubt that the leaf in question is a fragment of Abū al-Faraj's al-Kitāb al-muštamil in Arabic script.

The two first lines of the manuscript leaf contain the end of the author's discussion on ḥāl (accusative of state). Then comes the entire section on tamyīz (accusative of specification), followed by the first seven lines of the chapter on the method for designating the various kinds of verbal conjugation in Hebrew. The chapter on the tamyīz shows the influence of two books, Abū ʿAlī al-Fārisī's (d. 987) Kitāb al-ʾiḍāḥ and Ibn al-Sarrāj's (d. 928) Kitāb al-ʾuṣūl fī al-naḥw, from which Abū al-Faraj copied several key statements and Arabic examples. He used both books to construct his own chapter, quoting examples from Biblical Hebrew that parallel the Arabic examples in these two books.