The gift of boys in explaining the letters of the alphabet in order and clarity

Abstract

This research presents a scholarly investigation of a manuscript written by Mustafa al-Humaidi entitled: “A Gift for Children in Explaining the Letters of the Alphabet According to Order and Clarity,” predating 1194 AH. It is part of the collection of the Sultan Abdul Hamid Khan Library in Turkey, bearing the number (1402). This is a fine, well-defined copy, written in clear and beautiful script, comprising (24) folios.        Its subject is an educational treatise in which the author traces the linguistic resources and meanings of the Arabic letters from Alif to Ya, employing a simplified, scholarly approach for students, citing poetic, Quranic, and other examples. He relies on primary linguistic sources for his evidence. This copy is considered rare in its methodology; to the best of our knowledge, we have not found any other work that follows this approach. Such treatises were likely essential at the time for teaching religious jurisprudence and its principles. It is worth noting that prominent linguists have authored numerous works dedicated to the study of letters, perhaps the oldest of which we have encountered is the book “Letters of Meanings and Attributes.” The letters, by Abu al-Qasim al-Zujaji (d. 337 AH), and the book of the meanings of letters, and the stations of letters, by Ali bin Isa al-Rumani (d. 384 AH), and other books on this subject, and they divided the letters into different sections, including meanings and structures, but this author focused on the letters of structures only, as they - as it is said - are the basis of the course of the languages, Arabic and non-Arabic. The research was divided into two sections, the first is the introduction to the investigation, and the second section is the text that was investigated.