Arabic Notes Question wise,,,

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Pre Islamic Poetry
Origin of the Arabic Poetry:
Introduction:
When did these people spring? Is a question first posed and then answered by Clement Huart. According to Clement Huart, the Arabs belong to “Semite Group”, who from the lower plains Babylonia migrated to peninsula. The rugged terrain of the peninsula made them aloof from other Semitics groups and then develop their own language- Arabic – associated with “ Yahrib bin Qahtan”. The history is replete with the events of tribal clashes between the descendents of “Qahtan” and “Adnan”. The Arabs spent their life as nomads in search of water and Greenland. Thus it was during these migration the poetic genius of Arabian Peninsula was evoked.
Further Clement Haurt holds the opinion, “The long caravan marches across the monotonous dresses, turning the unaccustomed traveler sick, soon taught Arab to sing Rhymes. He noted various soon that he hurried the pace of recitation the any string of camels would raise their heads and got their pace. This creature is responsive to music rhythm.”
So, the Arab had produced poetry with absolutely knowledge of rules about it. The era of 250 to 400 years before the advent of islam is known as “Dour e Jahlia”. The evolution of poetry traced back in this era passed many steps to emerge as the poetry, known to the world.
1- Free Prose
2- Masjah Prose
3- Rijz
4- Qaseedah
5- Hadi Khawani
6- Behr And Qafia
1-Free Prose:
In very initial stage the poetry don’t follow any pattern. It was just an expression of thoughts and thus was called as free prose.
2-Masjah Prose:
Sermons and saying of wise people were mentioned in poetry which was in raw nature and was used to impress the people.
3- Rijz:
Rijz, a way to invoke emotion of the warrior Arab was in the blood of the Arabs as they were racially proud.
4- Qaseedah:
Qaseedah was the natural outcome as the Arab was fond of self praise.
5- Hadi Khawani:
The life is rugged terrain and unfavorable conditions resulted in the emergence of Hadi Khawani in the peninsula.
6- Behr and Qafia:
Final touch to the Arabian Poetry was given after the introduction of Behr and Qafia in it.
Types of Poetry:
1-Ghanai or Wajdani Poetry:
Ghanai poetry is a type of poetry in which the poets express the feelings of his heart.
2-Narrative Poetry:
Narrative poetry is used to narrate some happening or incident in war to boast of tribal pride.
3-Dramatic Poetry:
Dramatic poetry is concerned with the narration of conceptual or idealistic view points from some heroic achievements.
Criticism:
Zaidan in his treatise “Tarikh al adab al Arabi”and “Adab al Jahli” has mention that Dramatic poetry emerged even before the narrative or ghanai poetry but this does not seem to be true as Clement Huart and Dr. Nicholson validate the poetry.
Second, Arabs were nomads and were not able to think conceptually to such an extent.
The Poet – A Man to be revered:
According to F I Malik “The port in the pre Islamic era were respected by the people by and large. A poet was considered to be the savior of reverence of tribe on public forum like “Souk Akaaz”. He was considering being leader in case of war and peace. So, the poet held the central position in a tribe.
Clement Huart present an example to validate this point as he writes in his book “ A History of Arabic Literature” That Zuhair Ibn Janab used to enjoy such a level of respect that encampments by his tribe made or forsaken by his order. The booty was distributed by him. This shows that he enjoyed a level of respect.

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Pre Islamic Poetry and Its Significance:
Hazrat Umer’s quote enunciating the significance of the pre Islamic poetry perfectly.


Pre Islamic era was the age when poetry had reached the apex of its brilliance. The poet was the most respectable person in tribe. To safeguard the honor and respect of the tribe, the poets were always at the forefront. Ahmed Hassan Zyat in his book “Tarikh Adab Arabi” has mentioned that “Whenever there emerged a poet in a tribe, it was taken as a blessing of Providence. The appearance was celebrated as the people of other tribe used to congratulate the tribe in which the poet was emerged”.
F I Malik in his book further quotes that “The poet was consider being the defender of the honor of tribe and was cause to bring a good name and fame to the respect of tribe. The poet was taken as a wise man and thus a leader of the tribe through thick and thin.”
Clement Huart in his book “Literary History of Arabs” has mention that there were many poets the evidence of whom was the final say in order to decide to encamp or decamp a certain place. The booty which was collected in fights with other tribes was distributed by no person other than the poet.”
Further in another chapter, Clement Huart writes that there were and markets in the Arab of pre Islamic era. Souk Akaaz was the most fascinating of the all. It used to be started on 1st Zil-Hajj and remained for 20 days. During there 20 days people from all over the Arab used to come and literary activities were at the zenith of their glory. The poet used to present their Qasaids and best of the best was selected or judged by Banu Tamin in Souk Akaaz. The best Qaseedah was written in gold and then was hanged with the wall of Ka’abah. Hammaad – The Rhapsodist has collected some of the Qasaids in the volume named as “Mualqaat” because these were believed to be hanged with the wall of Ka’abah. Another name “Muzhabat” is also given to them because these were believed to be written in gold.
Another significance of pre Islamic poetry is that it depicts the social and moral condition of the society of Arabs before the emergence of Islam. It is the pre Islamic Poetry which serve as a window through which one can see the situation, whether, it was moral or social, it was political or cultural, of the society of pre Islamic era. Through this poetry of Dour-e-Jahlia, we know that Arabs were racially prejudiced without any central government or authority. The Arab were worrier and they were disintegrated into tribes. The ordinary Arab out of the love for his tribe did not leave any stone unturned. Hijv, Fakhar, Madah, Qaseedah, Marsiya etc. were the main asnaf of poetry. The sole purpose of the poet was to show that his tribe was more respectable than the rival tribe.
The poetry was given so much importance that Allah bestowed on the Holy Prophet (PBUH) His miracle in the form of a lucid and eloquent Holy Quran. It is an established fact that the miracle bestowed by Allah to different Prophets were according to the art, which was at its apex in that era e.g. Juses was awarded with a miracle by dint of which he could touch a leaper and make him alright and could reincarnate life in a dead body. This miracle was bestowed by Allah Almighty on Jesus just because of the fact that “Ilm-e-Tib” was touching the heights of glory. Similarly Moses was the miracle to answer the magicians of that era. Same is true for the Holy Quran, a miracle of Allah, to show and answer the eloquent and lucid poets of Arabs. This fact validates that the poetry was most significant thing in the pre Islamic era.

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Importance of pre Islamic poetry in understanding Holy Quran
Socio Economic Culture:
The interpretation of Holy Quran sometimes require a peep into the socio economic set up of that era and the poetry of that era is very good depiction and manifestation of the socio economic circumstances of that time. So, poetry was consulted to know the customs and traditions of that era.

1- There are many strange words or Gharaib in the Holy Quran which were alien to Arabs because these were no more in use in there day to day life. However these words were used by the poets in their poetry. So, in order to understand these Gharaibs , the interpreters and Mufasareen used to consult the pre Islamic poetry, e.g.




Is the opening of a Surah in Holy Quran. This word has been used by Amrao ul Qais in his poetry also. To understand Waduhaa the Mufasareen sought help from Pre Islamic poetry.
2- Hazrat Abdullah bin Abbas was asked to explain some Ayats of the Holy Quran, he made allusion to the pre Islamic poetry to make it comprehendible for the people who asked him to explain:
People asked:



Hazrat Abdullah points a verse of labid:




People asked:



Hazrat Abdullah replied by quoting Labid who mentioned:



People asked:



Hazrat Abdullah replied by quoting Labid who mentioned:



People asked:


Hazrat Abdullah replied by quoting Labid who mentioned:



3- The pr Islamic poetry was the master piece in the Arabic literature therefore this poetry provided as being a source for the grammar and it was used as a guideline.
4- Pre Islamic poetry also shows when it is compared with the Holy Quran that Holy Quran is the best of the lot and superior in its style, eloquence and lucidity than the pre Islamic poetry. Pre Islamic poetry validates the fact the Holy Quran is the “Kalam” of Allah and can not be of man, e.g. a German scholar writes when he compared Surah Rehman with the Qaseedah of pre Islamic era, “The Quran flips the Qaseedah-totally. Quran shows that the nature is transitory and human legacy is permanent while in ordinary Qaseedah human legacy change while the nature remain the same.” Secondly, pre Islamic poetry a propensity in people to listen to the poetic work of the poet in that era. It was obvious, Quran the miracle was the kalam of Allah which penetrated deep in the hearts of the people and thus the pre Islamic poetry indirectly helped the propagation of Quran and Islam.
Similarly, the poetry was indirectly helpful to the Holy Prophet (PBUH) in preaching the non-believers. The people were very responsive to the literary activity. Quran being the most lucid and eloquent of the all works of that era, it was the master piece of Allah Almighty, casted deep impact on their hearts. They were turned non-believer to the follower of Holy Prophet because they got impressed by the miracle of the Holy Quran.

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Salient Feature of Pre Islamic Poetry with Special Reference to “Muallaqat”
Introduction:
Pre Islamic era, known as “Dour-e-Jahlia” in other words it is the era of highly brilliant activities in poetic field. Many a notable can be traced back to that era. The poet enjoyed an unmatchable fame and respect in this era. As depicted by F I Malik in his book “Muqalat”’
“Whenever a poet used to emerge on the scene in any tribe, the people considered it the blessing of Allah Almighty. As he was the defender and leader of the tribe in all the circumstances to come.”
There are two main ways through which we can have an idea about the pre Islamic poetry:
1- The poetry in written form i.e. Muallaqat.
2- The poetry which was passed from generation to the other and finally was brought to written form.
Muallaqat:
Al-Muallaqat is the work (poetic) compiled by “Hammad Al- Rawya or Hammad- the Rhapsodist.” This poet work is consisted of Qasaids long poems of the poet of pre Islamic era. These are known as “Muallaqat” as it indicates these qasaids were hanged on the wall of Ka’abah. This point towards the customs of Arabs who used to hang the important documents wit the wall of Ka’abah. This goes with the historical evidence too. These Qasaids were declared, best of the lot, of the contemporary poetic work and these were hanged with the wall of Ka’abah to appreciate the poet. Many scholars objected this very fact but historical events e.g. hanging of document of boycott of the Holy Prophet (PBUH) and hanging of Sorah Kosar by Hazrat Abdullah (R.A) are enough to prove this claim. Secondly, these qasaids, collectively are called “Muzhabat” which mean that these were written in gold.
Al-Nahas in his treatise writes “the true matter of the fact is that Hammad-The Rhapsodist saw how little the people cared about the Pre Islamic poetry, he collected all the poems and asked people to read them and respect them. This goes with all the other information as singing poetic work was the profession of Hammad. He had a very good grip of Arabic literature so it was instrument set for him to do this important task.
Poets:
Hammad collected the work of these seven poets:
1- Amra ul Qais
2- ZAuhair bin abi Salma
3- Labid bin Abi Rabia
4- Tarfa al Abad
5- Haris bin Halza
6- Umro bin Kalsoom
7- Antra Absi

Abu Zaid Qureshi along with some other scholars has mentioned the name of:
1- Aashi
2- Nabigah Zaibani
3- Umro bil Al Bars
In this context.

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Important Feature of Pre Islamic Poetry
Pre Islamic poetry was done in following asnaf:
1- Sanf-i-Hija
2- Maddah
3- Marsyia
4- Rijz
5- Mufakharat
6- Fakhar

The important feature of the poetry include following points.
1- Starting Style:-
After a conventional prelude, the Nasib , in which poet remembers his best beloved by standing on the forsaken place e.g. Amra ul Qais starts Qasidah as:





Zuhair bin Abi Salma’s Qaseedah starts with the following verse:





2- San-Artificiality:-
The poetry of pre Islamic era does not have any attribute of artificiality in it. It is altogether natural an outcome of the emotion of the poets.
3- Extemporaneous:-
The Arab poets were very much like reflectors what used to fall on them it was immediately reflected. They had a natural sense of ideas.

4- Love for Nature:-
The Arab had a deep contact with the nature. Some of the poets like Amra ul Qais had spent the life of wanderer’s bay making encampment here and there and remained in search of water and greenery. So it was obvious that love for nature was manifested in their poetry.

5- Mufakhirat:-
The poet has a sense of personal pride and prejudiced. This was very clear from their poetry also. The poetry of Umro bin Kalsoom is a good example of it.

6- Balaght -i- kalam:-
Eloquence, lucidity and extemporaneousness was the the most outstanding feature of the poet of the pre Islamic rea.

7- Not of Reward except Nabigah Daibani Poerty:-
Not a single except Nabigab Al Daibani who has used poetry for material gains. Taksab bil Sher was done by Nabigah.

8- Repetition of Subjects:-

There were repetitions of subjects in almost all the Qasaids of the poets of pre Islamic era.

9- Simplicity:-
The Arab led a simple life and that was depicted in the poetry also. The main events explained in the poetry were related to their best beloved, the adventure etc.

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Sources of pre Islamic Arab Poetry
Introduction:-
Pre Islamic Arab poetry has reached up to us in two forms i.e. written and unwritten. Written part is that of the Muallaqat and the unwritten portion was pen down in 7th and 8th century. Pre Islamic poetry has reached us in three ways.
Three Ways:
1- De’waan
2- Muntehibat
3- Kutb-i-Adb-i-Nasr

1- De’waan:-
The following poets had their de’waan:
Amra-ul-Qais
Zuhair bin Abi Salma
Hassan Bin Sabat
Aasha
Turfa
Antra
Nabigah Al Daibani
Some other famous De’waans are:
De’waan Al Mehjhan
De’waan Al Khansaa
De’waan Al Hatyia
De’waan Uos Bin Hajar
De’waan Hatim Tai
De’waan Labid
2- Muntehibaat:
Muntehibat are actually a collection of books made for the purpose of reading pre Islamic poetry. We can classify it in the following five categories.
(i) Al-Mualliqat:-
These are also called Al-Mashuraat. These were collected by the legend Hammad Al Rawya, who though corrupted in some extent, yet his effort to collect the data was not less than an achievement. The numbers of Mualliqat are 7 to 10.
(ii) Hamasa:-
Hamasa is basically the collection of best poetic work by the well on scholar Abu Tamam Habib bin Aus who died in 850 A.D. he selected the master pieces of poetry from pre Islamic era and complied them in one book. The book has 10 chapters. Some of the chapters are as under:
Hamasa,
Marasi,
Adab,
Naseeb,
Hija,
Muzamt un Nisa,
Al Sanaat,
(iii) Al-Mufazilliat:-
This is also a collection of poetic works done in the 8th century, by Al Mufzil Al Ghabi. Basically Al Mufzil Al Ghabi was directed by the Caliph Mansoor to collect the poetic works from the pre Islamic era for his son. Originally there were 30 qasaids in that book but Asmai added 90 new qasaids so that total number of qasaids are 120 now.
(iv) Hamasa Al Bahtari:-
Many people were impressed by success of Hamasa, so they tried to follow the pattern of Hamasa. Al Bahtari was one of those scholars who jumped into this race. Though he died in 897 A.D. yet he completed his book which due some reason could not meet success.
(v) Jumhrah Ashaar Al Arab:-
Abu Zaid Qureshi was the author of this book. The book has 49 qasaids and 7 chapters. So the ratio was 7 qasaids per chapter

3- Kutb-i-Adb-i-Nasr:-
These were the books which are not basically the book of poetry, but in these books frequent reference to the poetic works have been made. So these books are important source for pre Islamic poetry.
i- Kitab Al Biyan Wal Bateen by Al Jahiz
ii- Kitab Al Sher Wal Shuraa by Ibn Qutaiba
iii- Al Kamal By Mubard
iv- Khazana Al Adab by Abdul Qadir Baghdadi

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Different Types of Knowledge
Ilm-i-Lughat:-
It helps in understanding the appropriate meanings of words.
Mujahid says, “One who believes in Allah and Day of Judgment should not open his lips in respect of Quran unless he is thoroughly conversant with the philosophy of Arabic Language. Quran often an Arabic world has several meanings. A person may know only one or two of them; though in a given content actual meaning may be quite different.
Ilm-i-Nahv:-
Nahv i.e. syntax a branch of grammar which help in understanding the relation of a sentence with another and also of “Irab” (vowel sound) as change in Irab is a change in eanings.
Sarf:-
Etymology a branch of grammar which helps in knowing the root words and conjugation. The meaning of a word change with the change in the root and with a change in conjunction. Allama Zamhashri says, “One who loses the knowing of etymology loses a great deal”.
Ishtiqaq:-
It meaning is derivatives. It is necessary to have the knowing of derivatives and their roots words because if the word has been from two different root words it will be two different meanings e.g.
“The word ‘Masih’ is derived from ‘Masah’ which mean to touch or to move the wet hand and also from ‘Masahat’ which mean measurement.
Ilm-ul-Muani:-
Knowledge of semantics, because phrase construction are understood from their meaning.
Ilm-ul-Bayan:-
Knowledge of figures of speech like similes and metaphors due to which expression or shades of meaning or similes and metaphors become known.
Ilm-ul-Badi:-
The knowledge of rhetoric’s which reveal the beauty of language and its implication.
Ilm-ul-Qiraat:-
Knowledge of pronunciation of the Holy Quran.
Ilm-ul-Aqaid:-
Knowledge of fundamental faith. This in necessary to explain certain analogy.
Usul-e-Fiqh:-
Principles of Islamic jurisprudence.
Asbab Al Anzaal:-
The knowledge of those conditions in which a verse of Holy Quran was revealed. Without the knowledge of those conditions, it is very difficult to understand the meaning of that verse.
Commentary:-
The knowledge of those Ahadith which are related to some verses.
Nasikh – Mansukh:-
Knowledge of the commandments that have subsequently been abrogated or changed so that the abrogated commandment can be distinguished by standing ones.

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Quran is neither a Prose nor Poetry. Comment it.
Introduction:-
The holy Quran is the master piece of Allah Almighty and miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Holy Quran, a specimen of eloquence and lucidity in different from poetry and prose of the time when it was revealed. Truly wrote by Dr. Taha Hussain,
“Quran is neither prose nor poetry. It is something different which has immaculate impact on the reader. It is not poetry because it does not observe any metre and rhyme of the poetry. It is not prose because it is not composed, the way, the prose is composed customarily. The Holy Quran consists of verses which very in length depending upon the situation and occasions for which these are revealed. What is more interesting is the word selection, a selection which allows varying reading speed which make it even more effecting and impressive.”
On this point Dr. Taha Hussain further wrote,
“For example those verses dealing with dialogue that took place between the Prophet (PBUH) and the pagan and legislation have low reading speed. While the verses dealing with the non-believer, who are warned of punishment against their infidelity, have high reading speed.”
Taha Hussain further elaborates the fact by quoting examples of high reading speed and low reading speed surah:
Surah Al Shuraa: Example of speedy reading
Surah Al Qasas: Example of slow reading
How Quranic Theme is Different from the Themes Depicted in Contemporary Poetry:-
The subject matter of the poetry in the era when the Holy Quran was revealed was very limited. The poet usually said poems on verses on the incidents of their love affairs, the memorization of the forsaken place by their beloved and the events boasting the status of their tribe.
Quran presents the illustrations from a minute to the universe. It is complete code of life because it contains the preaching, legislation, way to lead a social and every bit of information necessary for spend a life according to the commandments of Allah.
Quran’s style is Narrative and Dramatic:-
While explaining the stories of Noah, Ibrahim, Moses, Jesus, Joseph, David, Suleiman, etc. while the poets followed ghanai or wajdani style in contemporary era which is inferior.
Another point which is elaborated by ‘Angleika Neuwirth’ explain how Quran flips qaseedah (one of the most important sanf of poetry). In surah Rehman Allah Almighty has presented the bounties which will be showered on those people who will accept the commandments of Allah and spend their lives accordingly. In this surah, the nature in transitory while the human legacy lives on which is the reversal of the ordinary qaseedah.
Some scholars, however, by keeping in view, the style followed by the Holy Book have drawn influence that it has some time the characteristics of both the poetry and prose. The harmonious effects of Surah ‘Al Najam’ and initial verses of Surah ‘Al Maryum’ are cited as the example to validate the above stated notion. But overall, the Holy Quran in neither a verse nor a prose, it is something else above the level of a man as it is Devine and from the Providence. This is the miracle of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

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Arabic Poetry in Sub-Continent with Special Emphasis on the Contribution of Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami

Introduction:-
The Indian continent did not participate to such an enormous extent as was done by other poet or non Arabic areas such as Iran, Iraq, Egypt, and Syria. Whatever was the work done by the poets in Indian Sub-Continent was mostly lost unfortunately. Whatever poetry is available to us shows following are important figures who contributed in this genre of literature:
1- Syed Abdul Jalil Bilgrami
2- Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami
3- Molvi Fazl-e-Haq Khair Abadi
4- Ameer Khusru
5- Shah Ahmad Share’e
6- Qazi Abdul Muqtadar
7- Nasir-ud-Din Chiragh
8- Muhammad Bin Abdul Aziz
9- Syed Ali Khan Ibn-e-Masoom
10-Masood bin Saad
Out of these Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz is the only poet whose life history is available to us. Muhammad bin Abdul Aziz is the one who saw the era when ‘Vascode Gama’ invader the southern India and he had fought against Raja Samri. He explained all the incidents in a ‘Razmia nazm’ composed of 503 verses. This is master piece in the literature of Arabic in Sub-Continent.
Arabic poetry with special mention of Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami.
Hasan-ul-Hind:-
He was born to a well to do family. In the age of 25, he went to Saudi Arabia for performing hajj and remained there for 2 years to learn Arabic. After his return to the home land he started poetry and was given the title of ‘Hasan ul Hind’ like Khakani was given the title of ‘Hasan Al Ajam’. He got his education in Aahadith and Islamic law from Abdul Wahab Tantavi.
He learnt the art of poetry from Syed Abdul Jalil Bilgrami who was also his maternal uncle.
Dewans:-
He left many dewans behind him. Some scholars believe that he left 7 dewans behind him. In his book ‘subht ul marjaan fi asaar hindostan’ he has mentioned about many mufasreen and figures that have done some great service for the cause of Islam. In total he has mentioned about 150 people in his book.
Azad as use in name:-
Ghulam Ali used Azad as his ‘Takhalas’ and this was liked by his teacher Abdul Wahab Tantavi. Ghulam Ali Azad Bilgrami has also written in Persian language.
Subht ul Marjaan fi Asaar Hindostan;-
This book was published in 1885 and in one of its poem; ‘Mirat Al Jamal’ the poet has praised all the body parts from starting head to the toe. This poem shows the class of the poet. Another thing very interesting about ‘Azad’ is the use of similes and metaphor. In one of his verse he has written a word ‘sari’ which mean walk, but at the same time he has used this word to make an allusion to the word ‘sahri’ which is the dress of Indian women.
Azad has performed his immaculate work in all the forms of poetry i.e. Nazem, Masnavi, Rubai etc.
His Work:-
1- Subht ul Marjaan fi Asaar Hindostan
2- Dewan Azad
3- Mukhtarat Dewan Azad
4- Tasliya ul Lail
5- Shafa ul Lail
6- Al Sahjra Al Tabiya
7- Al Sabah Al Sariya
8- Shamamah Al Amber
9- Mazhar Al Barkat

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A Comprehensive Note on Arabic Lexicography

Introduction:-
When Islam reached to the areas where Arabic was not understood or spoken before the emergence of Islam, there emerged problems and mistakes in the pronunciation of Arabic. As Arabic in the vast language and even slightest change in the pronunciation may alter the meaning to a great extent. Rather a slightest change may bring the opposite meaning then the intended ones. This problem necessitated the need to have the lexicography of Arabic Language.
Initial Work:-
Initially small ‘rasails’ containing the correct Arabic name of common thing were written by ulema e.g. some ‘rasails’ containing the name of days of week, body parts, other common thing of day to day use. But the situation turned from bad to worse.

Khalil Bin Ahmad:-
During this crucial time, a prolific figure, named Khalil bin Ahmad emerged on the scene. He wrote the first and most comprehensive book of lexicography in which the words consisted of one, two or more words mere arranged in order. He also arranged the words according to their pronunciation e.g.
1- Larynx
2- Tongue
3- Teeth
4- Lips
This book was the first complete effort in this regard. Abu Bakar bin Dureed prepared the compendium of this book which collected more fame then the original book. This book of Khalil bin Ahmad remained incomplete during the life time of Khalil and this was completed by one of the pupil of Khalil. The part compiled by his pupil shows certain mistakes.

Lisan-ul-Arab by Ibn-e-Manzoor:-
Ibn-e-Manzoor was born on 1233, and was descendant of Governor of Tripoli. Ibn-e-Manzoor was a moderate shia and his work in Arabic Lexicography is second to none. He wrote ‘Lisan ul Arab’, a dictionary which was published in 18th century and contains 20 volumes. This show how enormous was the work of Ibn-e-Manzoor. The comprehensiveness of this book is second to none in this regard.
The book Liasan ul Arab follows a specific pattern. It follows the arrangement of roots. The headwords are not arranged by the author contrary to what is done in modern Lexicography of Semitic Language.
The arrangement made by Ibn-e-Manzoor is according to the last radical which makes finding rhyming ending.
In short the contribution of Ibn-e-Manzoor is the most valuable service done to Arabic Lexicography.

Sources of Lisan ul Arab:-

1- Tahdib ul Lugah by Al Azhri
2- Mukam of Ibn-e-Sedah
3- Nihaya of Al Dhabi