The Comparison between the Andalusian and Eastern Commentaries on the Dīwān of Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī: Similarities, Methodological Differences, and the Heritage and Epistemic Value of Applied Rhetoric

Abstract

This study presents a synthesizing comparison between seven of the most prominent commentaries on the Dīwān of Abū al-Ṭayyib al-Mutanabbī: four representing the Eastern (Mashriqī) school (al-Tabrīzī, the commentator of Muʿjiz Aḥmad, Ibn Jinnī, and al-Wāḥidī), and three representing the Andalusian-Maghribī school (Ibn Sīda, Ibn al-Iflīlī, and al-Ṣiqillī al-Maghribī). The study aims to uncover the common ground of applied rhetorical practice shared by the seven commentators despite their diverse backgrounds, then to identify the fine-grained differences that reveal a distinct flavor for each school, culminating in an assessment of the heritage and epistemic value of this genre of applied rhetorical commentary. The study adopts a descriptive-analytical comparative method grounded in direct textual evidence from the seven commentaries themselves. The study finds that the seven commentators share six fundamental features: invoking the Qurʾān as grammatical and rhetorical authority; entertaining multiple interpretive possibilities for ellipsis without decisive preference; tracing external poetic evidence to root the rhetorical image; explaining the aspect of resemblance rather than merely naming it; circulating the same 'problematic' verses across both schools; and documented actual communication between the two schools. Meanwhile, the Eastern orientation was distinguished by functional classification and tracing of usage often without explicit technical naming, while the Andalusian-Maghribī orientation was distinguished by argumentative depth, grammatical precision, and aesthetic critical boldness. The study concludes that these seven commentaries constitute an applied laboratory that preceded the theoretical codification of rhetoric, hold documentary value in preserving rare reports attributed to al-Mutanabbī himself and a stratum of pre-Islamic and mukhaḍram poetry, reveal a living interaction between grammar and rhetoric before the boundaries between them were fixed, and serve as primary material for writing the history of the commentarial tradition itself; the study closes with five recommendations for future independent studies.