Qunyat al-Munya and Its Saudi Copies

The jurisprudent scholar Najm al-din Abu Rija Mukhtar ibn Mahmud al-Zahidi al-Ghazmini lived in the 13^th century. He wrote his works in the Arabic Language. The article analyzes his famous work Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya and its manuscripts (#3348 and #7382) reserved in the Fund of King Saud University. The work contains Khwarezmian sentences, Persian and a few Turkic words and sentences. Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya’s copies are reserved in different funds and libraries of the world. The Leningrad manuscript (#C2311) of Ghazmini’s Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya has been researched by scholars in different periods. A Great Russian scholar A. A. Freyman wrote the work Xorezmiyskiy yazyk (“Khwarezmian Language”) in 1951. He gives examples of Khwarezmian words and sentences from the parts Kitab an-nikah (“The Book of Marriage”), Kitab at-talaq (“The Book of Divorce”) and Kitab al-‘itaq (“The Book of Releasing Slaves”) of the Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya. In 1990, D. N. MacKenzie, an English scholar, made a scientific critical text of the Leningrad manuscript (#C2311). He made the Arabic texts, transliteration and the English translations of Khwarezmian words and sentences in Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya. [MacKenzie 1990]. We found a few new Khwarezmian words and sentences in the manuscript’s copies (#3348 and #7382) of the Fund of King Saud University.

Keywords: Khwarezmian Language, Qunyat al-munya, Freyman, Ghazmini, Khwarezm.

An article of Ahmed Velidi Togan informed the world of scientific society about the work Qunyat al-munya and the Khwarezmian Languages in it. He wrote his article about Mukhtar Zahidi’s Qunyat al-munya manuscript work and the vocabulary of Khwarezmian words of Jalal al-din al-‘Imadi (A.H. 750/1350 C.E.) in 1936 [10,c.27–30].

It should be stressed that some treatises have been written based on Qunyat al-munya. One of them is ﺍﺷﺒﺎﻩ ﺍﻟﻨﻆﺎﻳﺭ Ishbah an-nazair of ﺯﻳﻦﺍﻟﺪﻳﻦ ﺍﻟﺤﻨﻔﻰ Zayn al-din Najm al-Khanafi where Khwarezmian words are encountered in the part of Nikah (“Marriage”) [9,c.271]. These words and sentences are the same with the Qunyat al-munya words — almost there are no differences between them. Another anonymous author’s ﻗﻨﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻔﺘﻭﻯ Qunyat al-fatawa work contains Khwarezmian sentences from the part of Nikah (“Marriage”) on page 52 [9, c.271].

The most well studied works of above mentioned manuscripts is Qunyat al-munya. The full name of the work is ﻗﻨﻴﺔ ﺍﻟﻤﻨﻴﺔ ﻟﺘﺘﻤﻴﻢ ﺍﻟﻐﻨﻴﺔ Qunyat al-munya li tatmim al-ghunya which means “Possession of dreamt for the complete prosperity”. Author’s name is Najm al-din Abu Rija Mukhtar bin Mahmud al-Zahidi (died A. H. 658/1260 C.E.), born in Ghazmin, so he is called Ghazmini.

The first who attended to study the Qunyat al-munya was the scientist W. B. Henning. He gave a short description of Qunyat al-munya in his article in 1936 [3, c.30–34].

In the same year, S. A. Alimov sent the 14^th century manuscript Qunyat al-munya of 13^th century’s Khwarezmian scholar Najm al-din Abu Rija Mukhtar bin Mahmud al-Zahidi from Astrakhan to the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. The description of the copies of Qunyat al-munya and the dictionary of Jalal al-din al-‘Imadi was given by S. L. Volin [11,c.79–91].

The research paper “Materials of Khwarezmian Language according to Leningrad and Tashkent manuscripts”, consisted of 393 pages, is preserved in the archive of Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the Academy of Sciences of Russia. The research work contains the description of works of Ghazmini’s fiqh followers from Khwarezm and the Khwarezmian words contained in these works. S. L. Volin made use of 10 copies of Qunyat al-munya: ##C2311, C223, C224 copies of the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Academy of Sciences of Russia, 4 copies from the National Library of Uzbekistan, and other copies from Scientific Library of Tatarstan. This work is definitely worth to publish [4, c.113].

D. N. MacKenzie did the next research of Qunyat al-munya with the participation of Hasan Amarat in 1990. He translated the Khwarezmian texts of Qunyat al-munya and Jalal al-din al-‘Imadi’s dictionary into English. He gave detailed description of manuscripts. The Arabic and Khwarezmian texts of fatwas (legal opinion concerning Islamic Law), where Khwarezmian words and sentence are commented in the work [5, c.195; 8; 12]. D. N. MacKenzie’s work is based on “Leningrad manuscript” (#C2311) of Qunyat al-munya, as well.

The manuscripts of Qunyat al-munya are preserved in the world funds in Russia, Uzbekistan etc. Recently two manuscripts of Qunyat al-munya was noticed in King Saud University [6, c.121]. Z.Najmiddinov, a Candidate of Historical Sciences, published them in the article “From the History of Studying Khwarezmian Language”. He stated that the comparison of old copy #3348 with the known copies gives new scientific results.

The first manuscript (#3348) is the most ancient one among the other known copies. It was copied in 692-hijri year (1291 C.E.). It was measured 18.5 by 25.5 cm in size with 212 sheets (424 pages); written in Arabic mu’tar script, author is ﺍﺑﻰ ﺭﺟﺎﻉ ﻣﺨﺘﺎﺭ ﺍﺑﻦ ﻣﺤﻣﻮﺩ ﺍﻟﺰﺍﻫﺪﻯ Abu Rija Mukhtar bin Mahmud al-Zahidi. Diacritic marks do not exist in some cases on Arabic and Khwarezmian words. The copier has made some mistakes. The part ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻐﺼﺐ Kitab al-ghasb (“The Book of Compulsion”) contains 12 chapters, the first chapter is related … ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻮﺩﻳﻌﺔ Kitab al-vadi’a (“The Book of Deposit”) part. In addition, ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻮﻗﻒ Kitab al-waqf (“The Book of Dedication”) contains six chapters, but two chapters of them are of Kitab al-ghasb part. 171^{a, b} sheet does not exist. The two volumes of ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻜﻔﺎﻟﺔ Kitab al-kafala (“The Book of Guarantee”) are missing.

The second manuscript (#7382) was written in 983-hijri year (1573 C.E.). According to its colophon, the manuscript was owned by merchant Ahmad Khayr al-din after a century (1681 C.E.). The next owner of the book signed it in hijri 1282 (1866 C.E.). The manuscript is of 216 sheets/432 pages, and measured 16 cm by 22 cm. It was written in naskh script. It has also defected that 207^a-b sheet is missing and two volumes in Kitab al-ghasb is missing as well.

Both copies have Khwarezmian words in ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻄﻬﺎﺭﺕ Kitab at-tahara (“The Book of Purity”), ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﺼﻠﻮﺓ Kitab as-sala (“The Book of Prayer”) and ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﺤﺞ Kitab al-hazhzh (“The Book of Hajj Pilgrimage”) parts. It should be noted that scholars who researched the Qunyat al-munya, stated the beginning of Khwarezmian words from ﻛﺘﺎﺏ ﺍﻟﻨﻜﺎﺡ Kitab an-nikah (“The Book of Marriage”). Khwarezmian words are encountered in babal-jatim val-zham’ bajtihi va bajna sur al-himar — as in the book (khwar. w’ hwhsn) [7,3348:3^b; 7382:5^a], babfi tatahijr al-nazhosot vad-dabo’ (khwar. q’lmjadik) [7,3348:5^a; 7382:8^a] of Kitab at-tahara; babfil-aqval al-maszhid al-zhumlahu (khwar. achka/azhka, ahat naw/achat naw, wawajla, awwa, bahni/bahhani) [7,3348:16^a; 7382:21^a], babsalavat al-musafir vas-salavat fi shabija vad-daih (khwar. m’chk’tta/m’zhk’tta) [7,3348:22^a; 7382:28^b], babal-zhanaza (khwar. b’namik ‘w hanut) [7,3348:25^b; 7382:33^b] of Kitab as-sala; babfi mann jalzima… (khwar. z’chmwscha) [7,3348:33^b; 7382:45^a] of Kitab al-hazhzh. Khwarezmian words given after the sign ﺑﺎﻟﺦ — ﺑﺎ ﻟﺨﻮﺍﺭﺯﻣﻴﺔ which mean “in Khwarezmian Language”.

Qunyat al-munya contains 48 chapters, 29 of which have Khwarezmian words. However, some sources say that 17 parts have Khwarezmian words [9, c.262]. Mukhtar Zahidi states Mutarrizi’s following sentences in the part of ﺑﺎﺏ ﺯﻟﺔ ﺍﻟﻘﺎﺭﻯ babzillat al-qara “Mistakes in reading”: “Khwarezmian people pronounce the Arabic letter ﺝ jeem as ﭺ cheem, ﺏ ba as ﭖ pa”. He comments it as remains of Zoroastrians before Islam ar. kafara Hwarazmija and marks this pronunciation as incorrect (ar. Mufsid) [7,3348:28].

Zahidi sometimes gives the letters of the words separately because of their vulgar meaning. For example, the Arabic word jima’ ‘sexual inter course’ is translated into khwarezmian ﺱ sin, ﺍ alif, ﻑ fa: khwar. saf ﺳﺎﻑ ‘sexual inter course’ according to his statement.

The names of Medieval century cities of Khwarezm are given in both manuscripts: Zamijxanik — ‘Zimjanik’, Zhurzhanija — ‘Jurjania’, Zimixshar — ‘Izmixshir’, Xashkijan — ‘Xasikara’, N’zhusha-shataich — ‘Awshashtaich’ [7,3348:52^a-b; 7382:67^a]. Besides, the work contains names of neighbor countries and ethnical groups: kushan, saman, iskaf, sughd [7,3348:75^a], al-xifchaghajn, Rumanija [7,3348:199^b], at-tattar, al-sart, turkman [7,7382:65^b], Chin [7,7382:106^a]. Except them, it has some notes about Zoroastrians’ Holy Book Avesta of: nazmi Zand Avesta, Awishxvar Avestajan [7,3348:122^a, 158^b; 7382:87^b, 200^a]. The ancient Khwarezmian holidays as Nawroz ‘New Year’, Mehrzhan ‘holiday of harvest’, Kalxisadval-dijas ‘Kalandas’ — holiday of Khwarezmian Christians, zhizaz ‘holiday related to kindling fire azhghar (!)’ are also stated in the manuscript [7,7382:200^a].

It could be concluded from the Turkic words and sentences in Qunyat al-munya that some parts of Khwarezmian population became bilingual in the 13^th century. Here are some examples:

khwar. ﻳﺎ ﺟﻔﺘﺎ ya zhufta — turk. ﺍﺭ ﺧﺎﺗﻮﻥ ǝr-xatun ‘husband and wife’ [7,7382:65^a], khwar. ﻣﺨﺎﺳﺖ ﺍﻯ ﺯﺍﺩﻛﻢ m’xasta ay zad’k’m — turk.+pers. ﻗﺎﻧﺪﺍﺵﻟﻴﮏ ﻓﺮﺯﻧﺪﻳﻢ qandashlik fǝrzǝndim ‘son by blood’ [7,7382:67^b], khwar. ﻣﺎ ﺧﻮﺍﺳﺎﺭﻳﮏ ma xvasaryk — turk. ﺍﺭ ﺑﺎﻟﻪ ﺍﻏﻮ ǝr bala, aghu ‘boy’ [7,7382:67^b], khwar. ﻛﺎﻧﺪﺍﻭ ﺯﺍﺝ ﻧﻴﻦ kandawzazh nin (nir) — turk. ﺍﻳﻜﻰ... ﺁﻳﺮﺩﻯ ikki … ajirdi ‘divided into two parts’ [7,7382:72^b]; turk. ǝy oghlum ‘my son’ [7,3348:52^b], ǝr buzagh ‘bull calf’ [7,3348:125^b], azaq turish ‘stand’ [7,7382:3^a], chelǝk ‘bucket’ [7,7382:4^a], bughdaz ‘wheat’ [7,7382:140^b], ǝrrǝ ‘two-handled saw’ [7,7382:145^b], qǝznaq ‘bedside-table’ [7,7382:161^a], duz ‘salt’, suv ‘water’ [7,7382:95^b].

As a conclusion, we achieved to find new Khwarezmian words that are not stated in previous researches. The comparison of Saudi manuscripts with other copies may give new results.

References:

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