الحكمة والزهد والموعظة في كلام الإمام علي عند أدباء العصر العباسي: دراسة موضوعية في الكتب الأربعة Wisdom, Asceticism, and Exhortation in the Words of Imam Ali According to Abbasid-Era Litterateurs: A Thematic Study of the Four Books Section Articles

Abstract

Notwithstanding the fact that the discourse of Imam Ali encompasses a multitude of profound themes, each of which could constitute an independent subject of scholarly inquiry, the present study undertakes an examination of three selected themes drawn from his discourse, namely: wisdom (al-ḥikmah), asceticism (al-zuhd), and exhortation (al-mawʿiẓah, i.e., moral counsel). Furthermore, the study elucidates the extent to which these specific thematic strands, derived from the discourse of Imam Ali, exerted a discernible influence upon the literary figures of the Abbasid era and their four celebrated Arabic compendia, along with their respective authors. The investigation is circumscribed to four seminal works: al-Bayān wa-al-Tabyīn by al-Jāḥiẓ, Adab al-Kātib by Ibn Qutaybah, al-Kāmil fī al-Lughah wa-al-Adab by al-Mubarrad, and al-Nawādir by Abū ʿAlī al-Qālī. The study adopts the thematic (mawḍūʿī) and analytical (taḥlīlī) methodologies, supplemented by the comparative (muqāran) approach, and endeavours thereby to demonstrate that the litterateurs of the Abbasid period appropriated the discourse of Imam Ali as a singularly significant literary and intellectual reservoir. The scholarly focus is concentrated upon three thematic axes: wisdom, asceticism, and moral exhortation. The findings of the study reveal the profound impact of Imam Ali's discourse upon the rhetorical architecture and intellectual framework of Arabic prose during the Abbasid era, inasmuch as this discourse was not merely employed in the literary works for purposes of ornamentation or religious veneration (tabarruk), but was rather embraced as a normative criterion for argumentation, moral edification, and rhetorical excellence.