English abstract
This study aims to discover the research methods of the book:" Khareedat Al-Qasar wa Gareedat Al-Asr" by " Imad Al-Din, Mohammed bin Abi Al-Faraj Mohammed Al Asfahani Alkateb". The writer has followed a distinctive approach in tackling issues about writers and literature in the Islamic World during the A.H. sixth century. This study pursues the history of Arabic literature leaders and a range of literal books. "Khareeda" is one important chain in this wide precious range and without it, a whole period of Arab literature would be unknown to us. And this study proves the literal, cultural and historical value of this precious" Khareeda", including its value as a translation book and explaining the encyclopedic classification of the book.
The general structure of "Khareeda" consists of four main parts: Iraq, non-Arabs and Persians, Syria and The Arab Island, Egypt with Morocco and Andalusia. Each part of these has its own introduction and its different accurate description of lands, the number of writers and family literature. That selection of these issues are based on Al-Imad's travel life and his visits to certain lands, along with his verbal and written references. We could follow and classify the different narrative references of "Khareeda" direct, indirect or written. One of his written references, for instance, is the poetical works and books of poets, letters, records and literal books. This study has revealed the variety and width in Al Imad references, on the one hand, as well as his accurate literal composure and his frequent revision to his translations as resources, on the other hand. And most of his lost resources had elaborated on the Arab prose and poetry, in which their existence could have changed the features of the current studies of Arabic Literature. This study analyses the elements of the translations that usually consist of: names, surnames, ancestry, deaths, science and compositions, personal features and travels. The size and the systematic order of these translations depended on political, technical and personal grounds and on the abundance of resources. We could also say that most of these translations are characterized by stereotyping and generalizing, and sharing repeated typical compliments which makes of the book more of a literal collection than a book of translations.
The study has also revealed the critical view of Al-Imad through his selection methods and his comments between the lines. His critical views are varied between justified and unjustified. The former ones are divided into technical views like praising the rhetoric and the artistry, smoothness and beauty, introduction and good disposal, accuracy in description, approximation in simile. However, the non technical views are manifested in religious criticism, mostly in its ideology, and in the high quality of poetry depending on the poet and the ones meant in one poem. They are also shown through the regional criticism for the regional features are related to characters, language, culture, geographical and climatic environment. The major issue of plagiarism is also brought up in a strict form, unlike some of the modern open views towards plagiarism. His view shows the superiority of Easters in handling this issue. There are as well other issues brought up like underestimating poetry, the dissimilarity in one poet's poetry, the difference between prose and poetry, lingual interpretations and prosodic criticism, The final section deals with the author's own critical taste, his references and other personal issues, which all reveal Al-Imad as a literal historian with a critical view than a mere reviewer.
