Ibn Abd Rabbih Al-Andalusi’s book (246 - 328 AH) The Unique Necklace Review and Evaluation

Abstract

Abstract

The paramount encyclopedias of Arabic literature and Arab culture appeared in the third and fourth centuries AH, such as Ibn Salam’s poetic encyclopedia (d. 231 AH) Classes of Greatest Poets; Al-Bayan Wa al-Tabyin by Al-Jahiz (d. 255 AH); Uyun al-Akhbar by Ibn Qutaybah (d. 276 AH); Al-Kamil by Al-Mubarrad (d. 285 AH); and The Unique Necklace or Al-'Aqd al-Farid by the writer, poet, and historian Ibn Abd Rabbih Al-Andalusi (d. 328 AH). The Unique Necklace is considered a huge treasury of the history of Arab heritage and Arab literature. It is indispensable for researchers in Arab heritage, and even for researchers in Islamic sciences as well. It was narrated on Imam Al-Shafi’i (d. 204 AH) that he said: “I spent twenty years studying the days of the Arabs and literature, using that to study Islamic jurisprudence (Fiqh).”

Based on this view of The Unique Necklace, this research attempts to provide a review of the life of its writer, his literary status, as well as a review of the content of his book and the writer’s approach to writing it in an attempt to highlight the significance of this important reference and the necessity of informing researchers in the Arab and Islamic heritage about it. This review hopes to serve as an introduction that helps researchers enter the vast world of this book, which provides both benefit and enjoyment.