A Study of the Book of Differentiation'Al-Furooq' by Ismaa`eel Haqqi (1137 AH) Chapter One: Calligraphy and Orthography

Abstract

Al-Furooq (or Al-Farq) is a book by Ismaa`eel Haqqi. It is one of the books that deal with Calligraphy and Orthography, as well as linguistic issues. Haqqi pays athorough attention to furooq in all chapters of the book which is divided into four sections:the first section includes an introduction and rules of Orthography.The second sectionis about a dictionary of lexical items and idiomatic expressions, which was edited and submitted for publishing by Dr. Haani Hawwaas. The third section deals with linguistic matters,and thefourth section with linguistic differences.

In the first section, the author points out the importance of Calligraphy and the attention paid to it by linguists.  Then, he refers to the first person who used a pen, discusses the origin of Arabic Calligraphy, and the impact of calligraphers who contributed with much effort to the advancement of Arabic Calligraphy. Furthermore, the author presents several texts related to the rules of Orthography, including those of suffix “/taa’/,” hamzat al-waSl, hamzah in general, addition and substitution, dots and diacritics of some letters and cases of dropping them, joining and spacing between words (Al wasl and Al fasl), and other related rules. The author, may he rest in peace, relies on some specific books, such as ‘Al-Shaafiyah’ by Ibn Al-Haajib, ‘Durrat Al-GhawwaaS’ (quoting, almost literally, many excerpts from it without any reference to it for many of the quoted parts), and ‘Umdat Al-Udabaa’ by Abi Al-Barakaat Al-Anbaari (quotingfully what is written with “/waaw/” or “/yaa/”). Although this chapter is short, it is useful –by Allah’s will–,however, it has some flaws as other written works, and the researcher comments on themin this study whenever they arise.