The Study of the Validity of Wisdoms Ascribed to Nahj al-Balagha: The Described Wisdoms in Ibn Abi al-Hadid's Commentary

The authors of a large number of the heritage of Arabic literature are unknown, or a single literary work is attributed to several authors, or there are doubts regarding the works ascribed to a single author. Consequently, literary scholars have conducted researches to ensure the authenticity and validity of these texts. One main criterion for identifying authors’ styles is statistical stylistics. In the present study, Yule’s equation as one of the methods in statistical stylistics is employed to examine the validity of wisdoms mentioned by Ibn Abi al-Hadid, a Nahj al-Balagha commentator, in volume 20 of his book. Based on the obtained data and numbers, it cannot be asserted with certainty that the sources of these wisdoms is only one, and also it cannot be asserted with certainty that ascribing all these wisdoms to Imam Ali is not true. The results suggest that most probably ascribing these wisdoms to Imam Ali is true and it can be claimed that stylistically this ascription is valid. An important point is that the results of this study, obtained through numbers, are solely true for this text and generalizing them to all the ascribed wisdoms is not recommended.