This work is a commentary by Ibn ʻAqīl on the famous 1,000-line poem on the principles of Arabic grammar, al-Alfīya by Ibn Malik. ʻAbd Allah ibn ʻAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʻAqil was born in Cairo in about 1294 and died there in 1367. He was a leading grammarian of the Arabic language and wrote prolifically, but not much is known about his life. In addition to his commentary on al-Alfiya,his works include Taysīr al-istiʻdād li rutbat al-ijtihād (The facility of preparedness for the capacity of independent reasoning) and al-Jāmiʻ al-nafīs ʻalā madhhab al-imām Muḥammad ibn idrīs (The precious encyclopedia on the method of the Imam Muḥammad ibn Idrīs, in six volumes). Both al-Alfiya and the commentary are standard texts in the traditional Islamic curriculum. Muhammad ibn ʻAbd Allāh ibn Malik (died 1274) was an Arab grammarian born in Jaén in Andalusia (present-day Spain). After leaving Andalusia he settled in Syria. He is best known for his al-Khulāsa al-alfīya (or al-Alfiya for short), a versification of Arabic grammar that was to become one of the principal texts for education in the Arabic language across much of the Islamic world. At least 43 commentaries have been written on this work, which is so important because scholars had previously searched for dependable authentication of the grammar and lexicon of Arabic. Ibn Malik intended his poem as a teaching tool rather than a work of research. However, students were required to memorize it, which became controversial in modern times. This edition of the Commentary on the Alfiya by Ibn ʻAqīl was published in Beirut by al-Maṭbaʻa al-adabīya in 1885.