Adab al-Imla wa al-Istimla
- Author died
- 562 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Adab al-Imla wa al-Istimla (The Etiquette of Dictation and Requesting Dictation) is a treatise on the methodology and protocols of hadith dictation assemblies by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani (506–562 AH / 1113–1167 CE) .
Background and Purpose
Al-Sam'ani composed the book in response to a request to write a concise guide outlining the etiquette and noble character required of both the dictating scholar (al-mumlī) and the requester or relaying scribe (al-mustamlī), in emulation of prophetic practices . In his introduction, al-Sam'ani noted that he kept the work brief due to declining scholarly ambition and the fading landmarks of hadith transmission in his era . A textual note within the work records writing at al-Talaqan in Rajab 546 AH .
Content and Methodology
The work systematically treats the pedagogical rules, standards, and conditions governing the traditional hadith dictation session (majlis al-imlāʾ) . Al-Sam'ani provides connected chains of transmission (isnād), prophetic traditions, reports from early authorities, poetry, and historical anecdotes to illustrate each procedural rule .
Among the primary subjects treated in the book are:
- Assembly protocols: The manners of attending and conducting dictation sessions, such as opening with the recitation of the Quran, enjoining silence (istinṣāt) upon the audience, pronouncing praises and prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ, and invoking blessings upon teachers and early authorities .
- Qualifications of the mustamlī: The prerequisites for the relaying scribe or intermediate dictator, emphasizing that he should possess familiarity with hadith terminology to avoid errors and corruptions of texts, project his voice clearly from an elevated position or while standing, and transmit the scholar's exact words faithfully .
- Tools and techniques of transcription: The instruments needed for recording dictations, the methods of handwriting, and the legitimacy and etiquette of recording religious knowledge, where al-Sam'ani references his fuller treatment of the subject in his work Ṭirāz al-Dhahab .
Reception and Transmission
The book was studied directly with the author during his lifetime; al-Sam'ani records in his biographical dictionary al-Ansāb that Abu Ali Ali ibn Ibrahim al-Ghaznawi al-Balqi transcribed the book from him and heard it in its entirety in Merv . Later hadith theorists, such as al-Sakhawi and al-Rafi'i, regularly cited al-Sam'ani's work as a primary authority on dictation etiquette alongside al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's al-Jāmiʿ li-Akhlāq al-Rāwī wa-Ādāb al-Sāmiʿ .
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the work include Feyzullah Efendi MS 1557 in Istanbul . The text was edited by Max Weisweiler and published in Leiden in 1952, with a subsequent edition published in Beirut in 1401 AH / 1981 CE . It was also edited by Ahmad Muhammad Mahmud and published in Jeddah in 1993 (1414 AH) .
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