al-Ansab al-Muttafiqa = al-Mutalif wal-Mukhtalif
- Author died
- 507 AH
- Editions
- t al-Hut
Al-Ansāb al-muttafiqa fī al-khaṭṭ al-mutamāthila fī al-naqṭ wa-al-ḍabṭ (The Lineages Identical in Script and Matching in Pointing and Vocalization), also known as al-Muʾtalif wa-al-mukhtalif fī al-ansāb, is an onomastic biographical work by the hadith scholar Ibn al-Qaysarani (448–507 AH / 1056–1113 CE) . The book is dedicated to distinguishing homonymous patronymics and relational names (nisbas) that share identical spelling, diacritical dots, and vowel markings, but designate completely distinct geographical, tribal, or vocational origins .
Purpose and Composition
In his introduction, Ibn al-Qaysarani observes that while earlier hadith scholars produced essential works on ambiguous names and lineages sharing similar orthography but differing in pronunciation, none had dedicated an independent composition to nisbas that are identical in both written form and vocalization . Such ambiguities arise when two hadith transmitters share a nisba derived from two different towns, two different tribes, a profession versus a lineage, or a locality versus a sobriquet .
He recounts that he had hesitated to compile the work until he visited Nishapur, where he encountered a hadith extraction by al-Hakim al-Naysaburi regarding the transmitter Mut'im ibn al-Miqdam al-San'ani . Al-Hakim had remarked that Syrian transmitters were unique in reporting this narration from Yemenis, mistakenly assuming that al-San'ani belonged to San'a in Yemen, whereas he was from San'a, a village situated at the gate of Damascus . This confusion prompted Ibn al-Qaysarani to set down his findings .
Structure and Method
The work is organized alphabetically according to Arabic letters (murattab ʿalā al-ḥurūf) . Under each entry, Ibn al-Qaysarani provides the various entities to which the shared nisba refers, along with the notable hadith transmitters associated with each origin . For instance, in the first chapter (Bāb al-Alif), he details the nisba al-Amuli, differentiating between scholars hailing from Amul in Tabaristan and those originating from Amul situated on the banks of the Oxus River (Jayhun) .
Continuations and Editions
Ibn al-Qaysarani's student Abu Musa al-Madini al-Asbahani (d. 581 AH) composed a concise supplement (dhayl) to the text, collecting additions and rectifying omissions, noting that Ibn al-Qaysarani himself had remarked in his preface that this subject would inevitably require subsequent scholars to critique and add to it . Ibn Nuqta al-Hanbali (d. 629 AH) subsequently authored a further supplement to Abu Musa's work .
The text was edited and published in Leiden in 1865 (also cited as 1890) by the Orientalist Pieter de Jong, printed alongside the supplement by Abu Musa al-Asbahani .
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