al-Arbaun al-Buldaniyya li-Musafir Haji
- Author died
- 420 AH
- Editions
- al-Arbaun al-Buldaniyya li-Musafir Haji
al-Arbaun al-Buldaniyya (The Forty Hadiths of Forty Cities) is a hadith compilation by Musafir ibn Muhammad ibn Haji al-Dimashqi, gathering forty prophetic traditions narrated by forty Companions through forty prominent scholars across forty cities in the Islamic world.
Purpose and Structure
The work belongs to the specialized arbauniyyat (forty-hadith collections) and buldaniyyat (topographical hadith collections) genres. In his introduction, Musafir Haji states that he sought divine guidance (istikhara) to compile forty hadiths from forty distinct Companions, received from forty renowned shaykhs across forty cities in the Abode of Islam, emulating earlier hadith authorities and seeking the blessings of the prophetic Sunnah.
The author opens the treatise with an extensive prologue praising religious knowledge, the Quran, and the Sunnah, citing the Quranic verses وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى ٣ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى ٤ ("Nor does he speak from his own desire; it is only a revelation revealed") and وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَى ("And you did not throw when you threw, but it was Allah who threw"), alongside poetic verses by Nasr ibn al-Hasan al-Marghinani on the enduring nobility of religious learning. He expounds on the special standing and longevity of hadith transmitters (ashab al-hadith), contrasting their enduring memory and continued usefulness in old age with worldly potentates whose fame fades and scholars of other disciplines whose faculties might decline. He then substantiates the merit of transmitting hadith with several reported chains, including the narration طَلَبُ الْعِلْمِ فَرِيضَةٌ عَلَى كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ ("Seeking knowledge is an obligation upon every Muslim"), the hadith on actions continuing through beneficial knowledge after death, and multiple transmissions encouraging the memorization and conveyance of forty hadiths for the community.
Content and Method
The collection presents forty numbered traditions, each introduced with its full chain of transmission through a specific scholar and city:
- The First Hadith: Transmitted through the hadith master Abu al-Ala al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Attar via his chain to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, going back to Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, in which the Prophet ﷺ enjoined truthfulness, warned against falsehood, urged asking Allah for well-being (al-muafah), and prohibited mutual estrangement, hatred, and envy.
- The Second Hadith: Transmitted through Abu al-Mahasin al-Hasan ibn Mansur al-Uzgandi, known as Qadi Khan, via his chain to Muhammad ibn Ismail al-Bukhari, going back to Umar ibn al-Khattab, conveying the foundational tradition إِنَّمَا الأَعْمَالُ بِالنِّيَّاتِ ("Actions are judged only by intentions").
- The Fortieth Hadith: Transmitted through Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Yusuf al-Farghani, from Samura ibn Jundub, who reported that the Prophet ﷺ said: مَا تَصَدَّقَ النَّاسُ بِصَدَقَةٍ مِثْلَ عِلْمٍ يَنْشُرُهُ ("People have not given any charity like knowledge that one spreads").
Composition and Author Details
The author is identified as Musafir ibn Muhammad ibn Haji al-Dimashqi. While one modern biographical reference lists his death year as 420 AH (1029 CE), the colophon of the text explicitly records that the author completed editing and writing the work in early Rabi al-Thani 753 AH (May 1352 CE).
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