al-Arbaun ala Madhhab al-Mutahaqqiqin min al-Sufiyya li-Abi Nuaym al-Asbahani
- Author died
- 430 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Hazm
al-Arba‘un ‘ala Madhhab al-Mutahaqqiqin min al-Sufiyya (The Forty Hadiths on the Doctrine of the Realized Sufis) is a collection of forty Prophetic traditions compiled by the hadith master and historian Abu Nu‘aym al-Asbahani (336–430 AH / 948–1038 CE) .
Title and Scope
The work belongs to the forty-hadith genre (al-arba‘iniyyat) and focuses on traditions supporting Sufi ethics, spiritual wayfaring, and righteous conduct . It is recorded under slightly varying titles in biographical and bibliographical literature:
- Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani cited it in al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras under the title al-Arba‘in fi Adab al-Sufiyya (The Forty on Sufi Etiquette) .
- Ibn Jabir al-Wadi Ashi listed it in his Barnamaj as al-Arba‘un ‘ala Madhhab al-Mutahaqqiqin min al-Sufiyya .
- Salah al-Din al-Ala'i documented it in Itharat al-Fawa'id al-Majmu‘a under the title Kitab al-Arba‘in ‘ala Madhahib al-Sufiyya .
- Sadr al-Din al-Bakri referred to it as Kitab al-Arba‘in ‘ala Madhhab al-Muhaqqiqin min al-Sufiyya .
Transmission and Content
Abu Nu‘aym transmitted the collection with full chains of narration (asand). Notable transmitters of the text include his student Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Haddad, through whom later scholars such as al-Ala'i received their transmission .
The book gathers narrations addressing noble character and moral discipline, such as the hadith reported on the authority of Abu Tha‘labah: إن أحبكم إلي وأقربكم مني أحاسنكم أخلاقا، وإن أبعدكم مني مساوئكم أخلاقا الثرثارون المتشدقون المتفيهقون ("Indeed, the most beloved of you to me and the closest of you to me are those of you with the best character, and the most distant of you from me are the worst of you in character: the garrulous, the boastful, and the pretentious") . The text also includes biographical and critical evaluations of narrators, such as statements of authentication transmitted by Ali ibn al-Hasan al-Nasa'i .
Manuscripts and Publication
A manuscript copy of the work is preserved in the library of Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh . It was edited by Badr ibn Abd Allah al-Badr and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut (1st edition, 1414 AH / 1993 CE) .
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