al-Arbaun lil-Bakri
- Author died
- 656 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Gharb al-Islāmī
al-Arba‘un lil-Bakri (Arabic: الأربعون للبكري), also known as al-Arba‘un al-Kubra and al-Arba‘in min Arba‘in ‘an Arba‘in, is a collection of forty hadiths compiled by the hadith scholar and traveler Sadr al-Din al-Bakri (574–656 AH / 1178–1258 CE) .
Composition and Structure
The work is constructed around a deliberate scheme based on the number forty: it comprises forty hadiths, selected from forty different compilations (musannafat), transmitted on the authority of forty distinct shaykhs across forty cities, through forty Companions . Because of its geographic distribution of authorities across numerous centers of learning—drawing on the author's extensive travels through Damascus, Mecca, Nishapur, Herat, Isfahan, Marw, Baghdad, Mosul, Irbil, Aleppo, and Egypt—it is also referred to as al-Arba‘un al-Buldaniyyah . Al-Bakri delivered the narration of the work on the fortieth day of the year 640 AH .
Transmission and Reception
Among those who heard the collection directly from the author upon its delivery in 640 AH were Isma‘il ibn Nasr Allah ibn ‘Asakir and Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn ‘Umar ibn Khatib Bayt al-Abar . Parts and transmissions of the text were subsequently relayed by scholars such as Abu al-‘Abbas Ahmad ibn Idris ibn Muzayz in Aleppo and transmitted down to Salah al-Din al-Ala'i .
Modern Editions
The work was edited and annotated by Muhammad Mahfuz under the title al-Arba‘in min Arba‘in ‘an Arba‘in and published in a single volume by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut in 1400 AH / 1980 CE .
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