al-Buhur al-Zakhira fi Ulum al-Akhira
- Author died
- 1188 AH
- Editions
- دار العاصمة للنشر والتوزيع
al-Buhur al-Zakhira fi Ulum al-Akhira (The Abundant Seas Regarding the Sciences of the Hereafter) is a comprehensive eschatological treatise written by the Hanbali scholar Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Safarini (1114–1188 AH / 1702/3–1774 CE) .
Composition and Scope
According to the author's holograph manuscript, al-Safarini completed the fair copy of the work on a Thursday in 1143 AH (1730/31 CE) . In his book Ghidha' al-Albab, al-Safarini described the work as an extensive volume covering death, the intermediate realm (barzakh), the gathering and station of reckoning (al-mahshar wa-l-mawqif), Paradise, Hellfire, and other conditions of the afterlife .
The work addresses eschatological doctrines and events in detail, including:
- The trials and punishment of the grave (fitnat al-qabr wa-adhabuh) .
- The portents of the Hour, such as the appearance of the Dajjal and the Beast of the Earth (al-dabba) .
- The cosmic events of the Day of Resurrection, including the sounding of the Trumpet (nafkhat al-sa'q) and the resurrection .
- The intercession (shafa'a), descriptions of Hellfire, and the characteristics of Paradise and its inhabitants .
Method and Cross-References
Al-Safarini frequently referenced al-Buhur al-Zakhira in his later doctrinal and legal writings. In Sharh Thulathiyyat Musnad al-Imam Ahmad, he noted that he provided an exhaustive reconciliation of conflicting narrations concerning the Dajjal within al-Buhur al-Zakhira . He likewise referred readers to it for extensive discussions on the questioning of the two angels in the grave and the punishment of the intermediate realm in Lawami' al-Anwar al-Bahiyya and Lawa'ih al-Anwar al-Saniyya .
Reception
The treatise has been cited and relied upon by numerous later scholars. In his Quranic commentary Ruh al-Ma'ani, Mahmud al-Alusi cited al-Safarini’s harmonization of differing reports concerning the Beast of the Earth and his refutation of authors who sought to calculate a fixed temporal date for the onset of the Hour . Siddiq Hasan Khan attributed the work to al-Safarini in al-Isha'a, and Nu'man al-Alusi quoted from it in al-Ayat al-Bayyinat under the variant title al-Buhur al-Zakhira fi Ahwal al-Akhira . The book was also documented among al-Safarini's primary works by biographers including Abd al-Rahman al-Jabarti, Ibn Humayd, and Umar al-Ghazzi .
Manuscripts and Publication History
Among the preserved manuscript witnesses of the work is an autograph copy penned by al-Safarini himself, as well as an 886-page copy completed on 16 Safar 1243 AH by the author's grandson, Sa'id al-Safarini .
The book's initial printing occurred in 1341 AH (1923 CE) at al-Matba'a al-Umumiyya in Bombay, India, financed by Muqbil ibn Abd al-Rahman al-Dukhayr and proofread by Khalid ibn Muhammad al-Faraj . This early edition was incomplete, encompassing only the first volume—roughly one-quarter of the text—and ending at the discussion of the Trumpet blast of swooning (nafkhat al-sa'q) . In later scholarly work, the first portion was edited by Muhammad al-Samhari as a doctoral dissertation at Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, and the entire multi-volume work was critically edited by Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad al-Mushayqih .
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