al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-Qarn al-Tasi
- Author died
- 902 AH
- Editions
- Manshurat Dar Maktabat al-Hayat
al-Daw al-Lami li-Ahl al-Qarn al-Tasi (The Shining Light on the People of the Ninth Century) is an expansive biographical dictionary compiled by the Egyptian Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi (831–902 AH / 1427–1497 CE), dedicated to the notable figures of the ninth Islamic century .
Background and Composition
Al-Sakhawi drew upon decades of travel across Egypt, Syria, and the Hejaz, where he met hundreds of scholars and collected extensive biographical records . He appears to have begun drafting the dictionary late in the ninth century around 890 AH, continuing his work until around 897 or 898 AH, as indicated by biographical entries for individuals who died in 897 AH and the timeline of his own autobiography, which extends to that year . The book spans twelve parts (or ten parts according to another description, and bound in six volumes in print) .
Scope and Contents
The dictionary covers individuals who lived during the ninth century AH (commencing in 801 AH) . Its biographical scope encompasses scholars, judges, ascetics, hadith transmitters, litterateurs, poets, caliphs, rulers, princes, state officials, and viziers across various regions—including Egypt, the Levant, the Hejaz, Yemen, Anatolia, India, the Islamic East, and the Maghrib—as well as prominent non-Muslim subjects (ahl al-dhimmah) . In each entry, al-Sakhawi typically details the subject's memorized texts, readings, teachers, writings, circumstances, birth, and death .
Among the notable figures profiled in the work are Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, Ibn Khaldun, Ahmad al-Maqrizi, Ibn Taghribirdi, Ibn Arabshah, Timur, Zakariyya al-Ansari, Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi, Jalal al-Din al-Bulqini, Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i, and Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti . In accordance with the custom of hadith scholars, al-Sakhawi included a detailed autobiography spanning approximately thirty pages in the eighth volume, concluding it with poetic praises and endorsements from contemporary luminaries .
Sources and Method
Al-Sakhawi utilized both oral transmission from his teachers and numerous written histories, including:
- The biographical dictionary (Mu'jam) and chronicle (Inba al-Ghumr) of his teacher Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani .
- The historical works of Badr al-Din al-Ayni and al-Maqrizi, particularly the latter's Durar al-Uqud al-Farida as organized by Najm al-Din ibn Fahd .
- The chronicle continuations of Ibn Khatib al-Nasiriyya on Aleppo and Najm al-Din ibn Fahd on Mecca .
- Biographical collections by Taqi al-Din ibn Fahd and his son, and lecture notes recorded from his shaykh Zayn al-Din Ridwan al-Uqbi .
Al-Sakhawi applied the rigorous hadith methodology of biographical evaluation (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil) to historical reporting, maintaining that he exercised utmost care and moderation in his appraisals .
Reception and Critical Assessment
The work holds a central place in late Mamluk historiography. Muhammad al-Shawkani remarked that if al-Sakhawi had authored no work other than al-Daw al-Lami, it alone would have served as the greatest testament to his scholarly stature (imamah) . Al-Shawkani contrasted it with Ibn Hajar's biographical dictionary al-Durar al-Kamina (which covered the eighth century), pointing out that Ibn Hajar only lived through roughly twenty-seven years of that century and included only those who died in it, whereas al-Sakhawi lived through nearly sixty-nine years of the ninth century, directly witnessing its personalities and including anyone active within it .
The dictionary is noted for its vivid character portraits as well as its caustic critical tone . Al-Sakhawi was widely criticized for sharp disparagement of many prominent contemporaries, reflecting bitter literary rivalries with figures such as al-Biqa'i and al-Suyuti, and subjecting scholars like al-Maqrizi, Ibn Khaldun, and Ibn Taghribirdi to severe critique, while largely exempting his teacher Ibn Hajar .
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