al-Tabarani
al-Dua - al-Tabarani
- Author died
- 360 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Kitab al-Dua (The Book of Supplication) is a hadith collection on supplications and invocations compiled by the hadith scholar al-Tabarani (260–360 AH / 873–971 CE) .
Purpose and Composition
Al-Tabarani explained the motive behind authoring the work in his introduction, stating that he noticed many people relying on rhymed supplications (saj') and daily prayer formulas devised by copyists and booksellers (al-warraqun) that were neither transmitted from the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ nor from any of his Companions or the Successors . In light of the narrated disapproval of forced rhyming and excess in supplication, al-Tabarani compiled the text with transmitted chains of narration (asanid ma'thurah) reaching the Prophet ﷺ and early generations .
Structure and Content
Al-Tabarani structured the book thematically, beginning with chapters on the merits and virtues of supplication (fada'il al-dua) . The work encompasses supplications for various times and states, including daytime and nighttime routines, seeking refuge from hardships and blameworthy traits, comprehensive supplications (jawami' al-dua), and invocations preserved from the Companions . Al-Tabarani transmits the reports through his own direct transmission lines, narrating from 296 of his teachers .
Transmission and Editions
The transmission of the text was preserved through classical chains of narration, including a reading by Abu al-Hajjaj Yusuf ibn Khalil al-Dimashqi in Jumada al-Akhirah 637 AH at the Great Mosque of Aleppo from Abu Tahir Ali ibn Fadhshah and Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Zayd al-Khabbaz al-Kurani, tracing back through the Fadhshah family to al-Tabarani .
The book has been published in modern critical editions:
- An edition edited by Muhammad Said ibn Muhammad Hasan al-Bukhari, published by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyyah in Beirut (1407 AH / 1987 CE), which included a biographical study of al-Tabarani's teachers in the work .
- An edition edited by Mustafa Abd al-Qadir Ata, published by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah in Beirut (1413 AH / 1993 CE) .
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