al-Idda lil-Karb wa al-Shidda - al-Diya al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 643 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Mishkāh lil-Baḥth wal-Nashr wal-Tawzīʿ
al-Idda lil-Karb wa al-Shidda (The Equipment for Distress and Hardship) is a hadith treatise composed by the Hanbali traditionist and historian Diya al-Din al-Maqdisi (d. 643 AH / 1245 CE), focusing on prophetic supplications and remembrances prescribed for moments of distress, adversity, and affliction .
Content and Method
The work compiles prophetic traditions and transmitted reports regarding invocations and remembrances (adhkār and daʿawāt) to be recited during hardship and tribulation . Al-Diya al-Maqdisi transmits these texts along with their complete chains of narration (asānīd), which he received through his teachers across regional centers such as Isfahan and Merv, connecting to major earlier collections and compilations .
Among the specific narrations included in the text are:
- The supplication of distress (duʿāʾ al-karb) reported on the authority of Abdullah ibn Abbas: «لا إله إلا الله العظيم الحليم، لا إله إلا الله رب العرش الكريم، لا إله إلا الله رب السماوات ورب العرش العظيم» ("There is no god but Allah, the Magnificent, the Forbearing; there is no god but Allah, Lord of the noble Throne; there is no god but Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of the magnificent Throne") .
- Supplications taught to Ali ibn Abi Talib and Asma bint Umays for alleviating anxiety and hardship .
- Traditions concerning the supplication of Dhu al-Nun (Jonah) and verses containing the Supreme Name of God (ism Allāh al-aʿẓam) .
- Transmitted accounts and non-prophetic reports (āthār) concerning individuals who were relieved from imprisonment or adversity after invoking God with specific prayers .
Transmission, Manuscripts, and Editions
The text was transmitted down through chains of authorization (ijāza). A reading of the work was held in Damascus on Friday, 22 Dhu al-Qiʿda 698 AH, where it was read to Sitt al-Niʿam bint Abd al-Rahim al-Harithiyya and her cousin Sitt al-Wuzara' Wazira bint Yahya al-Taghlibiyya through their authorization from al-Diya al-Maqdisi . The transmission is also documented in the bibliographical compilation Ṣilat al-khalaf bi-mawṣūl al-salaf by al-Rudani .
Surviving manuscript witnesses include a copy in Berlin and another in the private collection of Muhammad al-Nasir al-Kattani in Rabat (copied in 717 AH by Uthman ibn Bulban al-Muqatili, with a photocopy deposited at the Institute of Arabic Manuscripts in Cairo) . The work was edited by Yasir ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad and published by Dar al-Mishkat in Cairo in 1414 AH / 1994 CE .
Answer updated