al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi Tarjamat Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar

al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi Tarjamat Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar (The Jewels and Pearls Regarding the Biography of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Hajar) is an extensive Arabic biographical monograph composed by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi (831–902 AH / 1427–1497 CE) al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi…+1. The work is dedicated entirely to documenting the life, education, teachers, writings, students, virtues, and legacy of his primary teacher, the renowned hadith master Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE) al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.

Background and Purpose

The idea of compiling a dedicated biography came to al-Sakhawi during Ibn Hajar's lifetime, when he requested his master to dictate personal details that could not be obtained from any other authority al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi…. Following Ibn Hajar's death in 852 AH, al-Sakhawi formally authored the work in response to requests from colleagues and out of devotion to his teacher, citing the hadith instructing Muslims to treat people in accordance with their proper status al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi…+1. A record at the end of the work indicates that al-Sakhawi completed a draft in Mecca in 871 AH, though manuscript copies continued to receive authorial additions and marginal glosses in subsequent decades during his lifetime Majallat al-Risala+1. Al-Sakhawi noted that senior scholars transcribed and gifted the work to one another during his own lifetime al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….

Structure and Contents

Al-Sakhawi organized the work into a comprehensive introduction, ten substantive chapters (abwab), and a concluding survey al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1:

• Introduction (al-Muqaddimah): Defines the technical terms Shaykh al-Islam, al-hafiz, and al-muhaddith, reviewing their usage, qualifications, and the scholarly consensus surrounding their application al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Chapter 1: Covers Ibn Hajar's lineage, nisbas, birth date and birthplace, family background, and biographies of his known ancestors and siblings al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Chapter 2: Details his upbringing, early studies, travels in pursuit of knowledge across Egypt, the Levant, and the Hijaz, teachers of narration (riwayah) and comprehension (dirayah), and key isnads for major works al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Chapter 3: Compiles commendations (thana') by his teachers, peers, and students, including instances where teachers consulted him on difficult points, along with poetic tributes al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….
• Chapter 4: Recounts his teaching, dictation sessions (majalis al-imla'), official posts—including his tenures as chief judge (qadi al-qudah)—positions he declined, the trials (mihan) he underwent, and notable judicial deputies and peers al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Chapter 5: Provides an arranged catalog of Ibn Hajar's authored treatises and books, records of scholars and rulers who acquired them, and a section on manuscripts written in Ibn Hajar's own handwriting al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….
• Chapter 6: Collects specimens of his prose, poetry, fatwas, scholarly choices (ikhtiyarat), and discussions across various disciplines Majallat al-Risala+1.
• Chapter 7: Describes his physical traits, personal character, virtues, and daily habits Majallat al-Risala+1.
• Chapter 8: Contains an alphabetical dictionary of students who transmitted from him through narration or studied under him al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Chapter 9: Documents his final illness, death, washing, shrouding, funeral prayer, bequest (wasiyyah), and notices on his wives, concubines, children, and household servants al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….
• Chapter 10: Gathers elegies (marathi) composed in prose and verse by contemporary poets and scholars upon his death al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.
• Conclusion (al-Khatimah): Surveys biographical monographs written about the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, individual prophets, companions, scholars, imams, and rulers, as well as autobiographical monographs al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1.

Style and Digressions

The work is characterized by exhaustive detail and extensive scholarly digressions (istitradat) on hadith terminology, chains of transmission, historical events, and literary citations al-Riwayat al-Tafsiriyya …+1. Al-Sakhawi frequently notes in the text when a section diverges from the main subject before returning to the central narrative al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….

Abridgments and Publication

The book was abridged by al-Basrawi in a work titled Juman al-Durar (also referred to by al-Basrawi as Tanasuq al-Durar) al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi….

The first volume of al-Jawahir wa al-Durar was published in Cairo in 1406 AH, edited by Taha al-Zayni and Hamid Abd al-Majid al-Matalib al-Aliya Muhaq…. A complete critical edition was later edited by Ibrahim Bajis Abd al-Majid and published in three volumes by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut (1419 AH / 1999 CE) al-Jawahir wa al-Durar fi…+1.