al-Kawakib al-Darari fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari
- Author died
- 786 AH
- Editions
- Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth al-‘Arabī
al-Kawakib al-Darari fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari (The Glittering Stars in Explaining the Authentic Collection of al-Bukhari) is a medium-length commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari composed by the Shafi'i scholar Shams al-Din al-Kirmani (d. 786 AH / 1384 CE) . It is also commonly referred to as Sharh al-Kirmani 'ala al-Bukhari .
Composition and Naming
Al-Kirmani stated in his introduction that while contemplating an appropriate title for the work after circumambulating the Kaaba in Makkah, he received the inspiration to name it al-Kawakib al-Darari fi Sharh Sahih al-Bukhari .
He commenced drafting the commentary after traveling to the Levant and Egypt, where he heard Sahih al-Bukhari at al-Azhar Mosque from Nasir al-Din al-Fariqi (d. 761 AH) . He also studied the collection under Abu al-Hasan Ali ibn Yusuf al-Zarandi and Jamal al-Din Muhammad al-Ansari al-Makki, completing his final audition with the latter in Ramadan 775 AH . Al-Kirmani completed the commentary in Shawwal 775 AH (1374 CE) . Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani noted that al-Kirmani prepared fair copies of sections of the work while staying in Ta'if during his residence near Makkah, and finished it in Baghdad .
Motivation and Scope
Al-Kirmani explained that he undertook the commentary because earlier commentaries on Sahih al-Bukhari—such as those by Ibn Battal (d. 449 AH), Qutb al-Din al-Halabi, and Ala al-Din Mughaltay (d. 762 AH)—left many aspects unexplained . He sought to create a comprehensive work addressing:
- Arabic language sciences, including grammar, morphology, and rhetoric .
- Legal theory (usul al-fiqh), jurisprudence (fiqh), and technical terminology .
- Hadith sciences, chains of transmission (isnad), and narrator evaluation (ilm al-rijal) .
- The thematic concordance between al-Bukhari's chapter titles (tarajim) and the cited narrations .
Structure and Method
The commentary opens with a preface extolling the virtues of hadith scholarship and characterizing Sahih al-Bukhari as the most rigorously authenticated hadith compilation .
Bibliographers describe the work as an intermediate-length commentary (sharh wasat) that follows the phrase-by-phrase method (sharh bi-al-qawl), citing individual passages from the text introduced with "his saying" (qawluhu) before providing analysis . Rather than quoting his sources verbatim, al-Kirmani frequently rephrased their meanings in his own wording .
Reception and Influence
The commentary became a key source for later commentators on Sahih al-Bukhari . Ibn Hajar praised the work as beneficial and utilized it extensively in Fath al-Bari, though he noted that al-Kirmani committed errors in textual transmission because he relied primarily on written manuscripts rather than direct oral reception from hadith masters . Badr al-Din al-Ayni likewise cited and engaged with it frequently in Umdat al-Qari .
Shams al-Din al-Birmawi (d. 831 AH) combined an abridgment of al-Kirmani's commentary with Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi's al-Tanqih in his work al-Lami' al-Sabih bi-Sharh al-Jami' al-Sahih . Al-Kirmani's son, Yahya ibn Muhammad (d. 833 AH), also authored a commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari titled Majma' al-Bahrayn wa-Jawahir al-Hibrayn .
Manuscript Tradition and Editions
In manuscript form, the work was originally held in two large volumes—as seen by Zain al-Din al-Iraqi in Makkah—and was also commonly copied in four or five parts . It was published in an Egyptian edition in 1356 AH (1937 CE) and later printed in twenty-five parts across nine volumes by Mu'assasat al-Matbu'at al-Islamiyyah under the title al-Bukhari bi-Sharh al-Kirmani .
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