al-Kuna wa al-Asma - lil-Dawlabi
- Author died
- 310 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Ḥazm
al-Kuna wa al-Asma (The Agnomens and Names) is a biographical dictionary of hadith transmitters by the scholar Abu Bishr al-Dulabi (224–310 AH / 839–922 CE; another report gives 320 AH) . The work is devoted to identifying narrators who were known primarily by their agnomens (kunya, pl. kuna) and matching them to their given names and lineages .
Structure and Methodology
The work opens with the name and agnomen of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, citing narrations that address the prohibition of taking his agnomen as well as reports that grant permission for it . al-Dulabi then turns to the Companions known by agnomens, beginning with the ten promised Paradise, before organizing the remaining Companions alphabetically according to the first letter of their agnomen (such as Abu Umamah, Abu Ibrahim, and Abu Usayd) .
After completing the biographies of the Companions, al-Dulabi inserts a transitional heading marking the end of the accounts of the Companions and the beginning of those of the Successors (Tabi'un) . He then lists the Successors and subsequent generations of transmitters without distinguishing between them by generation .
Within each agnomen heading—such as Abu Ishaq or Abu Bishr—al-Dulabi records all individuals bearing that agnomen without arranging their given names in alphabetical order . Most entries focus on narrators whose agnomens and given names are both established . Along with biographical identification, he quotes transmission chains (isnads) and hadiths or historical reports (athar) for certain entries, and occasionally notes narrator criticism and evaluation (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil) .
Reception and Editions
The book was abridged by Abu al-Fadl Muhammad ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi (Ibn al-Qaysarani) .
al-Kuna wa al-Asma was first printed in two parts by Majlis Da'irat al-Ma'arif al-'Uthmaniyyah in Hyderabad, India, in 1322 AH (with some sources dating the printing to 1322–1323 AH) . A later critical edition prepared by Nazar Muhammad al-Faryabi was published in Beirut in 1421 AH (2000 CE) .
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