al-Majlis 121 min Amali Abi al-Fath al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 490 AH
- Editions
- Manuscript published in the free Jawāmiʿ al-Kalim program affiliated with Islamweb
al-Majlis 121 min Amali Abi al-Fath al-Maqdisi (Arabic: المجلس ١٢١ من أمالي أبي الفتح المقدسي) is a recorded hadith dictation session delivered by the Shafi'i jurist and ascetic Abu al-Fath Nasr ibn Ibrahim al-Maqdisi (d. 490 AH / 1096 CE) . The text constitutes the 121st assembly from his broader dictation corpus (amālī), preserving prophetic traditions, devotional narrations, historical anecdotes, and ascetic verses transmitted through his circle .
Transmission
The session was read back to Abu al-Fath al-Maqdisi during the first ten days of Safar 476 AH by Abu al-Fath Nasr Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Abd al-Qawi al-Massisi . Al-Massisi subsequently transmitted it in Rajab 532 AH at the western corner (al-Zāwiyah al-Gharbiyyah) of the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus to the vizier Mu'ayyad al-Din Abu al-Ma'ali As'ad ibn Hamzah al-Tamimi . In Rabi' al-Awwal 595 AH, Abu al-Ma'ali transmitted it to his nephew 'Ala' al-Din Abu al-Hasan 'Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Tamimi, who later dictated it at his home in Damascus in Rajab 632 AH .
Contents
The majlis contains an assortment of prophetic traditions, ethical admonitions, and historical reports:
- Prophetic Traditions: It records a hadith narrated through Abu al-Faraj ibn Burhan and Bahz ibn Hakim concerning restraint in asking for financial assistance except in genuine necessity or to reconcile disputing parties . It includes a report on the Prophet's ﷺ prostrations during recitation (sujūd al-tilāwah) in Surahs al-Inshiqāq, al-'Alaq, and al-Najm, as well as a tradition transmitted through Abu Hurayrah stating: إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ بَابًا يُقَالُ لَهُ: الضُّحَى، فَإِذَا كَانَ يَوْمُ الْقِيَامَةِ نَادَى مُنَادٍ: أَيْنَ الَّذِينَ كَانُوا يُدِيمُونَ عَلَى صَلاةِ الضُّحَى؟ هَذَا بَابُكُمْ، فَادْخُلُوهُ بِرَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ ("Indeed, in Paradise there is a gate called al-Duha; on the Day of Resurrection a caller will proclaim: 'Where are those who were constant in the Duha prayer? This is your gate, so enter it by the mercy of God'") .
- The Passing of the Prophet ﷺ: A lengthy report traced through Ali Zayn al-Abidin from al-Husayn ibn Ali describing the illness preceding the death of Muhammad ﷺ, the descent of Gabriel and the Angel of Death accompanied by the angel Isma'il and seventy thousand angels, and Gabriel consoling the Prophet ﷺ concerning the fate of his community .
- Historical Narratives: An account by Sultan ibn Fa'id al-Fahmi concerning his imprisonment in Byzantine territory during a severe drought; following the Muslim captives' prayer for rain (istisqā'), rain fell heavily, leading the Byzantine ruler to release 350 Muslim elders and prompting a royal attendant named Yuhanna to convert to Islam and flee to Khurasan . A separate report mentions a crucified Muslim captive whose miraculous gesture inspired a Byzantine dignitary (biṭrīq) to accept Islam .
- Devotional and Ascetic Material: The text records the account related by Ibn Abi Maryam of a Bedouin visiting the Prophet's tomb in Medina, quoting the Quranic verse: وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ جَاءُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا اللَّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا اللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَحِيمًا ( And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you and asked forgiveness of Allah and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Accepting of repentance and Merciful [al-Nisāʾ: 64]), followed by verses of poetry eulogizing the Prophet ﷺ . It concludes with ascetic poetry on human mortality likening worldly toil to a silkworm spinning thread, and lines by Ishaq ibn Khalaf expressing equal reverence for Ali and Abu Bakr .
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