al-Manhal al-Adhb al-Rawi
- Author died
- 902 AH
- Editions
- al-Manhal al-Adhb al-Rawi
al-Manhal al-Adhb al-Rawi (full title: al-Manhal al-ʿAdhb al-Rawī fī Tarjamat Quṭb al-Awliyāʾ al-Nawawī) is a biographical monograph devoted to the Shafiʿi jurist and hadith master al-Nawawi (631–676 AH / 1233–1277 CE), written by the Egyptian hadith scholar and historian Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi (831–902 AH / 1427–1497 CE) .
Composition and Sources
The work expands upon the foundational biography compiled by al-Nawawi's direct student, Ibn al-Attar (d. 724 AH), entitled Tuḥfat al-Ṭālibīn . Al-Sakhawi incorporated Ibn al-Attar's material as his core foundation while integrating extensive supplementary accounts gathered from subsequent biographical and historical works . To distinguish his additions from the source text, al-Sakhawi explicitly designated his own interjections with the phrase qultu ("I said") and marked their conclusion with intahā ("ended") . In some manuscript witnesses and bibliographic catalogues, the work also appears under alternate designations, including al-Ihtimām bi-Tarjamat al-Nawawī and simply Tarjamat al-Imām al-Nawawī .
Scope and Content
The treatise covers the major facets of al-Nawawi's life, character, and scholarly legacy . Its contents systematically address:
- Al-Nawawi's lineage, nisbas, birth, and upbringing .
- His teachers and the scholars under whom he studied .
- His authored works, including assessments and commentaries on them by prominent authorities .
- The religious and academic posts he held, along with the transmission of his teachings through his students .
- His personal qualities, asceticism (zuhd), devotion, and uprightness .
- His active role in enjoining good and forbidding evil through speech and correspondence .
- Accounts of his spiritual standing and reported miraculous virtues (karāmāt) .
Publication History
The work was first edited by Mahmud Hasan Rabiʿ and published in Cairo by Jamʿiyyat al-Nashr wa-al-Taʾlif al-Azhariyya in 1354 AH (1935 CE) under an extended descriptive title . It was later edited and annotated by Muhammad al-ʿId al-Khatrawi and published in Medina by Maktabat Dar al-Turath in 1409 AH (1988–1989 CE) .
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