al-Muntakhab min Kitab al-Siyaq li-Tarikh Naysabur
- Author died
- 641 AH
- Editions
- T Iran · Dar al-Fikr
al-Muntakhab min Kitab al-Siyaq li-Tarikh Naysabur (The Selection from the Continuation of the History of Nishapur) is a biographical dictionary of the scholars and hadith transmitters of Nishapur, abridged by the Hanbali traditionist Abu Ishaq al-Sarifini (d. 641 AH / 1244 CE) from the larger biographical work al-Siyaq li-Tarikh Naysabur by Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi (451–529 AH / 1059–1134 CE) .
Background and Origin
The foundational history of the scholars of Nishapur, Tarikh Naysabur, was authored by al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (d. 405 AH / 1014 CE) . Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi subsequently composed al-Siyaq li-Tarikh Naysabur as a continuation (dhayl) to al-Hakim's work, completing it in 510 AH—or in late Dhu al-Qi'dah 518 AH according to Ibn Khallikan . While al-Hakim's history spanned six volumes and al-Farsi's al-Siyaq formed a single large volume, the sheer length of the original al-Siyaq prompted scholars to abridge it for ease of copying and consultation . Al-Sarifini prepared a comprehensive selection (muntakhab) that condensed the material while preserving the vast majority of its biographical entries .
Structure and Scope
The work compiles biographical accounts of the scholars, jurists, and hadith transmitters of Nishapur, covering both natives born and raised in the city and visitors or travelers who settled or narrated hadith there . Al-Farsi structured the material chronologically into three generational tiers (tabaqat), using transmission from Abu al-Abbas al-Asamm as a benchmark :
- First class: Direct students and companions of al-Asamm, whose deaths began around the start of the 5th century AH and spanned its first quarter .
- Second class: Transmitters who heard from the companions of al-Asamm, whose death dates extend to around 463 AH, concluding with the associates of al-Makhledi and al-Khaffaf .
- Third class: Al-Farsi's own teachers and contemporaries, whose deaths extend past his own lifetime and reach the period of the Ghuzz turmoil in 548 AH and beyond .
Al-Sarifini's abridgment focuses strictly on biographical data and transmitter evaluation (rijal), omitting most extended narratives, poetry, and illustrative traditions found in the unabridged text . The work opens with al-Hakim al-Naysaburi and concludes with an extensive biographical entry for Abd al-Ghafir al-Farsi himself . In addition to prosopographical value, the entries preserve rare Persian onomastic forms from medieval Khurasan, notably compound names with the suffix -wayh .
Transmission and Editions
In his Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra, Taj al-Din al-Subki noted that he examined a manuscript of al-Muntakhab penned in al-Sarifini's own handwriting, having not yet accessed the unabridged al-Siyaq at the time of compiling his work . Al-Sarifini's autograph manuscript, which he completed in 622 AH, is preserved in the Köprülü Library in Istanbul (MS 1152) across 146 folios . A second, anonymous abridgment of al-Siyaq survives as an incomplete manuscript in Ankara, beginning only with names under the letter ha' (al-Hasan) .
al-Muntakhab has been published in multiple critical editions, including:
- An edition prepared by Muhammad Kazim al-Mahmudi (Qom, 1403 AH / 1983 CE) .
- An edition edited by Muhammad Ahmad Abd al-Aziz (Beirut, 1409 AH / 1989 CE) .
- An edition edited by Khalid Haydar (Beirut, 1414 AH / 1993 CE) .
- An edition edited by Muhammad Uthman (Cairo, 1428 AH / 2007 CE) .
Answer updated