al-Mutamannin li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ibn Ḥazm
Kitab al-Mutamannin (The Book of Those Who Wished) is a thematic compilation of traditions by the Baghdadi scholar and ascetic Ibn Abi al-Dunya (d. 281 AH / 894 CE), focusing on the spiritual aspirations and wishes expressed by the early generations of Muslims .
Subject and Content
The work compiles prophetic traditions (hadith) and reports (athar) transmitted with chains of narration (asānīd) concerning the pious wishes, aspirations, and self-reflections of the righteous predecessors (al-salaf al-ṣāliḥ) . Its reports illustrate the humility, reverence, and spiritual priorities of the early figures rather than worldly ambitions .
Among the narrations recorded in the book are:
- Traditions regarding the afterlife, including prophetic reports describing how a dweller of Paradise wishes to be returned to the world to be slain repeatedly in the path of God due to witnessing the virtue of martyrdom .
- Reports concerning Umar ibn al-Khattab, such as his wish that he were a hair on the chest of Abu Bakr, and his aspiration for a room full of righteous men like Abu Ubayda ibn al-Jarrah to govern justly .
- Statements of deep awe and ascetic longing, such as Abu Ubayda's wish that he had been a ram slaughtered and consumed by his family, and Aisha's wish to have been entirely forgotten upon death .
Transmission and Manuscripts
The book was preserved and transmitted through classical hadith chains. Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti recorded a line of transmission extending through Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Umar al-Lanbani back to Ibn Abi al-Dunya . In later centuries, scholars such as Ibn al-Dawallibi received the text through transmission from the female scholar 'Ajiba .
A manuscript copy of Kitab al-Mutamannin is held in the Laleli collection (MS 3664/9) in Istanbul, Turkey . The text was edited by Muhammad Khayr Ramadan Yusuf and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut (1418 AH / 1997 CE) .
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