al-Qanaa li-Ibn al-Sunni
- Author died
- 364 AH
- Editions
- مكتبة الرشد
al-Qanaa (Kitāb al-Qanāʿah, "Contentment") is a treatise on the virtue and nature of contentment compiled by the hadith scholar Ibn al-Sunni (d. 364 AH / 975 CE) .
Purpose and Content
Ibn al-Sunni introduces the treatise by stating that he compiled it to describe the virtue of contentment (faḍl al-qanāʿah) and its character (ṣifatuhā) . He defines contentment linguistically and conceptually as satisfaction with one's allotted share (al-riḍā bi-l-qasm) . To illustrate the concept, the author opens with verses of Arabic poetry by classical poets such as Abu Dhu'ayb al-Hudhali and Labid .
The book is arranged into thematic chapters supported by chains of transmission (asānīd) to the Prophet ﷺ, the Companions, and early figures, alongside poetic verses on asceticism and sufficiency . Its chapter divisions include:
- Bāb duʿāʾ al-Nabī bi-l-qanāʿah (The Prophet's supplication for contentment), recording supplications such as asking God for contentment with one's provision .
- Bāb al-ḥathth ʿalā luzūm al-qanāʿah wa-l-ṣabr ʿalayhā (Exhortation to adhere to contentment and maintain patience with it) .
- Bāb fī dhikr mā yabʿathu ʿalā istiʿmāl al-qanāʿah (Mention of that which prompts the practice of contentment) .
- Bāb aqnaʿ al-nās hum aghnā al-nās (The most content of people are the richest of people), containing narrations concerning Moses asking God about the richest of His servants .
- Bāb mā yuḥabbibu ilā al-insān al-qanāʿah (What endears contentment to a person), including accounts of Salman al-Farsi weeping near death over retaining more than a traveler's simple provision .
Transmission
The extant text is transmitted through a recorded line of transmission spanning several centuries . It was narrated from Ibn al-Sunni by Abu al-Qasim Ali ibn Umar ibn Ishaq al-Asadabadi al-Hamadhani (read in Sha'ban 419 AH), from him by Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mardawayh (in Isfahan in 491 AH), and from him by Abu Tahir al-Silafi, who taught it in Alexandria in Jumada al-Ula 573 AH . Subsequent scholars, including Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani and Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Rudani, documented their chains of authorization back to Ibn al-Sunni through al-Silafi's transmission .
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