al-Rawda al-Rayya fiman Dufina bi-Dariya
- Author died
- 1051 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Ma'mun lil-Turath
Al-Rawda al-Rayya fiman Dufina bi-Dariya (الروضة الريا فيمن دفن بداريا, The Lush Meadow Concerning Those Buried in Dariya) is a biographical and hagiographical treatise by the Damascene Hanafi jurist and mufti Abd al-Rahman al-Imadi (978–1051 AH / 1570–1641 CE), devoted to the merits of the town of Dariya and the luminaries buried or settled within it .
Background and Purpose
In his opening prologue, al-Imadi explains that visiting the shrines and graves of the righteous (ziyarat al-salihin) is among the foremost acts of devotion, serving as an established means for drawing down divine blessings and answered prayers . Because Dariya represented one of the most prominent pilgrimage and visitation sites around Damascus, he composed the monograph to honor the status of its historical inhabitants and preserve the memory of the early figures laid to rest there .
Content and Method
The work begins with a linguistic, morphological, and geographical discussion of Dariya . Al-Imadi quotes Ibn Khallikan on its location in the Wadi al-Ajam district of Damascus and analyzes the irregular relative adjective al-Darani as well as the root origin of the name, linking the town’s ancient origins to the royal residences of the Ghassanid kings of the House of Jafna and quoting the poetry of Hassan ibn Thabit in their praise .
The body of the text covers the biographies and burial accounts of prominent early Muslims connected to Dariya:
- Companions: The author discusses the Prophet's muezzin Bilal al-Habashi, examining accounts of his marriage to a local woman (Hind or Layla al-Khawlaniyya) and the conflicting reports regarding whether he died and was buried in Dariya or in the Bab al-Saghir cemetery of Damascus, noting the evaluations of Ibn Kathir (who favored his burial in Dariya) and al-Nawawi (who maintained Bab al-Saghir) . He also records the residence of the Companion Abu Tha'laba al-Khushani .
- Successors and Ascetics: The treatise includes biographical entries and traditions concerning figures such as Abu Muslim al-Khawlani, Abu Idris al-Khawlani (the preacher and judge of Damascus), Thabit ibn Ma'bad al-Muharibi and his brother 'Atiyya (both transmitters to al-Awza'i), al-Aswad ibn Bilal al-Muharibi, Sa'id ibn 'Ikrima al-Khawlani, and the early ascetic Abu Sulayman al-Darani .
Reception and Editions
The book was cited as an authority on Dariya's saintly lineages in later legal and biographical literature, notably by Ibn Abidin in al-'Uqud al-Durriyya fi Tanqih al-Fatawa al-Hamidiyya when defending the historical standing of the descendants of Abu Muslim al-Khawlani .
Manuscript copies are preserved in multiple institutions, including the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus, the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub) in Cairo, the Mecca Haram Library, and the Leipzig and Berlin state libraries in Germany . A printed edition edited by 'Abduh 'Ali al-Kushak was published by Dar al-Ma'mun li-l-Turath in Damascus in 1988 .
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