al-Tawba li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya
- Author died
- 281 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Qur’ān
Kitab al-Tawba (The Book of Repentance) is a treatise on Islamic ethics, spiritual refinement, and repentance composed by the Baghdadi traditionist and educator Ibn Abi al-Dunya (208–281 AH / 823–894 CE) .
Subject and Content
The work compiles textual traditions, ethical exhortations, anecdotes, and verses of poetry centered on the concept of repentance (al-tawba) and turning back to God . Its material addresses the virtues and necessity of remorse (al-nadam) and seeking forgiveness (al-istighfar), God's acceptance of sincere repentance, and the premise that divine grace remains available to a servant throughout life before death approaches .
The collection includes attributed reports tracing back to early figures, including Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abdullah ibn Umar, al-Hasan al-Basri, Sufyan al-Thawri, Bakr al-Muzani, and Abu Mijlaz, discussing the timeframe during which repentance is accepted before the soul is seized by the angel of death . It also relates narratives concerning penitent ascetics, Israelites, and historical figures who renounced worldly status to pursue devotion .
Transmission and Reception
The book was preserved and transmitted through classical chains of narration via students and subsequent scholars, including transmitters such as Abu Ali al-Husayn ibn Safwan al-Bardha'i, Abu al-Hasan al-Lanbani, and Abu Amr ibn Mandah . It is recorded among the works brought by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi to Damascus and was referenced under titles including Kitab al-Tawba and Kitab al-Tawba wa-l-Mathaba .
Later scholars utilized its transmissions extensively in ethical, homiletic, and exegetical literature. Among those who cited reports directly from the text or its transmission chains are Abu Hamid al-Ghazali in Ihya' Ulum al-Din, Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his exegesis and seasonal treatises, and Ibn Qudama in Kitab al-Tawwabin .
A modern printed edition of the book was edited by Majdi al-Sayyid Ibrahim and published by Maktabat al-Qur'an in Cairo .
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