Alfiyyat al-Suyuti Nazm al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar
- Author died
- 911 AH
- Editions
- t al-Qasim · tahqiq al-Fahl
Nazm al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar (نظم الدرر في علم الأثر), widely known as Alfiyyat al-Suyuti fi Ilm al-Hadith, is a didactic poem on hadith terminology and methodology (mustalah al-hadith) composed by the Egyptian scholar al-Jalal al-Suyuti (849–911 AH / 1445–1505 CE) .
Composition and Scope
Al-Suyuti composed the work in the rajaz meter over a span of five days, completing it on 10 Rabi' al-Thani 881 AH . The poem consists of 994 lines . It is cited in manuscript traditions and scholarly references under various titles, including Alfiyyat al-Mustalah, Alfiyyat al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar, and Alfiyyat al-Suyuti fi Ilm al-Hadith, though al-Suyuti explicitly designated its title as Nazm al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar in his autobiography in Husn al-muhadara as well as in the introduction to his commentary .
Method and Relationship to Earlier Works
The poem was designed to synthesize the rules of hadith sciences by integrating the foundational material from Ibn al-Salah's Muqaddima along with the supplementary points introduced in the earlier versification of Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi (d. 806 AH) . Al-Suyuti largely adopted al-Iraqi’s overarching thematic sequence, while seeking greater concision, broader compilation (al-jam'), and closer structural cohesion (al-ittisaq) .
In his prologue, al-Suyuti claimed that his poem contained twice the supplementary material found in al-Iraqi's work . Commentators and analysts have noted that although al-Suyuti did incorporate substantial additions not present in Ibn al-Salah or al-Iraqi, the volume of these new additions fell well short of double .
Commentaries and Reception
The poem has been the subject of numerous commentaries and pedagogical treatments:
- Al-Suyuti authored his own commentary, initially naming it Qatr al-Durar 'ala Nazm al-Durar and later titling it al-Bahr al-Ladhi Zakhar fi Sharh Alfiyyat al-Athar .
- Muhammad Hijazi ibn Muhammad al-Qalqashandi (d. 1035 AH) wrote Istiqsa' al-Athar bi-Manzumat Ilm al-Athar, a medium-length commentary focusing on grammatical parsing and terminological exposition .
- Muhammad Mahfuz al-Tarmasi (d. 1329 AH) authored Manhaj Dhawi al-Nazar bi-Sharh Alfiyyat al-Athar .
- Ahmad Muhammad Shakir published an edition with a concise commentary, placing al-Suyuti's additions to al-Iraqi's text inside parentheses and noting textual variants .
- Muhammad Muhyi al-Din Abd al-Hamid authored a commentary published in two volumes .
- Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Adam al-Ithyubi penned an extensive two-volume commentary titled Is'af Dhawi al-Watar bi-Sharh Nazm al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar .
Answer updated