Arbaun Hadithan an Arbaeen Shaykhan fi Arbaeen li-Ibn al-Muqarrab
- Author died
- 563 AH
- Editions
- دار ابن حزم
Arba'un Hadithan 'an Arba'in Shaykhan fi Arba'in (Forty Hadiths from Forty Teachers on Forty Topics) is a hadith collection compiled by the Baghdadi traditionist Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Muqarrab al-Karkhi (479–563 AH / 1086–1167 CE), comprising forty prophetic traditions transmitted from forty distinct teachers, each addressing a separate moral or legal subject.
Author and Context
The author was Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn al-Muqarrab ibn al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan al-Baghdadi al-Karkhi, born in 479 AH (1086 CE) and deceased in Dhu al-Hijjah 563 AH (1167 CE). He was a traditionist and transmitter (musnid) in Baghdad, described by biographical authorities as trustworthy (thiqah), devout, amiable, and possessing sound auditions (sahih al-sama'). He studied jurisprudence, recited the Qur'an according to the seven canonical readings, and transcribed hadith manuscripts. Among his teachers were Trad al-Zaynabi—from whom he heard hadiths in Shawwal 489 AH—as well as Ibn Talhah al-Ni'ali, Ibn Sawwar, Ibn al-Batir, and Abu al-Husayn al-Mubarak ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Sayrafi. His transmissions were related by leading scholars of the subsequent generation, including Abu Sa'd al-Sam'ani, Ibn al-Jawzi, Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi, Muwaffaq al-Din Ibn Qudamah, and Abd al-Latif al-Qubbayti.
Structure and Contents
The collection belongs to the genre of arba'iniyyat (forty-hadith anthologies) and is cited in manuscript copies and reference works under the full title Arba'un Hadithan 'an Arba'in Shaykhan fi Arba'in Ma'nan wa-Fadilah (Forty Hadiths from Forty Teachers on Forty Meanings and Virtues). In organizing the work, Ibn al-Muqarrab selected forty separate traditions, narrating each through one of forty distinct shaykhs with whom he studied, and dedicated each tradition to a distinct meaning, virtue, or topic.
Transmission and Publication
The text circulated among hadith scholars through formal audition and authorization; among those who narrated the work from Ibn al-Muqarrab was the Hanafi jurist Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Baghdadi. A manuscript copy of the compilation is preserved in the Zahiriyyah Library in Damascus under shelfmark MS 3823 (Majmu' 87, folios 219–235). The work was edited by Salah 'Ayid al-Shalahi and published by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut in 1420 AH (1999 CE).
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