Dalail al-Nubuwwa - al-Firyabi
- Author died
- 301 AH
- Editions
- Dār Ḥirāʾ
Dalail al-Nubuwwa (Proofs of Prophethood) is a specialized hadith work by the judge and traditionist Abu Bakr Ja'far ibn Muhammad al-Firyabi (207–301 AH / 822–913 CE) documenting miracles and evidentiary signs of the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ .
Scope and Structure
The work is a concise monograph comprising 53 narrated hadiths with their full chains of transmission (isnads) . It is divided into two thematic chapters:
- Narrations concerning reports that the Prophet ﷺ prayed over small amounts of food, imparting divine blessing so that large multitudes were fed to satisfaction .
- Narrations concerning reports that the Prophet ﷺ prayed and placed his hand in small quantities of water, causing it to suffice and quench the thirst of large gatherings .
In his bibliographical index al-Mu'jam al-mufahras, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani recorded his transmission of the work under the descriptive title al-Mu'jizat wa-Takthir al-Ta'am wa-l-Sharab (The Miracles and the Multiplication of Food and Drink), which corresponds to the same text .
Methodology
Al-Firyabi adhered strictly to the classical methodology of hadith scholars (muhaddithun). He compiled related narrations directly beneath thematic chapter headings without interjecting personal opinions, discursive explanations, or editorial commentary on the reports .
Transmission and Publication
The work was preserved and transmitted through classical chains of transmission, including paths running from al-Firyabi through 'Umar ibn Muhammad al-Zayyat, al-Hasan ibn 'Ali al-Jawhari, Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Baqi al-Dawri, Dhakir ibn Kamil al-Khaffaf, Yusuf ibn Khalil al-Dimashqi, Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Zahiri, and Izz al-Din ibn Jama'a . A manuscript of the treatise is held in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus .
It was critically edited by 'Amir Hasan Sabri and published in a single volume by Dar Hira in Mecca (1406 AH / 1985–1986 CE), and appeared as well in an edition edited alongside Umm 'Abd Allah al-'Asali published in conjunction with Dar Tayyiba in Riyadh .
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