Dhamm Qurnaa al-Su' li-Ibn Asakir
- Author died
- 571 AH
- Editions
- Dar Al-Fikr
Dhamm Qurna' al-Su' (Censure of Bad Companions) is a short hadith dictation session compiled by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Abu al-Qasim Ibn Asakir (499–571 AH / 1105–1176 CE) . It gathers prophetic traditions, statements of early figures, and poetic verses warning against corrupt companions and harmful social company .
Composition and Transmission
The treatise forms the fifty-third session (al-majlis al-thalith wa-al-khamsun) from the dictation assemblies (amālī) delivered by Ibn Asakir in the mosque of Damascus . Ibn Asakir dictated it on Monday, 25 Shawwal 538 AH (1144 CE), with the audition certified for Abu Talib Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Azdi and other attendees .
A variant manuscript recension notes an alternate dictation date of 5 Rabi' al-Akhar 550 AH (1155 CE) transmitted by the judge Abu al-Qasim al-Husayn ibn Hibat Allah ibn Sasra, who later recited the work on Monday, 4 Dhu al-Qa'da 624 AH at al-Madrasa al-'Izziyya in Damascus .
Content and Method
The work presents a sequence of transmitted reports with full chains of narration (asānīd) that Ibn Asakir received from scholars across various centers of learning, including Baghdad, Nishapur, Isfahan, Herat, and Damascus . Along with the chains, he intermittently notes Hadith technicalities, such as designating certain routes as rare (gharīb) or seven-tiered (subā'ī) .
The text begins with the prophetic tradition comparing righteous and wicked companions to the bearer of musk and the operator of the blacksmith's bellows: «إِنَّمَا مَثَلُ الْجَلِيسِ الصَّالِحِ وَجَلِيسِ السُّوءِ كَحَامِلِ الْمِسْكِ وَنَافِخِ الْكِيرِ...» ("The example of a righteous companion and an evil companion is like that of a musk seller and a bellows blower...") . It continues with traditions stressing that an individual adopts the religious conduct of their intimate friend: «الْمَرْءُ عَلَى دِينِ خَلِيلِهِ فَلْيَنْظُرْ أَحَدُكُمْ مَنْ يُخَالِلْ» ("A person follows the religion of his friend, so let each of you look to whom he befriends") .
Other transmitted reports include prophetic prayers seeking refuge from bad companions, counsels by earlier sages such as Luqman, Wahb ibn Munabbih, and Malik ibn Dinar, and a statement by Abdullah ibn Mas'ud instructing people to assess an individual by whom they associate with . The text concludes with didactic verses cautioning against three types of toxic individuals—an ignorant person who imagines himself intelligent, a deficient person who deems himself perfect, and a vile person who considers himself virtuous—while enumerating the praiseworthy traits to seek in true friends .
Editions
The work was edited by Muhammad Muti' al-Hafiz and published alongside another dictation by Ibn Asakir (Dhamm Man La Ya'mal bi-'Ilmih) under the collective title Majlisān min Majālis al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn 'Asākir fī Masjid Dimashq by Dar al-Fikr in Damascus (1399 AH / 1979 CE) . Another edition, edited by Ahmad al-Bizrah, was issued by Dar al-Ma'mun li-al-Turath in 1410 AH / 1990 CE .
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