Dhayl Takmilat al-Ikmal - Ibn al-Imadiyya
- Author died
- 673 AH
- Editions
- Umm Al-Qura University
Dhayl Takmilat al-Ikmal (Supplement to the Completion of "The Perfected") is a biographical and onomastic reference work on hadith transmitters by the Shafi'i traditionist Wajih al-Din Abu al-Muzaffar Mansur ibn Salim ibn Mansur ibn Futuh al-Hamdani al-Iskandarani, commonly known as Ibn al-Imadiyya (607–673 AH / 1209–1274 CE; another report gives his death year as 677 AH) . The book serves as a continuation to Ibn Nuqta's (d. 629 AH) Takmilat al-Ikmal, focusing on the disambiguation and orthography of graphically identical or easily confused proper names and patronymics (al-mu'talif wa-l-mukhtalif) .
Purpose and Scope
Ibn al-Imadiyya composed the work as an addendum to Ibn Nuqta's Takmilat al-Ikmal, which was itself a supplement to Ibn Makula's foundational work al-Ikmal . In his preface, the author explains that while he found Ibn Nuqta's work beneficial and well-constructed, it omitted several categories of entries: transmitters Ibn Nuqta had not come across, individuals placed under one heading who rightfully belonged under another, and traditionists who emerged after Ibn Nuqta's era . Ibn al-Imadiyya therefore compiled these additional biographies to provide what was readily accessible to him .
The book has been referenced by biographers under several variant titles, including al-Mu'talif wa-l-Mukhtalif, al-Dhayl, al-Mudhayyal, and Dhayl Ikmal Ibn Nuqta .
Structure and Method
The work follows the standard alphabetical arrangement of Arabic onomastic literature, organizing material into chapters according to letters (huruf) and further subdividing them into sections (abwab) dedicated to pairs or groups of similar-looking names and nisbas (such as differentiating al-Zahiri from al-Tahiri) . For each entry, Ibn al-Imadiyya records the subject's lineage, vocalization of their names, transmission chains, teachers, students, and death dates when known .
Reception and Continuations
The supplement gained recognition among subsequent hadith scholars and was cited by authorities such as Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tabsirat al-Muntabih and Lisan al-Mizan, al-Sakhawi in Fath al-Mughith, Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti in Tadrib al-Rawi, and al-Amir al-San'ani in Tawdih al-Afkar .
Al-Sakhawi remarked that both Abu Hamid Ibn al-Sabuni (d. 680 AH) and Mansur ibn Salim (Ibn al-Imadiyya) composed supplements to Ibn Nuqta's work, and that Ibn al-Imadiyya's supplement was the larger of the two . Abd al-Rahman al-Mu'allimi noted that while Ibn al-Sabuni and Ibn al-Imadiyya overlapped in certain entries and each preserved unique material, Ibn al-Imadiyya's text contained a greater number of scholarly benefits . Later, Ala' al-Din Mughultay (d. 762 AH) compiled a combined continuation bringing together the two supplements of Ibn al-Imadiyya and Ibn al-Sabuni alongside his own additions .
Manuscripts and Publication
A primary manuscript of the text is preserved at the Egyptian National Library (Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya, No. 678, history), written in an old Maghribi script . The book was edited by Dr. Abd al-Qayyum Abd Rabb al-Nabi and published in two volumes by the Islamic Heritage Revival Center at Umm al-Qura University in Mecca in 1419 AH (1998 CE) .
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