Dhikr al-Aqran li Abi al-Shaykh
- Author died
- 369 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Dhikr al-Aqran (Arabic: ذكر الأقران, also known as Dhikr al-Aqrān wa-riwāyātihim ʿan baʿḍihim baʿḍan or Kitāb al-Aqrān) is a specialized hadith treatise by the Isfahan-based scholar and traditionist Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani (274–369 AH / 887–979 CE) focusing on peer transmission (riwāyat al-aqrān) and reciprocal narration (al-mudabbaj) among hadith transmitters .
Subject Matter and Scope
The work is dedicated to riwāyat al-aqrān—hadith chains wherein narrators who are peers (those of similar age, generational rank, and common teachers) transmit from one another . In hadith methodology, identifying peer narration prevents the assumption of an accidental addition to the chain or the misreading of the particle ʿan (from) as wa (and) .
In his arrangement, Abu al-Shaykh incorporated al-mudabbaj (the narrower subcategory where two peers narrate reciprocally from one another) alongside one-sided peer narrations under the overarching framework of Dhikr al-Aqrān . Later hadith scholars contrasted his methodology with that of al-Daraqutni (d. 385 AH), whose work focused primarily on al-mudabbaj while incorporating peer narrations, and Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852 AH), who authored separate monographs for each type: al-Afnān fī Riwāyat al-Aqrān for general peer narrations and al-Taʿrīj ʿalā al-Tadbīj for reciprocal narrations .
Content and Transmission
The book compiles specific chains of transmission and biographical instances illustrating mutual narrations, such as the reciprocal transmission between al-A'mash and Isma'il ibn Muslim al-'Abdi .
The text was transmitted directly from Abu al-Shaykh through his student Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn 'Abd al-Rahim al-Katib, through whom later traditionists, including al-Sam'ani (d. 562 AH) and Abu al-Fadl Ja'far ibn 'Abd al-Wahid al-Thaqafi, received and transmitted the work in their riwayāt and ijāzahs .
Publication
The book was edited by Mas'ad 'Abd al-Hamid Muhammad al-Sa'dani and published in a single volume alongside Abu al-Shaykh's 'Awālī by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah in Beirut (1417 AH / 1996 CE) .
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