Ghitha al-Albab fi Sharh Manzumat al-Adab
- Author died
- 1188 AH
- Editions
- Mu'assasat Qurtubah
Ghitha al-Albab fi Sharh Manzumat al-Adab (Nourishment of the Minds in Commenting on the Didactic Poem of Manners) is a two-volume commentary on Islamic legal ethics and manners (al-adab al-shar'iyyah) composed by the Hanbali scholar Shams al-Din Abu al-'Awn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Salim al-Safarini (d. 1188 AH / 1774 CE) .
Base Text and Scope
The book is an extensive commentary on Manzumat al-Adab al-Kubra, a thousand-line didactic poem rhyming in the letter dal (daliyyah) in the tawil meter, composed by Shams al-Din Muhammad ibn 'Abd al-Qawi al-Mardawi (d. 699 AH) . The poem opens with:
بحمدك ذي الإكرام ما رمتُ أبتدي ... كثيرًا كما ترضى بغير تحددِ ("With praise of You, Possessor of Honor, as I intend to begin; abundantly, as You are pleased with, without limit")
and concludes with:
وقد كملت والحمد لله وحده ... على كل حال دائمًا لم يصددِ ("And it has been completed, and praise is due to God alone; in every circumstance, eternally without turning away") .
Although centered on ethical conduct and social decorum, the base poem and its commentary encompass a substantial range of Hanbali jurisprudence, addressing topics such as lawful and prohibited entertainment, singing, poetry, enjoining good and forbidding wrong, clothing and ornamentation, bodily modesty ('awrah), greetings, the rules governing gazing, and regulations pertaining to mosques . Al-Safarini commented on the majority of the verses of the poem rather than every single line .
Method and Sources
Al-Safarini adopted an intermediate commentary style, utilizing accessible phrasing while examining topics in thematic subsections (matalib) . His method begins with lexical and grammatical explanations of the poem's vocabulary, followed by an exposition of the thematic content of the verses, the presentation of relevant legal rulings and scholarly differences, and the inclusion of illustrative historical and biographical anecdotes .
The author drew upon several foundational sources outlined in his introduction . He relied on earlier commentaries on the poem, including that of Musa al-Hajjawi, which al-Safarini noted had been restricted to legal rulings with concise phrasing while omitting many verses of the original text . He also drew heavily on Ibn Muflih's al-Adab al-Shar'iyyah, reorganizing and refining its material into a structured reference .
Reception and Editions
Ghitha al-Albab is regarded as an authoritative and comprehensive Hanbali reference on religious manners and ethics, distinguished for its clear structure, though it contains some phraseology that may pose difficulty for beginning students .
The work was first printed in 1324 AH at Matba'at al-Najah in Egypt, and subsequently published in two volumes in 1393 AH by the Government Press in Mecca . Later editions include a two-volume print by Mu'assasat Qurtubah in Egypt (1414 AH / 1993 CE) and an edition published by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah in Beirut (1417 AH) .
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