Hadaiq al-Awliya
- Author died
- 804 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah
Hadaiq al-Awliya (Arabic: حدائق الأولياء, "Gardens of the Saints") is a work by the Shafi'i scholar Ibn al-Mulaqqin (723–804 AH / 1323–1401 CE), compiling prophetic traditions, reports, and narratives concerning pious figures .
Title and Abridgment
In manuscript copies and bibliographical works such as Kashf al-Zunun and Hadiyyat al-Arifin, the work is also cited under the alternate title Hadaiq al-Haqa'iq (حدائق الحقائق) or Hadaiq al-Haqa'iq fi al-Hadith . Ibn al-Mulaqqin later abridged the work into a smaller summary titled al-Raiq (الرائق) .
Content and Scope
As Ibn al-Mulaqqin stated at the beginning of the text, the book contains approximately two thousand hadiths and about six hundred anecdotes of the righteous (hikayat al-salihin), in addition to non-prophetic traditions (athar), poetry (ash'ar), and rare anecdotes (nawadir) .
The author opens the book with the doxology:
"Praise be to God for what He has bestowed, and I thank Him for what He has inspired. To proceed: this is the book al-Hadaiq, comprising about two thousand hadiths..."
Along with his Tabaqat al-Awliya, the work illustrates Ibn al-Mulaqqin's engagement with Sufi heritage and the traditions of the saints .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of Hadaiq al-Awliya are held in several libraries, including the Berlin State Library (MS Oct. 1494) in Germany and the Grand Mosque Library in Sana'a, Yemen (MS 2029) . The book has been edited at Dar al-Falah in Faiyum and published in modern print by Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah .
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