Hadith Isa ibn Maryam wa al-Tayr wa al-Dabb li Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi
- Author died
- 624 AH
- Editions
- Hadith Isa ibn Maryam wa al-Tayr wa al-Dabb li Abd al-Rahman al-Maqdisi
Hadith Isa ibn Maryam wa al-Tayr wa al-Dabb (The Hadith of Jesus Son of Mary, the Bird, and the Lizard) is a short hadith tract (juzʾ) compiled by the Hanbali traditionist Baha al-Din al-Maqdisi (d. 624 AH / 1227 CE), containing extraordinary narrative traditions, devotional supplications, and moral parables.
Authorship and Transmission
The work survives in manuscript form under the title Juzʾ fihi hadith ʿIsa ibn Maryam wa-hadith al-tayr maʿa Abi Bakr al-Siddiq wa-hadith al-dabb maʿa al-Nabi. The collection is recorded as the narration of Baha al-Din al-Maqdisi (Abu Muhammad ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ibrahim ibn Ahmad al-Maqdisi) through a chain of transmission running via Abu al-Hasan ʿAbd al-Haqq ibn ʿAbd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf from Muhammad ibn al-Mukhtar ibn al-Muʾayyad in Isfahan.
Contents and Structure
The treatise consists of ten numbered narrative traditions, devotional reports, and excerpted moral accounts:
- The Story of Jesus and the Afflicted Woman: A narrative recounting that God revealed to Jesus the whereabouts of a woman destined to be his companion in Paradise. Jesus found a severely disabled, blind woman who expressed profound contentment with divine decree despite lacking limbs and sight, and who maintained her praise of God even after her only son was taken by a wolf before she died.
- The Hadith of the Spiny-Tailed Lizard (al-Dabb): An account narrated through Umar ibn al-Khattab regarding a Bedouin from Banu Sulaym who captured a lizard and confronted the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, declaring that he would not believe until the lizard did. The lizard spoke in fluent Arabic, testifying to God's oneness and Muhammad's prophethood, which led the Bedouin to accept Islam and learn Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Ikhlas.
- The Hadith of the Bird with Abu Bakr in the Cave: A report on the authority of Anas ibn Malik stating that while the Prophet ﷺ and Abu Bakr al-Siddiq were secluded in the cave during the migration, Abu Bakr wondered how a perched bird survived without food or water. Instructed by Gabriel to speak to it, Abu Bakr addressed the bird, which stated that its food was cursing whoever hated Abu Bakr and its drink was invoking blessings upon whoever prayed for him.
- Bedtime Invocations: A report on the authority of Aisha concerning the Prophet's ﷺ sleep etiquette and protective prayers upon retiring to bed.
- The Annual Meeting of al-Khidr and Ilyas: A report traced back to Ibn Abbas mentioning that al-Khidr and Ilyas meet every year during the pilgrimage season, shave each other's heads, and part after reciting specific supplications for protection from calamities.
- Supplication on Trust in God: A short prayer transmitted through Ibn Abi al-Dunya.
- Excerpts from al-Samarqandi: A set of instructional parables transcribed from the first volume of a work by al-Samarqandi:
- A tradition from Jabir ibn Abd Allah recounting the parable of an ascetic who worshipped God for 500 years on an isolated island mountain, illustrating that admission to Paradise is attained solely through divine mercy rather than human deeds.
- A saying related from al-Hasan al-Basri regarding the convergence of hope and fear at the moment of death.
- A narrative concerning Ibrahim witnessing sinners upon the earth and God's counsel to him regarding divine forbearance and repentance.
- An account from Ikrima regarding an ascetic who successfully wrestled and pinned Iblis when setting out to cut down an idolatrous tree purely for God's sake, but was easily overcome by Iblis when he returned later out of anger over a withheld monetary bribe.
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