Hikayat an Abi al-Shaykh al-Asbahani
- Author died
- 369 AH
- Editions
- مخطوط نُشر في برنامج جوامع الكلم المجاني التابع لموقع الشبكة الإسلامية
Hikayat an Abi al-Shaykh al-Asbahani (Narratives from Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani) is a short hadith tract (juzʾ) transmitted from the Isfahan hadith master Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani (d. 369 AH / 979 CE) containing pious anecdotes, ethical maxims, and ascetic narratives .
Transmission
The surviving text is preserved through a chain of transmission starting from Abu al-Shaykh al-Asbahani :
- Narrated from Abu al-Shaykh by Abu Tahir Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim al-Katib by authorization (idhnan).
- Narrated from Abu Tahir by Abu Bakr ibn Abi Dharr by license (ijāzah).
- Narrated from Abu Bakr by Abu al-Mahasin ʿUmar ibn ʿAli ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Tamimi by license.
- Transmitted by the traditionist Diya' al-Din al-Maqdisi (Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahid al-Maqdisi) .
Contents and Themes
The tract brings together reports narrated with chains of transmission on themes of renunciation (zuhd), worship, devotion, and theological admonition:
- Prophetic and Early Narratives: It records tales of earlier figures and prophets, such as an account of a servant of the prophet Yaʿqub resisting sinful temptation during a journey, as well as dialogues involving the prophets Yahya, ʿIsa, and Musa .
- Ascetic Practices and Fasting: The work details rigorous ascetic feats, including reports of extended, continuous fasting (wiṣāl) practiced by Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, Ibrahim al-Taymi, Muhammad ibn ʿAmr al-Ghazzi, and al-Hajjaj ibn Furafisah .
- Scrupulousness and Devotion: It records statements and deeds of early ascetics, such as Sulayman al-Taymi avoiding food from shared watermills, Malik ibn Dinar expressing longing for simple sustenance, and Khalaf ibn Maʿdan reciting forty thousand glorifications (tasbīḥ) a day and moving his fingers in glorification even on his funeral bier .
- Creedal and Moral Admonitions: The tract includes statements on the signs of believers and hypocrites, classifications of human temperament by Salim al-Khawwas, and a dream reported by Sunayd ibn Dawud warning of punishment for those who claimed that the Quran is created .
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