Irwa al-Zami bi-Tarajim Rijal Sunan al-Darimi
- Author died
- -
- Editions
- Dār al-‘Āṣimah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Irwa al-Zami bi-Tarajim Rijal Sunan al-Darimi (Satisfying the Thirsty with the Biographies of the Narrators of Sunan al-Darimi) is a biographical dictionary of hadith transmitters by Abu al-Tayyib Nayif al-Mansuri (Nayif ibn Salah ibn 'Ali al-Mansuri), dedicated to transmitters appearing in Sunan al-Darimi who were not included in standard biographical reference works on the six canonical hadith collections .
Context and Series
The work forms the third installment in the second group—titled Ithaf al-Bararah bi-Tarajim man Laysa fi al-Tahdhib min Rijal Kutub Ithaf al-Maharah—within the author's overarching project Silsilat Taqrib Ruwat al-Sunnah Bayna Yaday al-Ummah . The series focuses on documenting transmitters found in the source texts indexed by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Ithaf al-Maharah who were omitted from his earlier compilations, Tahdhib al-Tahdhib and Taqrib al-Tahdhib .
Scope and Methodology
The author systematically reviewed all named transmitters in Sunan al-Darimi, relying on the edition published by Dar al-Basa'ir al-Islamiyyah within Fath al-Mannan Sharh wa-Tahqiq Kitab al-Darimi . His selection criteria and methodology include:
- Exclusion of previously compiled narrators: Restricting the dictionary to transmitters who were not profiled in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib or Taqrib al-Tahdhib, avoiding redundant coverage of well-documented figures .
- Exclusion of Companions: Omission of the Prophet's Companions, based on their established uprightness ('adalah) and their exhaustive coverage in Ibn Hajar's al-Isabah fi Tamyiz al-Sahabah .
- Exclusion of anonymous figures: Omitting unnamed or ambiguous narrators (mubhamaat), as well as individuals mentioned only incidentally .
- Entry Structure: Transmitters are arranged alphabetically . Each entry provides the precise vocalization of names and patronymics, notes textual corruptions (tashif and tahrif), lists their teachers and narrating students, records the number and locations of their narrations in Sunan al-Darimi, cross-references other works of Ithaf al-Maharah that cited them (using specific sigla, such as mi for al-Darimi), quotes evaluations by earlier critics (jarh wa-ta'dil), and concludes with the author's own assessment of their reliability in brackets .
Structure and Contents
The book opens with a detailed introductory study on the author of the Sunan, Abu Muhammad al-Darimi ('Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman al-Darimi), titled al-Jawahir al-Hisan min Tarjamah al-Darimi 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abd al-Rahman . This study is divided into three chapters:
- His personal biography, including his lineage, birth and death dates, character, worship, and creed .
- His scholarly journey, detailing his travels across Transoxiana, Khorasan, Iraq, the Hijaz, the Levant, and Egypt, along with an examination of his teachers, his Sunan (its commentaries, editions, and features), and his legal positions .
- His status and practice in narrator criticism (al-jarh wa-al-ta'dil), text verification, and isnad evaluation .
The main text consists of 177 biographical entries of transmitters . The book concludes with four indexes covering the biographical entries, the attributions (nisbahs), research sources (both printed and manuscript), and a general table of contents .
Composition and Publication
The author completed the fair copy of the text on Wednesday, 27 Safar 1431 AH (12 January 2010 CE), and conducted final revisions in sessions concluding in 1434 AH at the library of Dar al-Hadith al-Khayriyyah in Ma'rib .
The first edition was published in 1436 AH (2015 CE) by Dar al-'Asimah in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising a single volume of 680 pages .
Answer updated