Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam li-Ibn Abi al-Dunya

Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam (The Speech of Nights and Days), also recorded as Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam li-Ibn Adam (The Speech of Nights and Days to the Son of Adam), is a short devotional and ascetical treatise composed by the Baghdadi scholar and hadith master Ibn Abi al-Dunya (208–281 AH / 823–894 CE) al-Mujam al-Mufahras = Ta…+1.

Subject Matter and Scope

The treatise focuses on the relentless passage of time, the fleeting nature of worldly existence, and the spiritual necessity of utilizing the succession of nights and days for righteous deeds before death arrives Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1. A central recurring motif is the personified "speech" and testimony of every emerging day and night addressed to humankind, warning that each departed day is folded away, sealed until the Day of Resurrection, and will never return Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1.

The work emphasizes several related themes:

• The division of time into yesterday (an admonition that has passed), today (an opportunity for action), and tomorrow (an uncertain hope) Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1.
• The reality that each passing day diminishes an individual's allotted lifespan, likening days and nights to mounts carrying humans toward the afterlife Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1.
• Exhortations against heedlessness (ghaflah), urging constant remembrance of God and nightly devotion Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1.

Structure and Methodology

The text is arranged as a traditional collection of transmitted reports (athar) accompanied by isnads linking the author to early authorities Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1. Rather than following formal jurisprudential chapters, the compilation proceeds thematically through narrative traditions, aphorisms, personal letters, and poetic selections Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+1.

It opens with prophetic traditions and statements of early Companions and Successors, including Abu al-Darda', al-Hasan al-Basri, Mujahid ibn Jabr, Bakr ibn Abd Allah al-Muzani, Dawud al-Ta'i, Umar ibn Abd al-Aziz, and Umar ibn Dharr Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+2. Ibn Abi al-Dunya also incorporates ascetical verses by poets and scholars, including Mahmud ibn al-Hasan al-Warraq, al-Saltan al-Abdi, al-Mughira ibn Habna', and Sulayman ibn Yazid al-Adawi Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam…+2.

Transmission and Editions

The book was preserved and transmitted through continuous chains of transmission; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani documented his isnad for the work under the title Kitab Kalam al-Layali wal-Ayyam li-Ibn Adam in his bibliographical register al-Mu'jam al-mufahras al-Mujam al-Mufahras = Ta….

A modern critical edition was edited by Muhammad Khayr Ramadan Yusuf and published in a single volume by Dar Ibn Hazm in Beirut (1418 AH / 1997 CE) Tatimmat al-Aalam - Muham…+1.