Khulasat Tadhhib Tahdhib al-Kamal
- Author died
- 924 AH
- Editions
- Maktab al-Matbu'at al-Islamiyyah / Dar al-Basha'ir
Khulasat Tadhhib Tahdhib al-Kamal (The Essence of the Gilding of the Perfection's Refinement) is a biographical dictionary of hadith narrators compiled in 923 AH (1517 CE) by the scholar Safi al-Din al-Khazraji (b. 900 AH / 1494–1495 CE, d. after 924 AH / 1518 CE) .
Background and Purpose
The book is an epitome of Tadhhib Tahdhib al-Kamal (also known as Tadhhib al-Tahdhib) by Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE), which was itself an abridgment and refinement of al-Mizzi's (d. 742 AH / 1341 CE) biographical compendium Tahdhib al-Kamal fi Asma' al-Rijal . Al-Khazraji prepared the work as a concise handbook for students and researchers of hadith, summarizing narrator entries into short profiles while adding vocalizations and biographical supplementary details .
Scope and Methodology
The work covers the narrators found in the canonical Six Books (al-Kutub al-Sittah) and the additional works by their authors that were indexed in al-Mizzi's original compilation, encompassing a total of twenty-five books .
Each biographical notice is structured succinctly:
- The subject's name, lineage, kunya, and nisba are stated, with abbreviations denoting which of the six compilers cited them in their works .
- The narrator's prominent teachers and students are mentioned in brief .
- Core assessments of narrator criticism (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil) by major hadith critics are recorded .
- Dates of birth, death, or approximate lifespans are provided where known .
A distinctive feature of the work is al-Khazraji's careful vocalization and orthographic spelling (dabṭ) of difficult names, patronymics, and toponyms in words and letters to prevent scribal misreadings . Additionally, in the entries for the Prophet's Companions, he systematically records the total count of hadiths each Companion transmitted across the Six Books, identifying how many were agreed upon by al-Bukhari and Muslim and how many were transmitted solely by either of them .
Sources and Publication
In compiling and supplementing the text, the author drew from al-Dhahabi's Tadhhib al-Tahdhib and Mizan al-I'tidal, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani's Taqrib al-Tahdhib, Ibn Makula's al-Ikmal, Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi's al-Mu'talif wa-l-Mukhtalif and al-Ikmal, and Ibn Tahir al-Maqdisi's al-Jam' . Al-Khazraji cross-checked and collated the manuscript upon its completion .
The book was printed in Cairo at al-Matba'ah al-Amiriyyah in 1301 AH (1883–1884 CE) in a single large volume with marginal annotations supplementing omissions and geographic terms .
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