Lisan al-Mizan
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- T al-Hindiyya · t Abu Ghudda
Lisan al-Mizan (The Tongue of the Balance) is a biographical dictionary of weak, criticized, and disputed hadith narrators by the Shafi'i hadith scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE) . It serves as an adaptation, correction, and expansion of al-Dhahabi's biographical work Mizan al-I'tidal fi Naqd al-Rijal (The Balance of Moderation in Criticizing Men) .
Background and Composition
Ibn Hajar intended initially to copy al-Dhahabi's Mizan al-I'tidal, but finding it extensive, he elected to remodel it into a specialized compendium . He finished the draft of Lisan al-Mizan in the month of Ramadan 805 AH in Cairo at thirty-two years of age . He continued to review, amend, and append notes and entries to the work until the end of his life, with verified copies collated against his working manuscript as late as 849 AH and 852 AH . Ibn Hajar listed Lisan al-Mizan among the few works with which he was personally satisfied regarding its editing and revision .
Methodology and Scope
Ibn Hajar established a clear framework to eliminate duplication with his other biographical works:
- Exclusion of Six Books narrators: He omitted all narrators included in al-Mizzi's Tahdhib al-Kamal (the narrators of the Six Books), as their biographies and critical evaluations were already elaborated in his own Tahdhib al-Tahdhib . Thus, the work focuses strictly on figures outside the corpus of the Six Books .
- Incorporation and additions: He retained all narrators from al-Dhahabi's Mizan who were not in Tahdhib al-Kamal, while adding biographical information, corrections of al-Dhahabi's omissions or misattributions, and independent biographies . He also integrated the supplement (Dhayl) written by his teacher Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi .
- Notational symbols: Ibn Hajar designated entries taken from al-Iraqi's Dhayl with the letter dhal (ذ), and marked his own independent additions with the letter zay (ز) . When adding commentary within an existing biography from al-Iraqi, he concluded al-Iraqi's text with the word intahā ("end of quote") before appending his own remarks .
- Structural expansions: He substantially expanded the chapter on agnomens (al-kuna) with over two hundred biographies and followed it with an enlarged section on anonymous or unnamed individuals (al-mubhamaat) .
Reception and Related Works
Lisan al-Mizan was praised by contemporary and later scholars; the historian Taqi al-Din al-Fasi described it as an ingenious work (kitab badi') combining an abridgment of the Mizan with substantial additions and independent biographies .
A number of scholars authored supplements, adjustments, and abridgments based on Lisan al-Mizan:
- Ibn Hajar compiled Taqwim al-Lisan, listing narrators mentioned in al-Mizan without cited justifications for their disparagement, completing its draft in 847 AH .
- Qasim ibn Qutlubugha wrote Taqwim al-Lisan (in two volumes) and Fudul al-Lisan .
- Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi composed Zawa'id al-Lisan, and his student Muhammad ibn Rajab al-Zubayri wrote an abridgment titled Tahrir al-Lisan, completed in Shawwal 916 AH .
- Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti authored Zawa'id al-Lisan 'ala al-Mizan .
- Muhammad 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Munawi made a selective compilation from Lisan al-Mizan, arranging the material by hadiths and classifying their narrations .
- Abu Zayd 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi al-'Ala' Idris al-Iraqi al-Fasi (d. 1234 AH) abridged the work in a single large volume .
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