Mashariq al-Anwar al-Nabawiya min Sihah al-Akhbar al-Mustafawiya
- Author died
- 650 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Lubab lil-Dirasat wa-Tahqiq al-Turath
Mashariq al-Anwar al-Nabawiya min Sihah al-Akhbar al-Mustafawiya (The Dawning Points of Prophetic Lights from the Authentic Reports of the Chosen Prophet) is a collection of prophetic hadiths compiled by the Hanafi scholar and lexicographer al-Saghani (d. 650 AH / 1252 CE) to bring together authentic narrations from the two canonical compilations of al-Bukhari and Muslim .
Background and Composition
Al-Saghani composed the work for the library of the Abbasid caliph al-Mustansir bi-Llah (son of al-Zahir, grandson of al-Nasir) . The author noted in his introduction that after completing his earlier compilations, Misbah al-Duja and al-Shams al-Munira, he incorporated the contents of al-Quda'i's Shihab al-Akhbar and al-Iqlishi's al-Najm to assemble the authentic traditions into a single reference, regarding the book as a proof between himself and God in authenticity and rigor .
The title appears in manuscript copies primarily as Mashariq al-Anwar al-Nabawiya min Sihah al-Akhbar al-Mustafawiya, with some copies rendering the final nisba as al-Mustafiyya, or shortening the title to Mashariq al-Anwar .
Structure and Methodology
The work omits complete chains of transmission (isnad) to focus strictly on the text of the hadiths . Al-Saghani devised a system of single-letter abbreviations to indicate source attribution:
- The letter kha' (خ) indicates a narration from Sahih al-Bukhari.
- The letter mim (م) indicates a narration from Sahih Muslim.
- The letter qaf (ق) indicates an agreed-upon narration recorded by both al-Bukhari and Muslim .
According to the count of the commentator Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Kazaruni, the collection contains 2,246 hadiths (recorded in some sources as 2,046), and al-Saghani recorded the exact tally of narrations at the conclusion of each section or category .
The book is arranged into twelve chapters (abwab), categorized primarily by the opening grammatical particle or letter of each hadith:
- Chapter 1: Divided into two sections; the first covers hadiths beginning with the relative or conditional man (مَن), and the second covers those starting with the interrogative man.
- Chapter 2: Focuses on hadiths beginning with inna or anna (إنّ / أنّ), arranged in ten sections.
- Chapter 3: Covers hadiths opening with the negative particle la (لا).
- Chapter 4: Covers hadiths beginning with idha (إذا) and idh (إذ).
- Chapter 5: Divided into two sections; the first treats varieties of ma (ما), and the second treats vocative forms of ya (يا).
- Chapter 6: Arranged into twelve sections covering subsequent letter categories .
Reception and Scholarly Care
Mashariq al-Anwar achieved broad dissemination and was widely studied, taught, and commented upon across the Islamic world . Ibn Malik praised its elegant arrangement, noting that its omission of redundancies and focus on essential benefits made it renowned "like the sun at high noon" . The lexicographer al-Fayruzabadi also composed poetic verses extolling its precision and eloquence .
Numerous scholars authored commentaries on the work, including:
- Tuhfat al-Abrar fi Sharh Mashariq al-Anwar by Akmal al-Din al-Babarti (d. 786 AH) .
- Al-Matali' al-Mustafawiyya by Afif al-Din Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Kazaruni (d. 785 AH) .
- Mubariq al-Azhar Sharh Mashariq al-Anwar by Abd al-Latif ibn Abd al-Aziz, known as Ibn Malik (d. 801 AH) .
- Shuwariq al-Asrar al-'Aliyya fi Sharh Mashariq al-Anwar al-Nabawiyya by al-Fayruzabadi (d. 871 AH) .
- Commentaries by Sharaf al-Din al-Arzinjani (d. 784 AH) and Sharaf al-Din al-Tabbani (d. 827 AH) .
The text was rearranged by Abd al-Ghafur ibn Muhammad al-Ghaznawi according to traditional legal chapters (fiqh) under the title Mishkat al-Anwar li-Tashil Mashariq al-Anwar . In 1279 AH, Mawlawi Ilahi Bakhsh compiled an index and cross-referencing text (takhrij) titled Tabsirat al-Absar fi Takhrij al-Athar . It was translated into Persian with Arabic annotations by Abu Muhammad Sulayman Umar ibn al-Salah al-Bukhari, and translated into Urdu with a commentary titled Tuhfat al-Akhyar by Khurram Ali al-Balhori .
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