Muntaqa min al-Safina al-Baghdadiyya lil-Silafi
- Author died
- 576 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat wa-Dār Ibn Ḥazm
Muntaqa min al-Safina al-Baghdadiyya lil-Silafi (Selection from the Baghdadi Safina of al-Silafi) is a hadith and literary compendium selected from the larger work al-Safina al-Baghdadiyya by the traditionist Abu Tahir al-Silafi (d. 576 AH / 1180 CE).
Background and Distinction from al-Mashyakha
The original work from which the selection was drawn, al-Safina al-Baghdadiyya, was compiled by al-Silafi in two large parts (juzʾān kabīrān), as documented by al-Dhahabi and noted by Muhammad ibn Ja'far al-Kattani. Modern and classical bibliographers have differentiated this work from al-Silafi's al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiyya, which was a much larger collection spanning thirty-five parts.
While al-Mashyakha al-Baghdadiyya was restricted exclusively to al-Silafi's Baghdadi teachers, al-Safina al-Baghdadiyya contained transmissions from non-Baghdadi teachers whom he met elsewhere, including narrations received in Mecca. Furthermore, the biographical remarks, critical commentary on narrator lineages, and specific textual selections preserved in the Muntaqa do not appear in al-Mashyakha.
Content and Structure
The Muntaqa comprises an abridged selection structured around chains of transmission, combining prophetic traditions, ethical aphorisms, and literary poetry:
- Hadith and isnads: It opens with chains traced through al-Silafi's teachers back to early figures, such as a statement by Sufyan al-Thawri on learning halal and haram from renowned scholars. It also records reports such as the Prophet's accepting gifts and rewarding in return, accompanied by al-Silafi's discussions of narrator reliability, isnad elevation (ʿuluww), and the transmissions of Musaddad ibn Musarhad's Musnad.
- Poetry and anecdotes: The selection contains verses transmitted by al-Silafi in praise of hadith scholars by Muhammad ibn Ali al-Suri, versified wisdom on asceticism and the vanity of worldly pursuits by Ja'far ibn Ahmad al-Sarraj, and poetic lines by Ibn Nubata on fate, medicine, and human relations.
Transmission and Publication
The selection was transmitted through auditory certificates (samāʿ) and general licenses (ijāza) in the late medieval period; Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani recorded his chain of transmission for the part back to al-Silafi via ʿAʾisha bint Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Hadi from ʿAbd Allah ibn al-Husayn ibn Abi al-Taʾib from Makki ibn ʿAllan.
A manuscript copy of the selection is preserved at Leiden University Library (MS Or. 2490), copied and compiled by Ahmad ibn Khalil al-Labudi (d. 896 AH / 1492 CE). The text was edited by Abu ʿAbd al-Bari Rida Abu Shamah al-Jaza'iri and published in Riyadh by Dar Ibn Hazm in 1424 AH / 2003 CE, printed together with a short poetic treatise composed by al-Silafi.
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