Nahj al-Rashad fi Nazm al-Itiqad
- Author died
- 776 AH
- Editions
- Sent by its editor to Shamela Library
Nahj al-Rashad fi Nazm al-Itiqad (The Path of Guidance in the Versification of Creed) is a didactic poem on Sunni Islamic theology composed by the Hanbali scholar and hadith specialist Jamal al-Din al-Sarmari (696–776 AH / 1297–1374 CE) .
Subject Matter and Structure
The work is composed in the tawil poetic meter and articulates the creed of the early Sunni forebears (madhhab al-salaf) alongside refutations of opposing theological positions . The poem consists of 151 verses, as confirmed by al-Sarmari in its concluding lines, although Isma'il Pasha al-Baghdadi recorded it in Hadiyyat al-'Arifin as containing 300 verses—a figure corresponding to its total count of 302 hemistichs . In the final lines of the poem, al-Sarmari explicitly names the work Nahj al-Rashad and identifies himself as its author .
The poem encompasses core theological topics, including the divine names and attributes (al-asma' wa-l-sifat), the revelation of the Quran, divine decree and predestination (al-qada' wa-l-qadar), eschatology and the Day of Judgment, belief in the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the merits of the Companions, and duties concerning obedience to Muslim rulers . It also incorporates specific legal and ethical prohibitions, such as the ban on intoxicants, musical instruments, singing, usurious excess (riba al-fadl), and illicit legal subterfuges (al-hiyal al-madhmumah), though it does not explicitly address the specific branch of divine worship (tawhid al-uluhiyyah) in detail .
In the prologue, al-Sarmari expressed high praise for an authority named "Shaykh Hassan," affirming his adherence to his path in creed . Commentators have suggested this figure was either the Hanbali poet Yahya ibn Yusuf al-Sarsari (d. 656 AH)—widely referred to as Hassan al-Sunnah—or al-Sarmari's own teacher Abu Muhammad Hassan ibn Ahmad al-Sarmari .
Transmission and Manuscripts
The poem was transmitted during the author's lifetime in Baghdad. On 14 Safar 730 AH, a reading session took place in which several individuals heard the work directly from al-Sarmari, including the Hanbali traditionist and historian Najm al-Din Sa'id ibn 'Abd Allah al-Hariri (d. 749 AH), al-Sarmari's freedman Sawab ibn 'Abd Allah al-Hindi, and al-Ma'mun ibn Isma'il al-Hashimi al-'Abbasi . Al-Sarmari granted them general authorization (ijazah) to transmit the poem alongside his other writings and compilations, recording the audition entry (tabaqat al-sama') in his own hand at the end of the manuscript .
Manuscript copies of the poem are preserved in Damascus at the Al-Zahiriyyah Library (within the al-Asad National Library collection) and in Mecca at the Central Library of Umm al-Qura University .
Editions
Nahj al-Rashad has been published in modern print:
- Edited by Hilal Naji, published in the first issue of the journal of Saddam University for Islamic Sciences in Baghdad (1993) .
- Edited by Mutlaq ibn Jasir al-Jasir, published by Dar al-Tawasul in Kuwait (1430 AH / 2009 CE) .
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