Nataij al-Afkar fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Adhkar
- Author died
- 852 AH
- Editions
- Dar Ibn Kathir
Nataij al-Afkar fi Takhrij Ahadith al-Adhkar (The Fruits of Thoughts on the Extraction of the Hadiths of al-Adhkar) is a hadith verification and extraction work by the Shafi'i hadith scholar Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani (773–852 AH / 1372–1449 CE) . It provides full chains of transmission, critical evaluation, and source identification for the prophetic traditions and reports collected in al-Nawawi's devotional manual al-Adhkar .
Background and Dictation
Unlike al-Nawawi's al-Adhkar, which omitted complete chains of transmission for brevity, Ibn Hajar compiled Nataij al-Afkar as a primary, transmitted work (musnad) by documenting the hadiths through his own connected chains back to original compilation sources . The text originated as dictation sessions (amali) delivered by Ibn Hajar at the Baybarsiyya madrasa in Egypt . His student Burhan al-Din al-Biqa'i recorded many of these sessions in his own hand during the dictations .
Ibn Hajar died before completing the entire extraction of al-Nawawi's work . He had dictated over 600 sessions of his Egyptian amali dedicated to this text . Following his death, his student Shams al-Din al-Sakhawi undertook the completion of the work following his teacher's method, but he also passed away before finishing it .
Method and Content
In Nataij al-Afkar, Ibn Hajar systematically examines each tradition cited by al-Nawawi, providing his own chains of narration (asānīd) to earlier collections such as those of Ibn al-Sunni, Abu Ya'la al-Mawsili, al-Tabarani, and al-Bayhaqi . He determines the exact grading of each narration—categorizing them as sound (sahih), fair (hasan), weak (da'if), or defective due to confounding inconsistency (mudtarib)—and analyzes individual narrators and subtle defects in transmission .
Reception and Editions
The work served as an essential reference for subsequent commentators on al-Nawawi's al-Adhkar. Muhammad ibn Allan al-Siddiqi relied extensively on Ibn Hajar's evaluations and quoted large portions of Nataij al-Afkar in his commentary, al-Futuhat al-Rabbaniyya 'ala al-Adhkar al-Nawawiyya .
Portions of the work have survived across various manuscripts, including a copy at the Köprülü Library copied by al-Biqa'i . An edition covering the available dictation sessions was edited by Hamdi Abd al-Majid al-Salafi and published by Dar Ibn Kathir .
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