Sharh al-Athyubi ala Alfiyyat al-Suyuti fi al-Hadith = Isaf Dhawi al-Watar bi Sharh Nazm al-Durar fi Ilm al-Athar
- Author died
- 1442 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat al-Ghurabāʾ al-Athariyyah
Is‘āf Dhawī al-Waṭar bi-Sharḥ Naẓm al-Durar fī ‘Ilm al-Athar (also known as Sharḥ al-Athyūbī ‘alā Alfiyyat al-Suyūṭī fī al-Ḥadīth) is a two-volume commentary on Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s (849–911 AH) didactic poem on Hadith terminology, authored by the Ethiopian scholar Muḥammad ibn ‘Alī ibn Ādam al-Athyūbī (d. 1442 AH) .
Background and Composition
The base text of the commentary is Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī’s rajaz poem on Hadith sciences, commonly referred to as Alfiyyat al-Suyūṭī, which consists of 994 verses . The author notes that while it became widely known as Alfiyyat al-Suyūṭī, its title recorded from al-Suyūṭī's Ḥusn al-Muḥāḍarah is Naẓm al-Durar fī ‘Ilm al-Athar . Al-Suyūṭī composed the poem to expand upon, condense, and better organize the material found in Zayn al-Dīn al-‘Irāqī’s earlier didactic poem (Alfiyyat al-‘Irāqī) .
Al-Athyūbī completed the writing of this concise commentary on the morning of Tuesday, 14 Jumādā al-Thāniyah 1408 AH, in Mecca .
Method and Content
In Is‘āf Dhawī al-Waṭar, al-Athyūbī systematically addresses the verses line by line, integrating grammatical, lexical, and terminological analysis:
- Linguistic and Grammatical Analysis: He breaks down the syntax (i‘rāb) of individual words and hemistichs, explores Arabic root derivations, and points out rhetorical features such as opening preludes (barā‘at al-istihlāl) .
- Terminology of Hadith: He explicates the definitions and rules governing the various categories of Hadith and narrator criticism (‘ilm al-ḥadīth dirāyatan wa-riwāyatan), covering issues such as transmission paths, narrator integrity (‘adālah), precision (ḍabṭ), and chains of narration (sanad) .
- Reference Conventions: Al-Athyūbī notes in the work that whenever he uses the term "the commentator" (al-Shāriḥ) unconditionally without specifying a name, he specifically refers to Muḥammad Maḥfūẓ al-Tirmasī (author of Manhaj Dhawī al-Naẓar bi-Sharḥ Alfiyyat al-Athar) .
Publication
The work was published in two volumes by Maktabat al-Ghurabā' al-Athariyyah in Medina, Saudi Arabia, with its first edition appearing in 1414 AH / 1993 CE .
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