Sharh al-Mishkat lil-Tibi al-Kashif an Haqaiq al-Sunan
- Author died
- 743 AH
- Editions
- Maktabat Nizar Mustafa al-Baz
Al-Kashif 'an Haqaiq al-Sunan (Arabic: الكاشف عن حقائق السنن, The Revealer of the Realities of the Prophetic Traditions), commonly known as Sharh al-Mishkat lil-Tibi, is a multi-volume Arabic hadith commentary by al-Tibi (d. 743 AH / 1342 CE) on al-Tabrizi's hadith collection Mishkat al-Masabih (The Niche of Lamps).
Composition and Purpose
Mishkat al-Masabih originated from a consultation between al-Tibi and his student, Wali al-Din al-Khatib al-Tabrizi, in which they agreed to expand, refine, and attribute the hadiths of al-Baghawi's Masabih al-Sunnah (Lamps of the Sunnah) to their original compilers. Following al-Tabrizi's completion of the compilation in Ramadan 737 AH, al-Tibi authored al-Kashif 'an Haqaiq al-Sunan as the first comprehensive commentary on the work.
Al-Tibi stated in his preface that his purpose was to resolve textual difficulties, clarify obscure vocabulary and grammar, and uncover subtle points of meaning and rhetoric (al-ma'ani wa-al-bayan) across the collection's narrations.
Structure and Method
The work begins with an introductory treatise on hadith terminology and principles (usul al-hadith). In the commentary, al-Tibi adopted an abridged style of quotation and devised a system of specific abbreviations ('alamah) to mark his primary source texts:
- (Khatt) for Ma'alim al-Sunan by al-Khattabi
- (Hiss) for Sharh al-Sunnah by al-Baghawi
- (Muh) for Sharh Sahih Muslim by al-Nawawi, which al-Tibi identified as his principal and most extensive reference
- (Fa) for al-Fa'iq by al-Zamakhshari
- (Ghib) for al-Mufradat by al-Raghib al-Isfahani
- (Nuh) for al-Nihayah by Ibn al-Athir al-Jazari
- (Taw) for the commentary of al-Turbishti
- (Qad) for the commentary of Qadi al-Baydawi
- (Muz) for al-Mafatih fi Sharh al-Masabih by al-Mazhari
- (Shif) for al-Ashraf
Passages appearing without a sign represent al-Tibi's own independent deductions and grammatical analyses.
Reception and Influence
Al-Kashif 'an Haqaiq al-Sunan became a foundational commentary on Mishkat al-Masabih and served as a major source for later hadith commentators. Al-Sayyid al-Sharif al-Jurjani (d. 816 AH) composed a marginal gloss (Hashiyah) on al-Mishkat that functioned primarily as an abridgment of al-Tibi's commentary with select additions.
Later scholars drew extensively on the work, notably Mulla Ali al-Qari in his commentary Mirqat al-Mafatih, Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in his commentary on Sahih al-Bukhari, and the authors of later compilations such as Awn al-Ma'bud and Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi.
Answer updated