Silat al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala

Silat al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala ("The Continuation of the Supplement to the Obits of Transmitters") is a biographical dictionary by the Shafi'i hadith scholar and historian Izz al-Din al-Husayni (d. 695 AH / 1295 CE) Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1. It was written as a direct continuation (dhayl) to the biographical dictionary al-Takmila li-Wafayat al-Naqala by his teacher al-Mundhiri (d. 656 AH / 1258 CE) Tarikh al-Islam+1.

Scope and arrangement

The work belongs to a continuous lineage of obituary works (kutub al-wafayat) that trace back to Abu Sulayman ibn Zabr al-Raba'i (d. 379 AH / 989 CE), continued successively by Abd al-Aziz al-Kattani (d. 466 AH / 1074 CE), Hibat Allah ibn al-Akfani (d. 524 AH / 1129 CE), Ali ibn al-Mufaddal al-Maqdisi (d. 611 AH / 1214 CE), and al-Mundhiri al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1. Al-Mundhiri halted his dictation of al-Takmila around 26 Rabi' al-Awwal 642 AH al-Alam lil-Zirikli. Al-Husayni began his continuation from the year 641 AH (or 640 AH according to another description), overlapping slightly with his teacher's coverage, and recorded deaths through the year 675 AH, with the final entry dated 17 Dhu al-Qi'da 675 AH al-Wafayat - lil-Iraqi+1. Some bibliographical sources noted that it ended in 674 AH, which was attributed to missing folios at the end of certain manuscript copies al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha…+1.

The entries are structured strictly chronologically by year of death, and chronologically within each year by month, recording biographical data for scholars, hadith transmitters, and notable figures of the seventh century Hijri al-Hafiz al-Iraqi wa Atha….

Reception and continuations

Silat al-Takmila served as a primary historical source for subsequent Mamluk-era historians:

• Shams al-Din al-Dhahabi (d. 748 AH / 1348 CE) relied extensively on it, abridging its contents and incorporating most of its biographical notices into his vast chronicle Tarikh al-Islam Tarikh al-Islam.
• Alam al-Din al-Birzali (d. 739 AH / 1339 CE) frequently cited and quoted its entries in his chronicle al-Muqtafi li-Tarikh Abi Shama Tarikh al-Barzali al-Muqt….
• Kamal al-Din al-Udfuwi (d. 748 AH / 1347 CE) utilized it among his main references for al-Badr al-Safir al-Badr al-Safir an Anas ….

The Egyptian historian Shihab al-Din Ahmad ibn Aybak al-Dimyati (d. 749 AH / 1348 CE) composed a continuation to it titled Tatimmat al-Sila li-Wafayat al-Naqala, writing 123 biographical entries directly in the margins of the work and continuing it up to his own death in 749 AH during the Black Death al-Wafayat - lil-Iraqi+1. Later scholars such as Zayn al-Din al-Iraqi (d. 806 AH / 1404 CE) and Taqi al-Din al-Fasi (d. 832 AH / 1429 CE) also made use of both al-Husayni's original and al-Dimyati's continuation al-Wafayat - lil-Iraqi+1.

Manuscripts and editions

Autograph material and copies of the work include:

• A manuscript copied in the author's hand preserved in the Köprülü Library in Istanbul (MS 1101, 211 folios), dated 685 AH Mujam Tarikh al-Turath al…+1.
• An autograph copy preserved in the Alexandria Municipal Library, bearing marginal notes and reading certificates (sama'at), including reading records by Muhammad ibn Muhammad ibn al-Khaydari al-Shafi'i dated 851 AH and notes by Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Dimyati Silat al-Takmila li-Wafay…+1.

The book was critically edited by Bashar Awwad Ma'ruf and published by Dar al-Gharb al-Islami in Beirut in 2007 CE (1428 AH), with al-Dimyati's Tatimmat al-Sila printed in its margins Silat al-Takmila li-Wafay…+1. Another edition was published by Dar Ibn Hazm under the editorship of Abu Yahya Abd Allah al-Kandari Silat al-Takmila li-Wafay….