Sirat Ibn Hisham

Sirat Ibn Hisham (The Biography of the Prophet by Ibn Hisham) is a foundational Arabic work on the prophetic biography (al-Sira al-Nabawiyya) edited and redacted by the Basran-born grammarian and genealogist Abd al-Malik ibn Hisham (d. 213 AH / 828 CE; another report gives 218 AH / 834 CE) al-Rawd al-Unuf+1. It represents the primary surviving recension of the pioneering biography composed by Ibn Ishaq (d. 151 AH) al-Rawd al-Unuf+1.

Origin and Transmission

The core text of the work was originally composed by Ibn Ishaq at the behest of the Abbasid caliph Abu Ja'far al-Mansur for his son al-Mahdi al-Rawd al-Unuf. Ibn Hisham studied and transmitted the text from Ibn Ishaq's direct student, the Kufan scholar Ziyad ibn Abd Allah al-Bakka'i (d. 183 AH), who had heard the Maghazi twice directly from Ibn Ishaq Awail al-Muallifin fi al-…+1.

After relocating from Basra to Egypt, Ibn Hisham transmitted his redacted version of the biography to his students, among whom were Muhammad ibn Hasan al-Qattan, Abd al-Rahim ibn Abd Allah al-Barqi, and his brother Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Barqi Awail al-Muallifin fi al-…+1. Through their transmission, Ibn Hisham's recension circulated widely and became the standard reference text for the biography of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ al-Rawd al-Unuf+1.

Structure and Method

In his preface, Ibn Hisham detailed his editorial criteria and methodology regarding Ibn Ishaq's original material Sirat Ibn Hisham:

• Genealogical scope: He began the narrative with the history of Ismail ibn Ibrahim and traced the direct lineage of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, omitting other collateral branches of Ismail's descendants for the sake of brevity Sirat Ibn Hisham.
• Abridgment of non-prophetic accounts: He discarded sections from Ibn Ishaq that contained no mention of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, had no connection to Quranic revelations, and did not serve as a cause, explanation, or textual witness for the book's events Sirat Ibn Hisham.
• Critical screening of poetry and reports: He expunged verses of poetry that were unverified by authorities on Arabic verse, accounts deemed offensive or distressing to hear, and narrations that al-Bakka'i did not authenticate in his transmission Sirat Ibn Hisham.

In addition to abridging the text, Ibn Hisham added his own linguistic, grammatical, and genealogical annotations, occasionally supplementing the reports with material transmitted from scholars such as Abu Ubayda and Abd al-Warith ibn Sa'id Majallat al-Buhuth al-Isl…+1.

Commentaries, Adaptations, and Editions

Numerous scholars composed extensive commentaries and derivative works on Ibn Hisham's text:

• Commentaries: Abu al-Qasim al-Suhayli (d. 581 AH) composed al-Rawd al-unuf (The Untrodden Garden), elucidating obscure vocabulary, difficult grammar, and complex genealogies based on more than 120 sources Sirat Ibn Hisham+1. Abu Dharr al-Khushani (d. 604 AH) authored al-Imla' al-mukhtasar fi sharh gharib al-siyar on its difficult terms Sirat Ibn Hisham+1. Badr al-Din al-Ayni (d. 855 AH) wrote Kashf al-litham fi sharh Sirat Ibn Hisham, and Ala' al-Din Mughaltay wrote al-Zahr al-basim covering both the Sira and al-Rawd al-unuf Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a…+1.
• Versifications: The text was rendered into verse by Abu Nasr Fath ibn Musa al-Khadrawi al-Qasri (d. 663 AH), Sa'd al-Dirini (d. c. 697 AH), and Abu Ishaq al-Ansari al-Tilimsani Kashf al-Zunun an Asami a….
• Editions: An early European edition was edited by Ferdinand Wüstenfeld in Göttingen between 1858 and 1860 Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa …+1. It was also printed in Bulaq, and later edited in Cairo in two volumes by Mustafa al-Saqqa, Ibrahim al-Ibyari, and Abd al-Hafiz Shalabi (1955) Iktifa al-Qanu bima huwa …+1.