Sualat al-Barqani lil-Daraqutni
- Author died
- 425 AH
- Editions
- t Majdi al-Sayyid · t al-Qashqari
Sualat al-Barqani lil-Daraqutni (Questions of al-Barqani to al-Daraqutni) is a specialized hadith work compiled by Abu Bakr al-Barqani (336–425 AH / 948–1034 CE), recording assessments of transmitter criticism (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil) delivered by his teacher, Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni (306–385 AH / 918–995 CE) .
Composition and Context
Al-Barqani initially recorded his questions and al-Daraqutni's oral responses on loose paper slips (riqa'), later gathering them and arranging the narrators alphabetically by name to make the material accessible to students of hadith . The book is part of a broader corpus of "questions" (su'alat) directed to al-Daraqutni by leading hadith masters of his circle, including al-Hakim al-Naysaburi, Hamzah al-Sahmi, Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami, and Ibn Bukayr .
Contents and Methodology
The work contains 628 biographical entries evaluating individual narrators . With two exceptions, all questions were put directly to al-Daraqutni; one question was asked solely of Abu al-Hasan ibn Muzaffar concerning Muhammad ibn Dinar, and another was posed jointly to him and al-Daraqutni .
The entries consist of concise inquiries answered with brief, definitive assessments by al-Daraqutni . The responses reflect al-Daraqutni's direct, independent critical verdicts rather than quotations of earlier critics, with only three exceptions where he cited outside authorities: in the entries for Ibn 'Aqil, 'Abd Allah ibn Najid, and 'Ali ibn Hashim ibn al-Barid . His verdicts generally conform to the broader critical consensus of hadith experts, departing from other authorities in only four entries: al-Harith ibn 'Umayr, Husam ibn Misak, Hafs ibn 'Umar al-Halabi, and Ishaq ibn Yasar .
Transmission and Manuscripts
The primary line of transmission for the text runs from al-Barqani through Abu Ghalib Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Karaji al-Baqillani . Later transmission chains include Abu Tahir al-Silafi, Abu Abd Allah al-Fayruzabadi, Abu al-Fadl al-Dumayri, Abu 'Umar Ibn Jama'ah, Umm Abd Allah 'A'ishah bint 'Ali al-Kinaniyyah, and Abu al-Fadl Abd al-Rahman al-Qalqashandi .
A key manuscript is preserved in Istanbul in the Ahmet III collection (MS 624), consisting of 13 folios transcribed in 728 AH by Abu Bakr ibn 'Ali ibn Isma'il al-Ansari al-Bahnasi al-Shafi'i, alongside a manuscript preserved in Dar al-Kutub in Cairo . Attached to the Ahmet III manuscript is an appendix (dhayl) of three to four folios compiled by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, entitled Ta'liq al-Khatib 'ala Sualat al-Barqani lil-Daraqutni, which records supplementary comments transmitted from al-Barqani from al-Daraqutni .
Reception and Editions
The book served as an authoritative source for subsequent hadith and biographical scholarship . Its evaluations are cited extensively by al-Khatib al-Baghdadi in Tarikh Baghdad, al-Dhahabi in Siyar A'lam al-Nubala' and Mizan al-I'tidal, and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in Tahdhib al-Tahdhib and Lisan al-Mizan .
The work has been edited and published by 'Abd al-Rahim Muhammad Ahmad al-Qashqari (Lahore, 1404 AH) and by Majdi al-Sayyid Ibrahim (Cairo, 1989) .
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