Sualat al-Hakim li al-Daraqutni

Sualat al-Hakim li al-Daraqutni (Questions of al-Hakim to al-Daraqutni) is a specialized hadith work in narrator criticism (al-jarh wa-l-ta'dil) compiled by Abu Abd Allah al-Hakim al-Naysaburi (321–405 AH / 933–1014 CE), documenting his questions to the hadith master Abu al-Hasan al-Daraqutni (306–385 AH / 918–995 CE) regarding the status of various transmitters and defect analysis (ilal) Tarikh Naysabur "Tabaqat …+2.

Background and Composition

During his journey to Iraq and the Hijaz in 367 AH, al-Hakim resided in Baghdad for over four months, where he regularly met al-Daraqutni and questioned him regarding narrators and hidden defects in hadith Tarikh Naysabur "Tabaqat …+1. Al-Hakim recorded a list of Iraqi teachers whose status in criticism was obscure to him and submitted the written document to al-Daraqutni al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D…+1. Al-Daraqutni annotated the manuscript in his own handwriting beneath each name with his verified evaluations, after which al-Hakim went over the entries verbally directly with him al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D…+1. Al-Hakim compiled these responses, which were subsequently transmitted and heard from him by his students Tarikh Naysabur "Tabaqat ….

Structure and Scope

The book serves as a focused reference reflecting al-Daraqutni’s critical assessments of narrators and teachers, particularly those based in Iraq al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D…+1. The names at the beginning of the text are arranged alphabetically according to dictionary order, though this alphabetical arrangement is not maintained throughout the remainder of the work al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D….

Al-Daraqutni delivers succinct verdicts on each narrator (such as designating a figure as thiqa [trustworthy], la ba'sa bihi [acceptable], da'if [weak], or noting that questions had been raised regarding a narrator's memory), occasionally providing concise summaries of specific defects or criticisms al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D…+1. The work holds particular biographical importance for clarifying the standing of contemporary and near-contemporary Iraqi narrators of al-Daraqutni's era who were seldom documented in standard biographical compendiums al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D….

Transmission and Editions

The text was transmitted down through chains connected to al-Hakim, including via Abu Bakr Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Khalaf al-Shirazi, Abu Zur'a Tahir ibn Muhammad al-Maqdisi, and Abu Bakr Abd al-Aziz ibn Ahmad ibn Umar ibn Baqa al-Baghdadi Sualat al-Hakim li al-Dar….

A surviving manuscript of the text is preserved in the Ahmet III collection (MS 624/23, fols. 268b–279a), comprising eleven folios with twenty-four to twenty-five lines per page al-Imam Abu al-Hasan al-D…. The work was edited and published with a critical study by Muwaffaq ibn Abd Allah ibn Abd al-Qadir through Maktabat al-Ma'arif in Riyadh Sualat al-Barqani lil-Dar…+1.