Tahdhib al-Asma wal-Lughat
- Author died
- 676 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Tahdhib al-Asma wal-Lughat (Biographical and Lexical Emendation) is a biographical and lexical reference work compiled by the Shafi'i jurist and hadith scholar Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE) .
Purpose and Scope
Al-Nawawi compiled the work to explain the names of figures and clarify the vocabulary found across six foundational texts of Shafi'i jurisprudence: al-Muzani's Mukhtasar, Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi's al-Muhadhdhab and al-Tanbih, Abu Hamid al-Ghazali's al-Wasit and al-Wajiz, and al-Nawawi's own Rawdat al-Talibin . Al-Nawawi noted that the first five works were widely studied and circulated across Muslim lands without an exhaustive reference available to clarify them, while the six works combined covered the terminology essential for legal scholars . To increase the utility of the work, he supplemented the terms and figures found in these six books with additional relevant entries .
The biographical coverage encompasses humans (both men and women), angels, and jinn mentioned in those works either in transmissions or otherwise, whether Muslim or non-Muslim . The lexical scope includes Arabic, foreign, and Arabized words, as well as legal definitions and technical terminology of Islamic jurisprudence .
Structure and Method
The book is structured into two main parts (qismayn):
- The Section on Names (Qism al-Asma'): Begins with an extensive biography and description of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and his traits . It is divided into two categories: men and women . The section for men is subdivided into eight types, beginning with regular given names arranged alphabetically, followed by patronymics, titles, and lineage entries .
- The Section on Language (Qism al-Lughat): Arranged strictly in alphabetical order, covering rare vocabulary, juristic terms, and language rules . At the end of each alphabetical letter, al-Nawawi appends a dedicated subsection detailing geographical and place names (al-mawadi') that begin with that letter .
In documenting entries, al-Nawawi adopted a systematic citation method: for figures or terms that appear frequently in the texts, he explained them directly without specifying every chapter; however, for those that appear rarely or only in a few places, he specified their exact location within the respective texts (such as noting specific chapters in al-Muhadhdhab or al-Wasit) .
Sources
Al-Nawawi drew upon major biographical, historical, and genealogical reference works . In history and narrator evaluation, he relied on al-Bukhari's al-Tarikh, Ibn Abi Khaythama, Khalifa ibn Khayyat, Ibn Sa'd's al-Tabaqat al-Sughra and al-Kubra, Ibn Abi Hatim's al-Jarh wal-Ta'dil, Ibn Hibban's al-Thiqat, al-Hakim al-Naysaburi's Tarikh Naysabur, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi's Tarikh Baghdad, Tarikh Hamadhan, and Ibn 'Asakir's Tarikh Dimashq . For biographical notices on the Companions, he utilized Ibn 'Abd al-Barr's al-Isti'ab, as well as the works of Ibn Mandah, Abu Nu'aym al-Isfahani, Abu Musa, and Ibn al-Athir . For orthography of names (al-mu'talif wal-mukhtalif), he cited al-Daraqutni, 'Abd al-Ghani ibn Sa'id, al-Khatib al-Baghdadi, and Ibn Makula . For jurists, he relied on the Tabaqat al-Fuqaha' works of Abu 'Asim al-'Abbadi, Abu Ishaq al-Shirazi, and Ibn al-Salah .
Derivative Works and Editions
Tahdhib al-Asma wal-Lughat was reorganized by later scholars, including Akmal al-Din Muhammad ibn Mahmud al-Hanafi (d. 786 AH) and Muhyi al-Din 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Qurashi al-Hanafi (d. 775 AH) . It was abridged by 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad al-Bistami under the title al-Fawa'id al-Saniyyah, as well as by Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 911 AH) .
The book has been published in four parts, notably prepared and printed by Idarat al-Tiba'ah al-Muniriyyah in Cairo and subsequently reissued by Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyyah in Beirut .
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