Takmilat Ikmal al-Ikmal - Ibn al-Sabuni
- Author died
- 680 AH
- Editions
- Tabat al-Iraq · al-Ilmiyya
Takmilat Ikmal al-Ikmal (Completion of the Completion of the Ikmal) is a biographical and onomastic dictionary by the Damascene hadith scholar Jamal al-Din Ibn al-Sabuni (604–680 AH / 1207–1282 CE), dedicated to resolving easily confused names, patronymics, and genealogical titles (al-mu'talif wa-l-mukhtalif) among hadith transmitters and historical figures .
Background and Purpose
The work was composed as a direct supplement (dhayl) to Takmilat al-Ikmal (which Ibn al-Sabuni refers to as Ikmal al-Ikmal), authored by Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Abd al-Ghani Ibn Nuqta (d. 629 AH) . Ibn Nuqta's text was itself a supplement to the foundational work al-Ikmal by Ibn Makula (d. 475 or 486 AH) .
In the introduction to his book, Ibn al-Sabuni praised Ibn Nuqta’s compilation and the numerous benefits gathered through his extensive scholarly travels, but observed that Ibn Nuqta had nevertheless omitted certain figures who belonged under existing entries or whom he had not encountered . Ibn al-Sabuni therefore wrote the book following Ibn Nuqta's pattern to fill those omissions and extend the utility of the earlier work .
Scope, Structure, and Reception
Composed in a single volume, the work is organized alphabetically according to the established framework of al-mu'talif wa-l-mukhtalif, recording orthographically identical or similar names, patronymics (kuna), and relational names (ansab) that differ in vocalization . The biographer al-Safadi noted that Ibn al-Sabuni "excelled and provided great benefit" in this compilation .
In hadith literature, Ibn al-Sabuni's book is regarded alongside the work of Mansur ibn Salim (known as Ibn al-Imadiyyah, d. 673 AH) as one of the two primary concise supplements to Ibn Nuqta's text . Both supplements served as primary source material for Ala al-Din Mughaltay (d. 762 AH), who compiled an expansive supplement combining the entries of Ibn al-Sabuni and Mansur ibn Salim while incorporating additional material on poets and Arab lineages .
Editions
The work was critically edited in a single volume by Dr. Mustafa Jawad and published in Baghdad by the Iraqi Academy in 1377 AH / 1957 CE . It was subsequently republished in Beirut in 1406 AH / 1986 CE .
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