Tarikh al-Raqqa
- Author died
- 334 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā'ir
Tarikh al-Raqqa (تاريخ الرقة; "The History of al-Raqqa"), whose full title is Tarikh al-Raqqa wa-man nazalaha min ashab Rasul Allah wa-l-tabi'in wa-l-fuqaha' wa-l-muhaddithin ("The History of al-Raqqa and Those of the Prophet's Companions, Successors, Jurists, and Hadith Scholars Who Settled There"), is a local biographical work composed by the hadith scholar Abu Ali al-Qushayri (d. 334 AH / 945 CE) .
Scope and Contents
The book serves as a biographical dictionary and regional hadith compendium focused on the city of al-Raqqa and the figures who resided in or passed through it . It documents biographies and transmitted narrations across chronological tiers, beginning with Companions of the Prophet who settled there—such as Wabisah ibn Ma'bad al-Asadi—and proceeding through Successors (including Maymun ibn Mihran), early jurists, and subsequent generations of local hadith scholars and visitors . Each entry typically records biographical details, genealogy, teachers, students, and specific hadith reports or historical notices associated with the subject .
Transmission and Reception
The text was compiled and transmitted in al-Raqqa by al-Qushayri in 334 AH . Its chain of transmission passed through his student Abu Ahmad Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn al-Qasim ibn Jami' al-Dahhan, then Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Ja'far ibn al-Salmasi, and Abu al-Husayn al-Mubarak ibn Abd al-Jabbar al-Sayrafi, who transmitted it in Baghdad in Muharram 496 AH . It was subsequently read and transmitted by Abu Tahir al-Silafi in Alexandria, and from him by Badr al-Din Abu al-Qasim Abd al-Rahim ibn Yusuf ibn al-Tufayl al-Dimashqi in 631 AH .
The work was utilized and cited by later biographical and historical authorities, including Ibn Makula in al-Ikmal and Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani in al-Isaba .
Manuscripts and Editions
Surviving manuscript copies include a copy preserved in the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS Majmu' 34/1, dated 630 AH) and another in the Iraqi Museum in Baghdad (MS 1055) . The text has appeared in multiple modern print editions:
- An edition prepared by Tahir al-Na'sani (Hama, 1960) .
- An edition edited by Ibrahim Salih, published by Dar al-Basha'ir in Damascus (1419 AH / 1998 CE) .
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