Tasliyat Ahl al-Masaib
- Author died
- 785 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah
Tasliyat Ahl al-Masaib (Consolation for the Afflicted) is an Islamic treatise on bereavement, patience, and coping with tribulations by the Hanbali scholar Shams al-Din al-Manbiji (d. 785 AH / 1383 CE; another report gives 774 AH / 1372–73 CE) .
Composition and Context
The author composed the work around 777 AH (1375–76 CE) in the wake of severe plague outbreaks that claimed thousands of lives across the region . Written to offer solace to the grieving—particularly those mourning the loss of children and close relatives—it addresses both practical and spiritual dimensions of loss and resilience .
Contents and Structure
The book explores trials (masa'ib) through scriptural proofs, theological inquiries, and spiritual guidance:
- The Nature of Tribulation and Istirja': The work opens with linguistic definitions of calamity and an analysis of the Qur'anic formula of retrieval (istirja'), إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ("Indeed, we belong to Allah, and indeed, to Him we return") . The author details the spiritual meanings embedded in the phrase and cites prophetic traditions concerning its virtue, such as the supplication taught to Umm Salama .
- Spiritual and Psychological Remedies: Al-Manbiji outlines ways for the bereaved to temper their sorrow, noting that souls, families, and possessions are divine loans ('awari) entrusted temporarily to humans . He discusses taking comfort in the realization that suffering is universal, citing poetic expressions of solace like those of al-Khansa' and remedies summarized by Ibn al-Jawzi . He emphasizes remembering the death of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ as the supreme calamity for the Muslim community, which reduces the perceived weight of any personal loss .
- Theology of Suffering and Reward: In chapter twenty-two, the author examines whether afflictions themselves merely expiate sins (mukaffirat) or also independently generate reward (muthibat), contrasting the positions of scholars such as Izz al-Din ibn 'Abd al-Salam and Ibn Taymiyyah .
- The Soul and the Afterlife: Chapters twenty-five and twenty-six examine the questioning of the deceased in the grave, the gathering and states of souls (arwah), and their dwelling places after death .
Sources and Style
Al-Manbiji draws extensively from Qur'anic exegesis, canonical hadith collections, and the writings of earlier Hanbali scholars . He quotes substantially from Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyya's Kitab al-Ruh and 'Uddat al-Sabirin, integrating extensive excerpts regarding the soul and patience into his own chapters .
Publication History
A surviving manuscript of the work is preserved at the Chester Beatty Library (MS 3321), dated 777 AH . Modern printed editions include an early Cairo printing (1925), Damascus editions edited by Bashir Muhammad 'Uyun (1403 AH / 1983 CE) and others, and Beirut editions, including one with annotations by Muhammad Hasan al-Himsi .
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