Tasliyat al-Ama an Baliyat al-Ama
- Author died
- 1014 AH
- Editions
- Dar al-Bukhari
Tasliyat al-Ama an Baliyat al-Ama (Consolation of the Blind Regarding the Affliction of Blindness) is a short treatise by the Hanafi scholar al-Mulla Ali al-Qari (d. 1014 AH / 1606 CE) devoted to prophetic traditions regarding divine trials and the spiritual reward promised to those afflicted with blindness .
Title and Subject Matter
The treatise is attributed to al-Mulla Ali al-Qari under the title Tasliyat al-Ama an Baliyat al-Ama by Ismail Pasha al-Babani in Hadiyyat al-Arifin, and it also appears in manuscript records under the alternative title Turfat al-Himyan fi Tuhfat al-Umyan .
The work focuses on hadiths concerning God’s testing of righteous servants and the vast rewards prepared for them, singling out those who lose their eyesight in this life . It highlights the divine promise of Paradise for those who endure the loss of sight with patience and gratitude toward God . Al-Qari notes that sight is among the most precious human faculties, making its loss one of the severe forms of worldly affliction, and references prophetic figures such as Jacob and Shu'ayb who experienced loss of sight .
Sources and Contents
The treatise compiles dozens of prophetic traditions—amounting to over forty hadiths according to an initial count and more than sixty-five upon comprehensive verification—ranging in authenticity across sound (sahih), good (hasan), and weak (da'if) reports . Al-Qari relied extensively on Kanz al-Ummal by his teacher Ali al-Muttaqi al-Hindi (d. 975 AH), which had compiled narrations drawn from al-Suyuti's al-Jami' al-Saghir wa Ziyadatuh . The text opens with an exposition of the principle that affliction attends spiritual closeness, citing the hadith: أشد الناس بلاء الأنبياء، ثم الأمثل فالأمثل ("The most severely tested of people are the prophets, then the next best, then the next") .
Manuscripts and Publication
Manuscript copies of the treatise are preserved in several collections:
- Two codices at the Shaykh Arif Hikmat Library in Medina (MS Majami' 82/19, comprising nine folios; and MS Majami' 43/85, comprising eight folios) .
- A copy dated 1100 AH at the Khuda Bakhsh Oriental Public Library in Bankipore (MS 2568/31) .
- A copy dated 1145 AH at the Qadiriyya Library in Baghdad (MS 1432/10), and an incomplete manuscript at Dar al-Saddam (MS 13195/25) .
A critical edition prepared by Abd al-Karim ibn Sunaytan al-Umari, based on the two manuscripts in Medina, was completed in 1413 AH .
Answer updated