Tuhfat al-Talibin fi Tarjamat al-Imam Muhyi al-Din
- Author died
- 724 AH
- Editions
- al-Dar al-Athariyyah
Tuhfat al-Talibin fi Tarjamat al-Imam Muhyi al-Din (The Gift to Seekers on the Biography of Imam Muhyi al-Din) is a biographical monograph authored by the Damascus-based Shafi'i scholar Ibn al-Attar (d. 724 AH / 1324 CE) dedicated to the life, virtues, and scholarship of his teacher, Abu Zakariyya Yahya ibn Sharaf al-Nawawi (d. 676 AH / 1277 CE).
Background and Purpose
Ibn al-Attar was al-Nawawi's closest student and companion, earning the moniker Mukhtasar al-Nawawi ("the Epitome of al-Nawawi") due to his constant attendance upon his teacher. In the preface, the author explains that his motivation for compiling the work was to fulfill the immense rights his master held over him by recording his virtues (manaqib), achievements (ma'athir), method of scholarly engagement, and his endurance of a frugal and austere life despite having the means for comfort, thereby prompting readers to supplicate for God's mercy upon him. Hajji Khalifa recorded the composition date as 770 AH, though commentators noted this as an apparent scribal error given the author's death in 724 AH, suggesting it may have been 707 AH.
Content and Scope
The work provides a firsthand account of al-Nawawi's life, his scholarly regimen, personal habits, and asceticism. It details his legal and hadith treatises, distinguishing between the works he completed and those cut short by his death, such as his partial commentary on Sunan Abi Dawud titled al-Ijaz. Ibn al-Attar also relates personal anecdotes with his teacher, including al-Nawawi providing him with a list of reference books and charging him to complete Sharh al-Muhadhdhab (al-Majmu'), as well as permitting him to make textual corrections to his manuscripts in his presence.
Reception
The book serves as the foundational primary authority for the biography of al-Nawawi, with later biographers universally relying upon it. Extensive citations were incorporated by al-Dhahabi in Tadhkirat al-Huffaz (Memorial of the Hadith Masters) and Tarikh al-Islam (History of Islam), as well as by al-Sakhawi in al-Manhal al-'Adhb al-Rawi (The Sweet, Quenching Spring) and al-Suyuti in al-Minhaj al-Sawi (The Straight Path). Al-Sakhawi noted that Ibn al-Attar's monograph was his principal source and the primary reference for all scholars who succeeded him. The work is also referenced by al-Yafi'i in Mir'at al-Jinan (Mirror of the Heavens) and Ismail Pasha al-Baghdadi in Hadiyyat al-'Arifin (Gift of the Gnostics).
Manuscripts and Editions
Manuscripts of the treatise include:
- A six-folio copy preserved at the Zahiriyya Library in Damascus (MS 9509, within a collective codex; cataloged at the Juma al-Majid Center in Dubai under no. 1598).
- A manuscript transcribed by the author's brother, Jamal al-Din Dawud ibn Ibrahim Ibn al-Attar, completed on 7 Rabi' al-Thani 744 AH and collated against the author's autograph copy.
The text was edited by Mashhur ibn Hasan Al Salman and published by Dar al-Sumay'i in Riyadh (1414 AH / 1993 CE), and later by al-Dar al-Athariyya in Amman (1428 AH / 2007 CE).
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