Wasiyyat Taqi al-Din al-Subki li-Waladihi Muhammad
- Author died
- 756 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Bashā’ir al-Islāmiyyah lil-Ṭibā‘ah wal-Nashr wal-Tawzī‘
Wasiyyat Taqi al-Din al-Subki li-Waladihi Muhammad (The Counsel of Taqi al-Din al-Subki to His Son Muhammad) is a didactic poem composed by the Shafi'i jurist Taqi al-Din al-Subki (d. 756 AH / 1355 CE) for his eldest son, offering guidance on religious learning, ethical conduct, asceticism, and spiritual devotion .
Occasion and Composition
The poem was addressed to the author's eldest son, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ali al-Subki, upon his departure to the Hijaz in 716 AH (1316 CE) serving as judge and inspector (qadi wa-nazir) of the Egyptian pilgrimage caravan . Muhammad died early before achieving scholarly prominence, and little about his biography is preserved beyond mentions of this exhortation .
Content and Structure
Comprising sixty-three verses rhyming in the letter dal, the text falls under the classical genre of parental testaments (wasiyya) . Its themes include:
- Acquisition of Knowledge: Exhorting the memorization of the Quran, sound hadith, and Shafi'i jurisprudence, alongside mastering legal theory (usul al-fiqh) and Arabic grammar to correctly understand scripture . It instructs following the methods of the four legal imams—al-Shafi'i, Malik ibn Anas, Abu Hanifa, and Ahmad ibn Hanbal—with sincerity directed solely to God .
- Ethics and Sufi Conduct: Warning against frivolity and depravity, enjoining scrupulous piety (wara'), restraining the tongue and limbs from transgression, and emulating the spiritual path of al-Junayd and his companions . It cautions against criticizing scholars, noting that "the flesh of the scholars is poisoned" for those who slander them, and stresses adhering strictly to scripture when confronted with contradictory opinions .
- Repentance and Praise of the Prophet: Expressing the author's own longing for pilgrimage, admission of sins, and yearning for God's forgiveness upon reaching the tomb of the Prophet ﷺ in Medina . It includes verses invoking the Prophet's status and intercession (tawassul)—a doctrinal position al-Subki maintained in other treatises—followed by extensive praise of Medina and prayers upon the Prophet ﷺ .
Transmission and Publication
The author's younger son, Taj al-Din al-Subki, documented the poem in his biographical compendium Tabaqat al-Shafi'iyya al-Kubra (The Major Biographical Layers of the Shafi'is), citing nineteen verses in an order differing from the primary manuscript . A marginal note on an early manuscript indicates that a prominent Sufi scholar residing at the Sumaysatiyya khanqah wrote a commentary on it .
The full poem was edited by Nizam Muhammad Salih Ya'qubi from a manuscript preserved in the Yahuda Collection at Princeton University Library, transcribed in 868 AH (1464 CE) by Abd al-Qadir al-Nu'mi al-Hisni al-Shafi'i . It was published by Dar al-Basha'ir al-Islamiyya in Beirut in 1421 AH (2000 CE) as part of the booklet series Liqa' al-'Ashr al-Awakhir bi-l-Masjid al-Haram .
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