Hilyat al-abrar fi ahwal Muhammad wa alih al-athar (book)
Author | Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani |
---|---|
Original title | حِلْیَةُ الأبْرار فی أحْوالِ مُحمّد (ص) و آلِه الأطْهار |
Language | Arabic |
Series | 5 vol. |
Subject | The Fourteen Infallibles |
Genre | Hadith |
Published | Qom/ 1411/1990-1 |
Publisher | Mu'assisa al-Ma'arif al-Islamiyya |
Ḥilyat al-abrār fī aḥwāl Muḥammad wa Ālih al-aṭhār (a) (Arabic: حلیة الأبرار فی أحوال محمد و آله الأطهار) is a book written by Shiite scholar, Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, in five volumes concerning the biographies of Prophet Muhammad (s) and Infallible Imams (a). In this book, al-Bahrani elaborated Ahl al-Bayt's (a) virtues in 13 parts (called "manhaj") within many chapters.
Author
Sayyid Hashim al-Tubalani al-Bahrani, known as al-'Allama al-Bahrani, was a Shiite scholar of hadith and the exegesis of the Qur'an in the 11th century and early 12th century (17th century). He was from Bahrain. Al-Bahrani was a Shiite authority in Bahrain. He wrote a book concerning the exegesis of the Qur'an called al-Burhan fi tafsir al-Qur'an. Al-Shaykh al-Hurr al-'Amili, the author of Wasa'il al-Shi'a, was one of his students. Al-Bahrani died in 1107/1695-6 or 1109/1697-8. He was buried in Tubli in the well-known cemetery of Matini.
Structure
The book has 13 parts (manhaj) each containing several chapters. The book contains about 2300 hadiths cited from about 100 reliable sources, some of which have not been published yet. Al-Bahrani finished writing the book on Rabi' II 18, 1099/February 21, 1688.
Contents
In each part, the author concerned himself with virtues of each Shiite Imam (a) under several chapters by citing relevant hadiths from each Imam's (a) birth to his martyrdom. Al-Bahrani cited the chains of narrations of hadiths as they appear in the main sources.
- Volume 1 (the first part) including 70 chapters regarding the biography of the Prophet (s).
- Volume 2 (the second part) including 50 chapters regarding the biography of Imam 'Ali (a).
- Volume 3 (the third to the sixth part) including 60 chapters regarding the biographies of Imam al-Hasan (a) through Imam al-Baqir (a).
- Volume 4 (the 7th to the 10th part) including 80 chapters regarding the biographies of Imam al-Sadiq (a) through Imam al-Jawad (a).
- Volume 5 (the 11th to the 13th part) including 78 chapters regarding the biographies of Imam al-Hadi (a) through Imam al-Mahdi (a).
Sources of the Book
The book cited many various Shiite and Sunni sources regarding the biographies and virtues of the Prophet (s) and the Shiite Imams (a). They include books such as al-Kafi, books by al-Shaykh al-Saduq, al-Shaykh al-Mufid, books regarding virtues such as Al-Thaqib fi l-manaqib, Quranic exegetical books regarding the Prophet's (s) life and the virtues of Amir al-Mu'minin (a) and Ahl al-Bayt (a).
Although al-Bahrani referred to Sunni sources regarding the Prophet (s)'s life and ghazwas, but it seems that his preferred sources were Shiite ones, such as A'lam al-wara by al-Shaykh al-Tabrisi.
The book, Hilyat al-abrar, is similar in its collection of hadiths to the book, Bihar al-anwar, and has a similar place among scholars.
Manuscripts
- The manuscript of the library of Astan Quds Razawi
- Another manuscript in Karbala, transcribed from the author's hand-writing in 1283/1866-7.
- A manuscript in the library of the Faydiyya Seminary School in Qom.
Print and Publication
The book was edited by Muhammad b. Hasan al-Tafrishi al-Durudi and published with many typos in 1397/1976-7 by the 'Ilmiyya Publications. Thus it was later edited by Shaykh Ghulamrida Burujirdi and published by Mu'assisat al-Ma'arif al-Islamiyya in 1411/1990-1.
References
- The material for this article is mainly taken from (حلیة الابرار فی احوال محمد و آله الاطهار (کتاب in Farsi WikiShia.