Mustadrak nahj al-balagha (book)

Mustadrak nahj al-balāgha (Arabic: مستدرک نهج البلاغة) is a book written as an exposition of Nahj al-balagha by Hadi Kashif al-Ghita'. Similarly to Nahj al-balagha, the book is divided into three parts, containing ninety three sermons, forty six letters, and about seven hundred maxims. Just like al-Sayyid al-Radi, the author disjoins and mixes the texts and does not cite sources or chains of transmitters of the hadiths.

The Author

Hadi b. Abbas Kashif al-Ghita' (b 1289/1872-3 - d. 1361/1942-3) was a Shiite jurist, historian, scholar, man of literature, and poet. He was born in Najaf. After studying the preliminaries, he studied jurisprudence and the principles of jurisprudence with Shaykh al-Shari'a Isfahani, Sayyid Muhammad Kazim al-Yazdi, Shaykh Muhammad Taha Najaf (d. 1323/1905), and Akhund Khurasani. He received permissions for the transmission of hadiths from Taha Najaf, Sayyid Husayn Qazwini, Sayyid Muhsin Sadr Kazimi, and Shaykh Aqa Rida Isfahani (d. 1322/1904-5). He was well-known for his poems and his mastery of literature. He is characterized as a founder of the literary movement of the 20th century in Iraq.

He died in Najaf in 1361/1942. His corpse was buried in the mausoleum of Kashif al-Ghita' Family. He has some works, including:

• Al-Maqbula al-Husayniyya, poet, Najaf 1342 AH/1923-4
• Awjaz al-anba' fi maqtal sayyid al-shuhada', Najaf 1342 AH/1923-4
• Huda l-muttaqin, fiqh, Najaf [n.d]

The Structure

Just like Nahj al-balagha, the book is divided into sermons, letters, and maxims. The author does not cite sources and chains of transmitters of hadiths. And just like al-Sayyid al-Radi, he does not cite the whole sermon or letter; instead, he divides and selects certain parts.

The book involves a section under "Sources of Nahj al-balagha" and replies to objections to it, which contains an introduction, three sections, and an appendix.

Contents

The introduction of the book is about the author, other expositions of Nahj al-balagha, Shiite beliefs, and replies to objections. In this book, Kashif al-Ghita' has tried to defend Nahj al-balagha against common objections in his time concerning its attribution to Imam Ali (a) and its editor, al-Sayyid al-Radi. The author seeks to show that, before al-Sayyid al-Radi, traces of Nahj al-balagha can be found with full chains of transmitters, taking this to be the best and the strongest argument against reservations regarding the attribution of Nahj al-balagha to Imam Ali (a).

The first section of the book contains ninety three sermons by Imam Ali (a) as cited from different sources. In footnotes, the author points to increases or decreases in sermons.

The second section discusses forty six letters by Imam Ali (a). And the last section is concerned with about seven hundred maxims by the Imam (a).

Publication

The book has so far been published twice. For the first time, it was published in 1354/1935-6 within 189 pages by Andulus Library Publishers in Beirut.

It was reprinted with the addition of chains of transmitters of parts of Nahj al-balagha and replies to some objections by Matba'at al-Da'i in Najaf in 1354/1935-6 in an octavo format within 204 pages.