Nazm durar al-simtayn (book)

Nazm durar al-simtayn
Author	Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Zarandi
Language	Arabic
Subject	The Five (a)
Published	Beirut, 1425/2004-5
Publisher	Dar Ilya' al-Turath al-'Arabi

Naẓm durar al-simṭayn fī faḍāʾil al-Muṣṭafā wa l-Murtaḍā wa l-Batūl wa l-Sibṭayn ʿalayhim al-salām (Arabic: نَظم دُرَرُ السِّمطَین فی فَضائل المصطفی و المرتضی و البَتول و السِبطَین علیهم السلام) is a book written by Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Zarandi al-Hanafi (d. 750/1349-50), a Sunni scholar. The book is concerned with the virtues of the Five (a). The author cites relevant verses of the Qur'an and hadiths in two parts.

Author

Jamal al-Din Muhammad b. Yusuf b. Hasan al-Zarandi al-Hanafi al-Madani was a Sunni scholar of hadith who wrote the book Nazm durar al-simtayn about the virtues of Ashab al-Kisa'. His profession was the collection of hadiths. After his father, he was in charge of the judgeship of the city. After that, he moved to Shiraz and stayed there for the rest of his life. He was also a judge of the city for some period of time.

Al-Zarandi died in Shiraz around 750/1349-50.

Method of Writing

In his rhythmic introduction to the book, the author points out that he organized the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (a) on a thread, just like pearls. The book is structued into two parts. One part is about the Prophet (s) and Imam Ali (a) and the other part is about Fatima al-Zahra (a), Imam al-Hasan (a), and Imam al-Husayn (a). In this book, he followed and sometimes adapted Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Juwayni 's book, Fara'id al-simtayn.

Although the book is mainly concerned with the virtues of Ahl al-Bayt (a), it sometimes points to other historical aspects of their lives, such as their lineage, poems, and causes of their demises.

In each part, the author begins with relevant verses of the Qur'an if available. He then cites hadiths from the Prophet (s), Sahaba, and Tabi'un (including Shiite Imams (a)) as well as remarks by other people. The book is mainly a collection of hadiths, but since the author cites the hadiths from earlier books, he does not mention the whole chains of transmission and rests content with the main narrators.

Reliability

Many scholars cited the book in their own works, including the following Shiite and Sunni scholars: Mulla Haydar 'Ali in his Muntaha l-kalam, Mulla Salamat Allah in Ma'rikat al-ara, Nur al-Din al-Samhudi in Jawahir al-'iqdayn, Muhammad b. Yusuf al-Shami in Subul al-huda wa al-rashad, Ibn Sabbagh al-Maliki in al-Fusul al-muhimma, Mir Hamid Husayn in 'Abaqat al-anwar, and 'Allama Amini in his al-Ghadir.

Sources

The sources of the book are well-known Sunni collections of hadiths, such as al-Sihah al-Sitta, historical sources, and biographies of the Sahaba, in which biohraphies of the Prophet (s) and his Ahl al-Bayt (a) are reported.

The editor of the book mentioned the sources of hadiths cited in the book, regardless of whether or not they are the ones referred to by the author.

Manuscripts and publication

The main manuscript with the handwriting of the author in the Public Library of Amir al-Mu'minin (a) in Najaf;

A manuscript of the 8th/14th century in Ahmad al-Thalith Library in Istanbul;

A manuscript of 918/1512-3 in the Museum of Iranian Works in Tehran;

The work was first edited by Muhammad Hadi Amini and published in 1377/1957-8 and then in 1401/1980-1 by the Library of Naynawa on the basis of the first print.

References

The material for this article is mainly taken from نظم درر السمطین (کتاب) in Farsi WikiShia.