Ghurar al-hikam wa durar al-kalim (book): Difference between revisions

'''''Ghurar al-hikam wa durar al-kalim''''' (Arabic: ''غُرَرُ الحِکَم و دُرَرُ الکَلِم'') is a collection of short quotations from [[Imam Ali (a)]] that was compiled by [[Abu l-fath Amidi]], a scholar of the 5th/11th century. Ghurar al-hikam is a famous hadith book among the Shi'a and several supplements and a commentary have been written on it.

Some scholars believe that [[Abu l-fath Amidi]] was not a Shi'a. This is due to a place in his introduction where he praises [[Imam Ali (a)]] with the title, "KarramAllah-u Wajh-ah" (meaning, "May Allah honor his name"). [[Mirza 'Abd Allah Afandi]]<ref>Riyad al-'ulama, vol. 3, p. 281.</ref>, [[Ibn Shahr Ashub]]<ref>Ma'alim al-'ulama, p. 81.</ref>, [['Allamah Majlisi]]<ref>Bihar al-anwar, vol. 1, p. 34.</ref> and [[Muhaddith Nuri]]<ref>Khatimat al-mustadrak, vol. 3, pp. 91 - 96.</ref> all believe that he was a Shi'a. Mirza 'Abd Allah Afandi reasons that using this title here for Imam Ali (a) is either a case of ''[[taqiyya]]'' or a modification by scribes and copyists.<ref>Riyad al-'ulama, vol. 3, p. 281.</ref>

Ghurar al-hikam contains 10760 short hadith of Imam Ali (a). These have been ordered alphabetically according to the first letter of the first word of the hadith, and divided into 91 chapters.  The author has collected these hadith from books such as [[Nahj al-Balaghah|''Nahj al-Balaghah'']], [[Jahiz]]'s ''Mi'at Kalimah'', [[Tuhaf al-'uqul (book)|''Tuhaf al-'Uqul'']] and ''Dastur ma'alim al-Hikam''; however, he has omitted all references.<ref>Ghurar al-hikam, Introduction.</ref> It is therefore problematic to use this book as reference.<ref>Anwar al-fiqahah, Kitab al-Bay' (Chapter on Dealing), p. 465.</ref>

At the beginning of the book, the author says that when he saw [[Jahiz|Jahiz's]] ''Mi'at Kalimah'' ("A Hundred Words"), he decided to write a collection of [[Imam Ali (a)|Imam Ali's]] sayings. He criticizes Jahiz for including such few hadith and then says:

# '''Uyun al-hikam wa al-mawa'iz wa dhakhirat al-muta'iz wa al-mawa'iz'': written by Kafi al-Din Abu l-Hassan Ali b. Muhammad b. Abi Nazal Laythi Wasiti, known as Ibn Sharafiyyah, a scholar of the sixth century AH.

# ''Al-Jawahir al-'illiyyah fi al-kalimat al-'alawiyyah'': written by Ali Baghdadi. This book is sorted alphabetically.

# ''Al-hikam min kalam al-Imam Amir al-Mu'minin Ali (a)'': This book is written by the group of hadith studies in the [[Islamic Research Foundation of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reza (a)]] under supervision of Kazim Mudir Shanehchi.

* Mazandarani, Ibn Shahr Ashub, Rashid al-Din Muhammad b. Ali, ''Ma'alim al-'Ulama'', Manshurat al-matba'at al-Haydariyyah, Najaf, 1380 AH.

* Makarim Shirazi, Nasir, ''Anwar al-fiqahah (Kitab al-Bay')'', Madrasat al-Imam Ali b. Abi Talib (a) Publication, Qom, 1425 AH.