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

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{{Infobox book with English translation

| caption = Ghurar al-hikam wa durar al-kalim

| title = Ghurar Al-Hikam Wa Durar Al-Kalim, Exalted Aphorisms And Pearls Of Speech

'''''Ghurar al-hikam wa durar al-kalim''''' (Arabic:{{iarabic|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.

The author of this book is Nasih al-Din Abu l-fath 'Abd al-Wahid b. Muhammad b. [['Abd al-Wahid Amidi|'Abd al-Wahid Tamimi Amidi]] (d. 510/1116)<ref>Al-Dhari'ah ila tasanif al-Shi'ah, vol. 16, p. 38.</ref>.  Very little is known about his life apart from that he was a judge from Amid (now [[Diyarbakır]], Turkey).<ref>Mustadrakat a'yan al-Shi'ah, vol. 6, p. 326.</ref> He has written another book called ''[[Jawahir al-kalam fi al-hukm wa al-ahkam min qissat sayyid al-anam]]''.<ref>Riyad al-'ulama, vol. 3, p. 284.</ref>

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>

::Being so busy-minded and low in the levels of the people of perfection and while I know myself to be so weak in achieving what top scholars have sought and that I admit being not worthy to associate with them, still I have tried to collect the words of his eminence (a) as much as I could.<ref>Ghurar al-hikam, Introduction.</ref>

# Manuscript no. 1168 in the Library of the [[Holy Shrine of Imam Reda (a)]] which was copied in 517 AH.

# The manuscript in the library of Haj Husayn Malik which was finished in 961 AH.

# Manuscript no. 186 in the Library of the Holy Shrine of Imam Reda (a) which was copied in 961 AH.

# The manuscript in the library of [[Shahid Mutahhari University]] which was completed in Ramadan, 995 AH.

# Typescript printed in 1280 AH in India.

# Typescript printed in 1349 AH in Matba'at al-Irfan in Saida, Lebanon.

# '''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 Reda (a)]] under supervision of Kazim Mudir Shanehchi.