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

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| title_orig = {{iarabic|غرر الحکم و درر الکلم}}

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| genre = Hadith

'''''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 al-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>Tihrani, ''al-Dhari'a'', 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>Al-Amin, ''Mustadrakat a'yan al-Shi'a'', 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>Afandi, ''Riyad al-'ulama'', vol. 3, p. 284.</ref>

Some scholars believe that [[Abu l-Fath al-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>Afandi, ''Riyad al-'ulama'', vol. 3, p. 281.</ref>, [[Ibn Shahr Ashub]]<ref>Ibn Shahrashub, ''Ma'alim al-'ulama'', p. 81.</ref>, [['Allamah Majlisi]]<ref>Al-Majlisi, ''Bihar al-anwar'', vol. 1, p. 34.</ref> and [[Muhaddith Nuri]]<ref>Nuri, ''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>Afandi, ''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>Al-Amidi, ''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:

The only available commentary is written by [[Agha Jamal Khwansari]] on the request of Shah [[Sultan Husayn Safavi]]. This commentary explains certain concepts and wordings in the [[hadith]] in addition to points in theology, literature, ethics, interpretation of the [[Qur'an]], [[fiqh]] and philosophy.

* The material for this article is mainly taken from [http://fa.wikishia.net/view/غرر_الحکم_و_درر_الکلم غرر الحکم و درر الکلم] in Farsi Wikishia.