Tuhfat al-azhar (book)

Tuhfat al-azhar (book)

Bibliographical Information
Author	Damin b. Shadqam
Original title	تُحْفَةُ الأزْهار وَ زُلالُ الأنْهار فی نَسَبِ أبْناءِ الأئمّةِ الأطْهار
Language	Arabic
Series	3 vol.
Subject	The Genealogy of Ahl al-Bayt's (a) progeny
Published	Tehran

Tuḥfat al-azhār wa zulāl al-anhār fī nasab abnāʾ al-Aʾimmat al-aṭhār (a) (تُحفَة الاَزهار و زُلال الاَنهار فی نِسَب اَبناء الاَئِمَّة الاَطهار) is a book concerning the genealogy of Ahl al-Bayt's (a) progeny (Sadat), written by Damin b. Shadqam, a scholar of the 11th/17th century. The work regards the genealogy of Sadat. It contains a wealth of information about Sadat's immigration to different cities of Iran. Tuhfat al-azhar focuses on biographies of Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a). In the first volume of the book, the author concerned himself with Hasani Sadat (that is, progeny of Imam al-Hasan (a)) and in the next volumes he concerned himself with Husayni Sadat (that is, the progeny of Imam al-Husayn (a)).

Author

Main article: Damin b. Shadqam

Damin b. Shadqam al-Husayni al-Madani was of the progeny of 'Ubayd Allah al-A'raj, the son of Husayn al-Asghar and the grandson of Imam al-Sajjad (a). His household were scholars of genealogy and heads of Sadat. His grandfather, Zayn al-Din 'Ali (d. 1033/1623-4) wrote two books, Zuhar al-maqul and Nukhbat al-zuhra, much of which is cited by Damin b. Shadqam in Tuhfat al-azhar. Damin b. Shadqam wrote other books as well, such as Tuhfa lubb al-lubab fi nasab al-sadat al-anjab which is a summarized version of Tuhfat al-azhar. He also wrote Zuhrat al-anwar fi nasab al-A'immat al-athar. He was alive until 1090/1679-80, but the date of his death is not known.

Genealogy of Sadat

Books concerning the genealogy of Sadat were for long important for Muslims, especially Arabs. Some Muslim scholars, both Shiite and Sunnis, wrote books about the progeny of Ahl al-Bayt (a), 'Alids and Sadat because of their respect for the Prophet (s) progeny and household. In addition to introducing the household of the Prophet (s), their progeny and their biographies, these books provide historical accounts of Islamic events. These books count as important sources of the history of Islam and Shiism.

Features

In addition to providing biographies of the Shi'a Imams (a), their children and Zaydiyya Imams, the book is an important source about Sadat who were contemporary to the author (11th/17th century). It is said that the author himself was not an expert of the genealogy of Sadat and he only cited what his genealogist ancestors and household wrote. One of his sources is Sharh qasida bassama concerning the biographies of Zaydiyya Imams (a). The book also drew upon books of hadith and history, such as al-Irshad by al-Shaykh al-Mufid and al-Hada'iq al-wardiyya, but it seems that he mostly relied on Zuhar al-riyad.

This book focuses on biographies of Imam al-Hasan (a) and Imam al-Husayn (a), but it also contains information about the Safavid period, Shiite scholars of India and Medina in 10th/16th and 11th/17th centuries, the Musha'sha'iyan household and other issues.

Contents

• The first volume of the book is concerned with the genealogy of Hasani Sadat and noblemen of Mecca, also including parts of the history of Mecca.

• The second and the third volumes are devoted to Husayni Sadat in which the progeny of each Imam (a) is independently mentioned up to Imam Hasan al-'Askari (a).

Manuscripts, Editions and Prints

The book was edited and published on the basis of the following two manuscripts:

• Manuscript of the Central Library of Tehran University

• Manuscript of the Qadiriyya Library of Baghdad.

Scattered sheets of the book were organized, its gaps were filled, its mistakes were corrected, and differences of manuscripts were compared by Kamil Musalman al-Jaburi—a resident of Kufa—and it was published by Nashr Mirath Maktub.