Correcting the Names of Books

There is no doubt that one of the most important tasks a researcher (muḥaqqiq) must carry out is to accurately establish the name of the book he is editing. This is an issue to which contemporary editors rarely pay attention. Among the examples:

First: Ibn al-Athīr’s book on the Companions

During my academic studies, I heard one of the professors state that the title of Ibn al-Athīr’s book on the Companions is “Asad al-Ghābah fī Maʿrifat aṣ-Ṣaḥābah” (with the hamzah and sīn both open)! This surprised us students, for what was known to us is that the title of the book is “Usd al-Ghābah fī Maʿrifat aṣ-Ṣaḥābah” (with the hamzah ḍammah and sīn sukūn).

The professor’s reasoning was that it does not make sense to pluralize “Asad” (lions) together with “knowledge of the Companions.” How could “lions” be joined with “Companions”? So, according to him, it had to be singular: “Asad al-Ghābah fī Maʿrifat aṣ-Ṣaḥābah.”

I say: this view is questionable from several angles:

• Having the title in the singular (Asad) carries a connotation of self-praise, and scholars would avoid this. It would be as if the author – may Allah have mercy on him – described himself as the “lion of the thicket” who introduces you to the Companions. This is far-fetched for such a noble scholar. His book is a compilation of the works of those before him on the Companions; how then would he praise himself?
• A similar case is Ibn Ḥajar’s book at-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr. Some called it Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr – i.e., “the abridgment of the ḥabīr” (the learned one), as if describing its author. But this is far-fetched, even though Ibn Ḥajar was indeed a learned scholar. The correct title is at-Talkhīṣ al-Ḥabīr, and for this reason the scholars, when quoting it, say: “He said in at-Talkhīṣ.”
• How can the singular form be correct when scholars, quoting from it, say: “Ibn al-Athīr mentioned it in al-Usd”? This only makes sense with the plural form (Usd), not with the singular (Asad).

What confused the professor was the phrase “Maʿrifat aṣ-Ṣaḥābah” in the title. Some scholars cited the book as “Usd al-Ghābah fī Asmāʾ aṣ-Ṣaḥābah”, which seems to be more correct. Ibn Kathīr cited it this way in al-Bidāyah wa’n-Nihāyah (6/294). It also appears on the cover of the summary written by Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad al-Kāshgharī: Mukhtaṣar Usd al-Ghābah fī Asmāʾ aṣ-Ṣaḥābah (manuscript in Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, no. 3213).

Supporting the plural Usd is the Kāshgharī summary itself, where in the introduction (folio 2) the word is vocalized explicitly: Usd (with the hamzah ḍammah and sīn sukūn). Kāshgharī wrote: “I sought the guidance of Allah, the Generous, Lord of the Worlds, in abridging Usd al-Ghābah by Imām ʿIzzuddīn Ibn al-Athīr – may Allah reward him and grant him the best recompense – asking Allah for aid...”

Further support comes from Arabic poetry:

Bishr ibn al-Ajdaʿ al-Hamdānī said, as cited in Tārīkh al-Ṭabarī (3/593):

I seek Allah’s refuge for you from a band,
Red-moustached, black lions of the thicket.
Horsemen of Shaybān, unmatched in their like,
Sons of every noble lineage and stalwart.
They charged at Ibn Ḥuṣayn in his battalion,
Leaving him slain on the night of ʿĪd.

Sulṭān Abū’l-ʿAbbās said, in Ṣubḥ al-Aʿshá (5/111):

Look at us – you will find us not bewildered;
How can lions of the thicket be bewildered?
Fearful events do not terrify our souls;
By confronting death we come alive.

Second: al-Khaṭīb’s book on interpolated narrations (mudraj)

I was recently discussing with a brother about al-Khaṭīb al-Baghdādī’s book al-Faṣl li’l-Waṣl al-Mudraj fī’n-Naql. He told me that Shaykh Dr. ʿAbd al-Samīʿ al-Anīs, the editor of the book, holds that the title should be read: al-Fiṣal li’l-Wiṣal al-Mudraj fī’n-Naql! I was astonished, because what is known to us is otherwise. And Dr. al-Anīs did not even mention this in his introduction, which would have been the place to clarify it!

I say: what the doctor stated is strange. The established title is al-Faṣl li’l-Waṣl al-Mudraj fī’n-Naql.

I checked the language references and found nothing to support the doctor’s claim.

In Lisān al-ʿArab (11/521): “al-Faṣl is the separation between two things. al-Faṣl in the body is the joint.” Ibn Sīda said: “al-Faṣl is the barrier between two things. Faṣala between them – he separated them.”

In the entry “Waṣl” (11/726): “Waṣaltu ash-shayʾ waṣlan wa-ṣilah: I joined one thing to another. al-Waṣl is the opposite of al-Hijrān (severance).” Ibn Sīda said: “al-Waṣl is the opposite of al-Faṣl. To join one thing with another...”

It is said: “Ittaṣala ash-shayʾ bi-sh-shayʾ: one thing was connected to another without being cut off.”

Several points confirm that the correct vocalization is al-Faṣl li’l-Waṣl al-Mudraj fī’n-Naql:

• Al-Khaṭīb himself uses “faṣl” in his book:
  • He said (1/218): “The distinction (al-faṣl) concerning those who died as polytheists is the statement of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the second distinction (al-faṣl) is regarding those who died not as polytheists.”
  • He said (1/484): “Hishām did not hear all of it from his father; he only heard from him the section (al-faṣl) about presenting the two matters.”
• Scholars usually preserve rhyme (sajʿ) in titles. We agree that an-Naql is vocalized with fatḥah then sukūn. It matches only if al-Faṣl and al-Waṣl are also read with fatḥah then sukūn.
• Ibn Ḥazm’s book al-Fiṣal fī’l-Milal wa’l-Ahwāʾ wa’n-Niḥal does follow the kasrah pattern. But in that case, the word fiṣal (plural of faṣlah) referred to transplanted palm shoots. In the printed edition, after the title, it is explained: “al-Fiṣal – with kasrah then fatḥah – plural of faṣlah, a palm shoot transplanted from one place to another so that it bears fruit.”

I say: Yes, that meaning is correct linguistically, but it does not fit the subject of al-Khaṭīb’s book. The palm shoot example is about physical relocation, whereas the subject of al-Khaṭīb’s book is identifying words in narrations that are not from the Prophet ﷺ. To distinguish and separate them from the ḥadīth does not mean they are discarded.

Ibn Manẓūr also says in Lisān al-ʿArab (11/523) under “faṣl”: “al-Faṣlah: a transplanted palm shoot... this according to Abū Ḥanīfah. Al-Hijrī said: the best palm trees are those whose suckers are transplanted. The transplanted sucker is called al-Faṣlah, plural al-Faṣlāt. We transplanted many faṣlāt this year.”

Ibn Ḥibbān authored a book called al-Faṣl bayna’n-Naqlah about differentiating between narrators of ḥadīth.

Written by: Khālid al-Ḥāyik

14 Muḥarram 1429 AH