Insha’Allah, I’ll be starting on some translations from the book Rawdhat al-‘Uqalaa’ wa Nuzhat al-Fudhalaa’ by Imam Abu Hatim (Ibn Hibban), rahimahullah.
About the Imam:-
Abu Hatim, Muhammad ibn Hibbaan al-Handhali al-Tamimi al-Busti was a 3rd Century scholar originally from an area in nowadays Afghanistan. He was student of the likes of Imam al-Darimi, Ibn Khuzaymah and al-Nasa’i and his own students include al-Hakim, al-Harawi and al-Asbahani.
Ibn Hibban was from the great muhadditheen (scholars of hadeeth) of this Ummah and amongst those specialised in Jarh wa Ta’deel (critique of narrators). His books include his Sahih ‘al-Taqaseem wal-Anwaa’, and others like al-Thiqat, al-Majruhin and this book Rawdhat al-‘Uqalaa’.
He was born in 280AH and passed away 354AH, aged 74. May Allah have mercy on him and on all our scholars and reward them for all that they have left behind for this Ummah.
About the book:-
This book (‘Gardens of the Intelligent and Journeys of the Virtuous’) is essential for all students of knowledge to read and benefit from! It’s a book mainly on adab, sulook, character and etiquettes particularly for the talib (student) and muttaqi (pious), hence everyone will find in it deep lessons, benefit and rare glimpses into the lives of the righteous before us insha’Allah.
A note about the translations:
– It’s not a complete translation of the book. I’m just picking random chapters, and translating some of its contents. I’ve also tried to exercise some flexibility in the translations in order to retain the main message and get it it across in a better way bi’ithnillah.
– The author, being a muhaddith, has included the chains of narration for all the ahadeeth, statements of scholars/historical figures and even some of the poetry, but I’ve decided to reduce these chains down to the last person insha’Allah so we can instead concentrate on what’s being said.
– I’ve decided to keep the short biographies on the a’lam (people mentioned in text) in with the references so we can familiarise ourselves with who these great personalities are.
Wa billahi-tawfeeq!
Jazaakillaahu khayran!