Words of the Prophet versus Words of Men

The Richness of the Islamic Intellectual Tradition
January 17, 2015
October 5, 2016
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Words of the Prophet versus Words of Men

أَنَائِمٌ أَنْتَ عَنْ كُتُبِ الْحَدِيثِ وَمَا     أَتَى عَنِ الْمُصْطَفَى فِيهَا مِنَ الدِّينِ 
كَمُسْلِمٍ وَالْبُخَارِيِّ اللَّذَيْنِ هُمَا     شَدَّا عُرَى الدِّينِ فِي نَقْلٍ وَتَبْيِينِ 
أَوْلَى بِأَجْرٍ وَتَعْظِيمٍ وَمَحْمَدَةٍ     مِنْ كُلِّ قَوْلٍ أَتَى مِنْ رَأْيِ سُحْنُونِ 
يا مَنْ هَدَى بِهِمَا اجْعَلْنِي كَمِثْلِهِمَا     فِي نَصْرِ دِينِكَ مَحْضًا غَيْرَ مَفْتُونِ 

In slumber do you be, toward the books of ḥadīth which do. . . comprise the faith, that from the Chosen does ensue

Like Muslim and Bukhārī too, both of which who do . . . tie the bonds of faith, through report and explanation true

More worthy so of gain, and praise and honor too . . . than any word that rests, on Sahnoun the mortal’s view

O He who guides through them, do set me on their pattern . . . in service to religion, without the tribulation.

—Ibn Ḥazm of Andalus [d. 456H/1064CE], translated by Dr. Abu Zayd

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