القسم الثالث: الرحيق المختوم من تراجم أئمة العلومIntroduction — Purpose and Method of the Scholar Biographies

Part Three: The Sealed Nectar of the Biographical Notices of the Imaams of the Sciences

Introduction

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Part Three: The Sealed Nectar of the Biographical Notices of the Imaams of the Sciences

In the name of Allaah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

The opening formula is the gate of existence: praise of Him whose Most Holy Name is the opening of every book; and the index of the copy of witnessing: praise arising from the first fruits of His praise in the gardens of goodness, the beginning of every chapter. The breezes of blessing and peace flow toward the sanctuary of the Noble Prophet, while the blossoms of salutation smile upon the bower of the Companions and the Family—whenever brilliance flashes and the constellations gleam.

To proceed: this is the third section of the book Abjad al-'Uloom. We had previously divided it into two sections, but when our discussion reached the end of the latter section, it occurred to us to make it a third section devoted to the biographical notices of the foremost imaams of the established sciences, so that it might serve as musk upon the conclusion and bring its reader to the utmost fulfillment of his aim. I have named this third of the sections: The Sealed Nectar of the Biographical Notices of the Imaams of the Sciences. With Allaah lies success, and to Him is the return of every existent and nonexistent being.

My heart calls, and the tongue gives it expression ... O Lord, O Most Merciful, make Your bounty most generous

Indeed, I am in dire need, and my work has hindered me ... And who besides the Lord of the servant shows mercy to the servant?

It is stated in the book al-Jawaahir al-Mudhee'a: Mentioning the virtues of the scholars exposes one to the wafts of the gifts of God Most High. For mentioning them through their virtues is mentioning God through His beneficence and gracious favor, and the fruit of mentioning God is tranquility of the heart, as the Clear Book declares. Among the widely circulated prophetic reports concerning the mention of the righteous is: “Mercy descends.” May God encompass us with His mercy, which embraces all things.

In the epistle of the musnid Shaykh Hasan al-'Ajeemee, there occurs, in substance: Whoever writes a biographical notice of one of the people of excellence and perfection will have a share in his intercession.

The poet said:

Write their biographies, and you shall attain abundant reward ... For by mentioning them, the rust is removed from the heart

In the book Tahqeeq al-Safaa' by Muhibb al-Deen al-Tabaree, it is stated that whoever writes a biographical notice of a believer—let alone of a learned person who acts upon his knowledge—is as though he had given him life; and whoever gives a believer life is as though he had given all people life. End of quotation.

I wrote the biographies of my beloved so that I might meet them ... So long as I remain among the living, they are a portion of my eyes

And my hearing receives, from the sweetness of their discourse ... Good, even if they have not departed from my thoughts

One of them said:

Though they have departed from me and gone far away ... My heart has not departed from its love for them

In their love I am held fast to right guidance ... Like the swaying of branches and the swaying of the drunken drinker

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Part: 1 ¦ [Printed page 565]

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