The content in this article has been taken from the book Al Jāmiʿ li Sīrat al Imām Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah fī Khilāl Sittat Qurūn (The Comprehensive Collection of the Biography of Imam Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah Across Six Centuries) by ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad al ʿImrān. This book is a gathering of reports about his life, knowledge, works, teachers, students, and impact across later generations.

It traces how his legacy was preserved and discussed over six centuries by the ulama. It brings together scattered historical accounts into one place, showing his role in knowledge, creed, fiqh, and daʿwah, and how his writings influenced later scholars.

This book contains a large amount of repetition so the summary will suffice to learn about who the Imam was.

Summary of The Biographies

Name, Birth, and Lineage

Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi, al Hanbali, famous as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah. (al Safadi, al Wafi bil Wafayat; Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah; Ibn Rajab, al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah.)

His birth was in 691 AH, and it is also given with detail as the 7 of Safar, 691 AH. (al Dhahabi, al Muʿjam al Mukhtasar; al Safadi, Wafayat al Aʿyan; Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah.)

Learning, Teachers, and Sciences

He heard hadith from al Shihab al Din al ʿAbir and a large group, including Sulayman ibn Hamzah al Hakim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn ʿImad al Din al Shirazi, Ibn Maktum, al Bahaʾ Ibn ʿAsakir, ʿAlaʾ al Din al Kindi al Wadaʿi, Muhammad ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿlabakki, Ayyub ibn Niʿmah al Kahhal, and Badr al Din ibn Jamaʿah. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat.)

He took Arabic from Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli, reading “al Mulakhkhas”, then “al Jurjaniyyah”, then “Alfiyyah Ibn Malik”, most of “al Kafiyah al Shafiyah”, part of “al Tashil”, and he read a portion of “al Muqarrib” with Majd al Din al Tunisi. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

In fiqh, he learned from Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad al Harani, reading “Mukhtasar al Khiraqi” and “al Muqniʿ” by Ibn Qudamah, and he learned from Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli. He stayed with Shaykh al Islam Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah, read a portion of “al Muharrar” and took from him extensively. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah.)

In faraʾid, he began with his father, then took it from Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad, then from Ibn Taymiyyah. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

In usul, he took from Safi al Din al Hindi and Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad, reading most of “al Rawdah” by Ibn Qudamah, and he also read portions of “al Mahsul” and “al Ihkam” with Ibn Taymiyyah. In creed foundations, he read most of “al Arbaʿin” and “al Muhassal” with al Hindi, and he read portions of these and much of Ibn Taymiyyah’s writings with Ibn Taymiyyah himself. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; Ibn Rajab, al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah.)

From 712 AH, after Ibn Taymiyyah returned from the Egyptian lands, Ibn al Qayyim stayed with him until Ibn Taymiyyah died, and love of Ibn Taymiyyah overcame him until he supported his statements and spread his knowledge. (Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403; al Maqrizi, al Suluk 2/3/834.)

He worked, debated, strove, remained constant in seeking, authored, and reached high rank in tafsir, hadith, usul, fiqh, subsidiary rulings, and Arabic, with strong skill in hadith meanings and extracting rulings from it. “Ibn Taymiyyah did not leave behind anyone like him.” (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat.)(Tajrid al Wafi.)(Ibn Rajab, al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah.)

Teaching, Worship, Character, and Book Collecting

He taught at al Sadriyyah, and he led at al Jawziyyah for a long period, taking a leading role in teaching, reading, and spreading knowledge. (al Dhahabi, al Muʿjam al Mukhtasar; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

He had much prayer, supplication, and Qurʾan recitation, with very long prayer, long bowing and prostration, and constancy in worship. He would pray Fajr, then sit remembering Allah until the day rose high, saying, “This is my morning meal. If I do not take this morning meal, my strength falls.” (Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

His character is recorded with kindness and good conduct. He did not envy, did not harm, did not speak badly about anyone, and did not hold hatred. What dominated him was good and righteous character. (Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah.)

He had a flowing mind and a strong thought inclined to solving difficult matters, with fairness in argument and firmness under threats. (al Safadi, Aʿyan al ʿAsr; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

He gathered books heavily, acquiring originals and many copies in every subject and madhhab, and he wrote much in his own handwriting. After his death, his children spent months selling books they did not keep. (al Safadi, Aʿyan al ʿAsr; Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

He recited lines about himself with strong self blame, beginning with “The son of Abu Bakr has many sins”, and ending with “By Allah, if the Companions saw their ‘best’, they would say, ‘They are the deaf and the mute’.” (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; al Safadi, Aʿyan al ʿAsr.)

Trials, Disputes, Writings, and Death

He was imprisoned and harmed because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to the grave of al Khalil عليه السلام (Prophet Ibrahim), and he was imprisoned with Ibn Taymiyyah in the Citadel of Damascus because of “the issue of visitation”. He remained until Ibn Taymiyyah died, then he was released on the 13 of Dhu al Hijjah, 728 AH. (al Dhahabi, al Muʿjam al Mukhtasar; al Safadi, Aʿyan al ʿAsr.) (Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

He faced further hardship because of legal verdicts connected to Ibn Taymiyyah’s choices, especially in divorce, leading to long episodes with the chief judge Taqi al Din al Subki and others. A specific incident is recorded in Rabiʿ al Awwal, when al Subki demanded him because of the verdict permitting racing without a “legaliser”, and the matter ended with him returning from that verdict. (Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

He had standing with Egyptian amirs, receiving gifts of gold and silver, including 12,000 dirhams from Badr al Din ibn al Baba, and 200 dinars in al Hijaz from Sayf al Din Bashtak. (al Safadi, Aʿyan al ʿAsr; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

Some criticism is recorded: “He was impressed with his own view, and events occurred to him.” (al Dhahabi, al Muʿjam al Mukhtasar; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

His writings are many, large and small, travelling widely and sought by different groups. Works named include Zاد المعاد, Miftah Dar al Saʿadah, Tahdhib Sunan Abi Dawud, Tariq al Hijratayn, Aʿlam al Muwaqqiʿin, Badaʾiʿ al Fawaʾid, Ighathat al Lahfan, Madarij al Salikin, al Turuq al Hukmiyyah, and the long Nuniyyah poem al Kafiyah al Shafiyah, with its length reported as about 6,000 lines. (al Safadi, Kitab al Wafayat; Ibn Rajab, al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah; Tajrid al Wafi.)

He died in Damascus in Rajab, 751 AH, on the night of Thursday at the time of ʿIsha, with the date given as the 13 of Rajab. The funeral prayer was in the Umayyad Masjid, and burial was in Bab al Saghir, beside his father, and another report says beside his mother. Judges, notables, righteous people, and the public crowded around his bier. His age is given as 60 years. (Ibn Shakir al Kutubi, ʿUyun al Tawarikh.) (Ibn Kathir, al Bidayah wa al Nihayah; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

A dream is recorded shortly before his death: he saw Ibn Taymiyyah, asked about his rank, and the reply ended with “You are now in the level of Ibn Khuzaymah.” A comparison is also recorded from al Muzzi: “He is in this time like Ibn Khuzaymah in his time.” (Ibn Nasir al Din, al Radd al Wafir; Ibn Hajar, al Durar al Kaminah 3/400 to 403.)

His son Jamal al Din ʿAbd Allah was buried beside him in Rajab, 756 AH. (Ibn Rajab, al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah.)

Full Article

The Concise Dictionary

By Shams al Din al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH)
Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub, the jurist, imam, mufti, widely skilled, grammarian, Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah al Dimashqi, the imam of al Jawziyyah.

He was born in 691 AH.

He heard from Shaykh Shihab al Din al ʿAbir, from the judge Taqi al Din, from Bint al Battaʾihi, and from a group. He gave attention to hadith, its texts and its narrators. He would work in jurisprudence and do it well in explanation, and in grammar and teach it, and in the two foundations.

He was imprisoned for a period and harmed because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to the grave of al Khalil. May Allah rectify him and grant him success. He heard with me from a group, and he took a leading role in teaching and spreading knowledge.

But he was impressed with his own view, and events occurred to him.

The Complete Book of Death Notices

By Khalil ibn Aybak al Safadi (d. 764 AH)
Shaykh Shams al Din Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah.

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi. The shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, Shams al Din al Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah.

His birth was the seventh of Safar, 691 AH.

He heard from al Shihab al ʿAbir and many others, among them Sulayman ibn Hamzah al Hakim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn ʿImad al Din al Shirazi, Ibn Maktum, al Bahaʾ Ibn ʿAsakir, ʿAlaʾ al Din al Kindi al Wadaʿi, Muhammad ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿlabakki, Ayyub ibn Niʿmah al Kahhal, the judge Badr al Din ibn Jamaʿah, and others besides them.

He read Arabic under Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli. He read with him “al Mulakhkhas” by Abu al Baqaʾ, then he read “al Jurjaniyyah”, then he read “the Alfiyyah of Ibn Malik”, and most of “al Kafiyah al Shafiyah”, and part of “al Tashil”, then he read with Shaykh Majd al Din al Tunisi a portion of “al Muqarrib”.

As for jurisprudence, he took it from a group, among them Shaykh Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad al Harani. He read with him “the Mukhtasar of Abu al Qasim al Khiraqi” and “al Muqniʿ” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli, and among them was Shaykh al Islam Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Muharrar”, authored by his grandfather, and his brother Shaykh Sharaf al Din.

He took the laws of inheritance first from his father, and he had skill in it, then from Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad, then from Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah.

As for foundations, he took them from a group, among them Shaykh Safi al Din al Hindi, and Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad. He read with him most of “al Rawdah” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Mahsul” and from the book “al Ihkam” by al Amidi.

He read in the foundations of belief under Shaykh Safi al Din al Hindi most of “al Arbaʿin” and “al Muhassal”, and he read with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah  a portion of the two books and much of his writings.

He worked a great deal, debated, strove, and remained constant in seeking. He authored, and he became from the great imams in the knowledge of tafsir, hadith, foundations, jurisprudence, theology, subsidiary rulings, and Arabic. Shaykh al ʿAllamah Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah did not leave behind anyone like him.

Among his writings are: (Zād al Maʿād fī Hady Khayr al ʿIbād) Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants, four volumes; (Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah) The Key to the Abode of Happiness, a large volume; (Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ ʿIlalih wa Mushkilātih) Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Defects and its Difficult Passages, about three volumes;

(Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn) The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Path of the Two Happinesses, a large volume; (Rafʿ al Yadayn fī al Ṣalāh) Raising the Hands in Prayer, a medium volume; (Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn) The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes, a large volume;

(al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah) The Sufficient Poem for the Defence of the Saved Group, a poem of about three thousand lines; (It is reported like this, but it is about six thousand lines, as in printed editions of the Nuniyyah and as the author mentioned in Notables of the Age, as will come.)

(al Risālah al Ḥalabiyyah fī al Ṭarīqah al Muḥammadiyyah) The Halabi Treatise on the Muhammadan Path; (Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā Buṭlān Taḥlīl al Muḥallil fī al Sabq wa al Rimāyah) Clarifying the proof for the invalidity of the one who makes lawful the matcher in racing and archery; (al Taḥbīr fīmā Yaḥillu wa lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr)

Al Tahbir on what is permissible and not permissible to wear of silk; (al Furūsiyyah al Muḥammadiyyah) The Muhammadan Horsemanship; (Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Faḍl al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām)

Clarifying the Understanding in the rulings of sending prayers and peace upon the Best of People; (Tafsīr Asmāʾ al Qurʾān) Tafsir of the Names of the Qurʾan; (Tafsīr al Fātiḥah) Tafsir of al Fatihah, a large volume;

(al Istighāthah bi al Dhikr li Dafʿ al Shar wa Jalb al Khayr) Seeking help through remembrance for gaining good and repelling harm; (Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān) Uncovering the Cover on the ruling of listening to singing; (al Risālah al Wāḍiḥah fī Asrār al Muʿawwidhatayn) The Clear Treatise on the secrets of al Muʿawwidhatayn; (Maʿānī al Ḥurūf wa al Adawāt) Meanings of tools and particles; (Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid) Marvels of Benefits, a large volume.

He recited to me, from his own words, about himself:

“The son of Abu Bakr has many sins, so there is no sin upon the one who takes from his honour.
The son of Abu Bakr is ignorant of himself, ignorant of Allah’s command, so how can knowledge come to him.
The son of Abu Bakr became a leader, teaching knowledge, yet he has no knowledge.
The son of Abu Bakr became one who wishes, wishing to reach lofty ranks, while sins are his concern.
The son of Abu Bakr seeks rising to the Garden of Refuge, yet he has no resolve.
The son of Abu Bakr sees profit in what vanishes and ends, and what he leaves is the true profit.
The son of Abu Bakr, his effort has failed, if he has no share in righteous deeds.
The son of Abu Bakr, as his Lord said, anxious, ungrateful, described by ignorance and injustice.
The son of Abu Bakr and those like him, by their legal verdicts, these people follow them, while they have no reach in knowledge, no piety, no abstinence, and the universe is their concern.
By Allah, if the Companions saw their “best”, they would say, “They are the deaf and the mute”.”

He died, may Allah have mercy on him, on the third of the singular month of Rajab, 751 AH.

Notables of the Age and Helpers of Victory

By Khalil ibn Aybak al Safadi (d. 764 AH)
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi, the shaykh, imam, the skilled scholar, Shams al Din al Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah.

He heard from al Shihab al ʿAbir and a large group, among them Sulayman ibn Hamzah al Hakim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn ʿImad al Din al Shirazi, Ibn Maktum, al Bahaʾ Ibn ʿAsakir, ʿAlaʾ al Din al Kindi al Wadaʿi, Muhammad ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿlabakki, Ayyub ibn Niʿmah al Kahhal, the judge Badr al Din ibn Jamaʿah, and others besides them.

He read Arabic under Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli. He read with him “al Mulakhkhas” by Abu al Baqaʾ, then he read “al Jurjaniyyah”, then he read “the Alfiyyah of Ibn Malik”, and most of “al Kafiyah al Shafiyah”, and part of “al Tashil”, then he read with Majd al Din al Tunisi a portion of “al Muqarrib”.

As for jurisprudence, he took it from a group, among them Shaykh Majd al Din Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad al Harani. He read with him “the Mukhtasar of Abu al Qasim al Khiraqi” and “al Muqniʿ” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿli. Among them was Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Muharrar”, authored by his grandfather, and his brother Shaykh Sharaf al Din.

He took the laws of inheritance first from his father, and he had skill in it. Then he worked under Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad. He read with him most of “al Rawdah” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Mahsul” and from the book “al Ihkam” by al Amidi.

He read in the foundations of belief under al Hindi most of “al Arbaʿin” and “al Muhassal”. He read with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah a portion of the two books and much of his writings.

He had a flowing mind and a thought inclined to solving difficult matters. He remained constant in study and sought from the sciences everything precious and costly. He debated, argued, fought opponents, and dealt fairly. He mastered Arabic, refined its rules, and strengthened them. He grew in the foundations, sharpening from them the blades and spear points. He took up hadith, narrated from it, and knew the narrators and everyone he took from.

As for tafsir, he would bring out from its overflowing seas every important benefit, and from its moving stars every light that removes deep darkness.

As for disagreement and the madhhahib of the Salaf, that was his nest in which he was raised, and his forest in which he became used to entering and leaving.

He was bold hearted, firm, not shaken by threats. He had bravery and a strong stance. His share was abundant, and his acceptance made every sin with him forgiven. He followed the path of the ʿallamah Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah in all his states, and in his views in which he was alone, and he stood at the wording of his statements.

He travelled to al Hijaz many times and gained many good deeds there.

He remained upon his state until he came under the shock of the great calamity, and people lost from him the sweetness of honeyed delight, even if his link is to al Jawziyyah.

He died, may Allah have mercy on him, on the thirteenth of the singular month of Rajab, 751 AH.

His birth was 691 AH.

He was favoured with the Egyptian amirs. They would give him gold and silver. Amir Badr al Din ibn al Baba gifted him twelve thousand dirhams. Amir Sayf al Din Bashtak gave him in al Hijaz two hundred dinars.

He was imprisoned with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah in the Citadel of Damascus because of “the issue of visitation”. He remained until Shaykh Taqi al Din died, then he was released on the thirteenth of Dhu al Hijjah, 728 AH.

No one gathered books as he gathered, because his life was spent in acquiring that. When our shaykh Fath al Din died, (meaning Ibn Sayyid al Nas al Yaʿmuri (d. 734 AH) he bought from his books major and valuable original works. He had, in every subject and every madhhab, many copies of each book, including good clean copies, and most of them were weak worn copies.

His children spent months selling from them what they did not keep for themselves.

I met him more than once and took from his benefits, especially in Arabic and foundations. He recited to me, from his own words, about himself:

“The son of Abu Bakr has many sins, so there is no sin upon the one who takes from his honour.
The son of Abu Bakr is ignorant of himself, ignorant of Allah’s command, so how can knowledge come to him.
The son of Abu Bakr became a leader, teaching knowledge, yet he has no knowledge.
The son of Abu Bakr became one who wishes, wishing to reach lofty ranks, while sins are his concern.
The son of Abu Bakr seeks rising to the Garden of Refuge, yet he has no resolve.
The son of Abu Bakr sees profit in what vanishes and ends, and what he leaves is the true profit.
The son of Abu Bakr, his effort has failed, if he has no share in righteous deeds.
The son of Abu Bakr, as his Lord said, anxious, ungrateful, described by ignorance and injustice.
The son of Abu Bakr and those like him, by their legal verdicts, these people follow them, while they have no reach in knowledge, no piety, no abstinence, and the universe is their concern.
By Allah, if the Companions saw their “best”, they would say, “They are the deaf and the mute”.”

Among his writings are: Zād al Maʿād fī Hady Khayr al ʿIbād (Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants), four volumes; Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness), a large volume.

Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ ʿIlalih wa Mushkilātih (Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Defects and its Difficult Passages), about three volumes; Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Path of the Two Happinesses), a large volume.

Rafʿ al Yadayn fī al Ṣalāh (Raising the Hands in Prayer), a medium volume; Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn (The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes), a large volume.

al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah (The Sufficient Poem for the Defence of the Saved Group), a poem of about six thousand lines, and when our shaykh, the ʿallamah, chief judge Taqi al Din al Subki saw it, he rejected it and demanded it for days.

al Risālah al Ḥalabiyyah fī al Ṭarīqah al Muḥammadiyyah (The Halabi Treatise on the Muhammadan Path); Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā Buṭlān Taḥlīl al Muḥallil fī al Sabq wa al Rimāyah (Clarifying the proof for the invalidity of the one who makes lawful the matcher in racing and archery).

al Taḥbīr fīmā Yaḥillu wa lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr (Al Tahbir on what is permissible and not permissible to wear of silk); al Furūsiyyah al Muḥammadiyyah (The Muhammadan Horsemanship).

Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Faḍl al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām (Clarifying the Understanding in the rulings of sending prayers and peace upon the Best of People); Tafsīr Asmāʾ al Qurʾān (Tafsir of the Names of the Qurʾan).

Tafsīr al Fātiḥah (Tafsir of al Fatihah), a large volume; al Istighāthah bi al Dhikr li Dafʿ al Shar wa Jalb al Khayr (Seeking help through remembrance for gaining good and repelling harm).

Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Uncovering the Cover on the ruling of listening to singing); al Risālah al Wāḍiḥah fī Asrār al Muʿawwidhatayn (The Clear Treatise on the secrets of al Muʿawwidhatayn).

Maʿānī al Ḥurūf wa al Adawāt (Meanings of tools and particles); Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits), a volume.

The Eyes of Histories

By Ibn Shakir al Kutubi (d. 764 AH)
In it, the shaykh, imam, scholar, ʿallamah, Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zarʿi, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, died.

His funeral prayer was held on the thirteenth of Rajab in the Umayyad Masjid, and he was buried beside his father in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir. He was born in 691 AH. He heard hadith, sought knowledge, and excelled in many sciences, especially hadith, tafsir, and the two foundations.

When Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH) returned from the Egyptian lands in 712 AH, he stayed with him until the shaykh died. He took from him much knowledge, with what he already had from study, so he became unique in many sciences, with much seeking by night and day.

He had much prayer, supplication, and Qurʾan recitation. He had fine character, much kindness, he did not envy anyone, nor harm him, nor speak badly about him, nor hold hatred against him. (This is how it appears in the original.)

He would lengthen prayer greatly and prolong its bowing and prostration.

He had many writings, large and small. He wrote in his handwriting many things, and acquired books in a way others could not manage, from books of early and later scholars.

In summary, he was rare in his total qualities, affairs, and states. What dominated him was good and righteous character.

He was engaged in issuing legal verdicts on the issue of divorce that Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah chose, and because of that he had long episodes with the chief judge Taqi al Din al Subki and others.

His funeral was large. Judges, notables, righteous people, and the public attended, and people crowded around his bier. His age was completed as 60 years. May Allah have mercy on him.

Supplement to The Lessons

By Abu al Mahasin al Husayni (d. 765 AH)
In it died the shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, master of many sciences, Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi, al Hanbali, famous as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah.

He studied under Shaykh al Islam Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah, and he was from the best of his companions. He issued legal verdicts, taught, debated, authored, benefited others, and narrated from his shaykh, al ʿAbir, and others. (In the printed edition it appears as “al Taʿbir”, and that is an error. The intended meaning is his shaykh al Shihab al ʿAbir.)

His writings travelled widely and were famous. He died in Rajab.

The Beginning and The End

By al ʿImad al Din Ismaʿil Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH)
On the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, at the time of the call to night prayer, our companion, the imam, shaykh, ʿallamah, Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zarʿi, imam of al Jawziyyah and its Ibn Qayyim, died. He was prayed over after midday prayer the next day in the Umayyad Masjid, and he was buried beside his mother in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir. May Allah have mercy on him.

He was born in 691 AH. He heard hadith and sought knowledge, excelling in many sciences, especially tafsir, hadith, and the two foundations. When Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah returned from the Egyptian lands in 712 AH, he stayed with him until the shaykh died. He took from him much knowledge, with what he already had from study, so he became unique in many fields, with much seeking by night and day, and much prayer and supplication.

He had good recitation and character, much kindness. He did not envy anyone, nor harm him, nor fault him, nor hold hatred against anyone. (Ibn Shakir transmitted it as “nor speak badly about him”, with the letter ghayn.) I was among the closest of people to him and among the most beloved of people to him. I do not know anyone from the people of knowledge in our time with more worship than him. He had a way in prayer, lengthening it greatly and prolonging its bowing and prostration. Many of our companions would blame him at times, yet he would not return or stop. May Allah have mercy on him.

He had many writings, large and small. He wrote in his fine handwriting many things, and acquired books in a way no one else could manage even a tenth of, from books of early and later scholars.

In summary, he was rare, rather without equal, in his total qualities, affairs, and states. What dominated him was good and righteous character. May Allah pardon him and have mercy on him.

He was engaged in issuing legal verdicts on the issue of divorce that Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah chose, and because of that he had episodes that would take long to spread out, with the chief judge Taqi al Din al Subki and others.

His funeral was large. Judges, notables, and righteous people from the elite and the public attended, and people crowded to carry his bier. His age was completed as 60 years. May Allah have mercy on him.

The Selected from the Dictionary of the Shaykhs of Shihab al Din Ibn Rajab

By ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Ahmad Ibn Rajab (d. 795 AH)
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz, originally al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi, al Hanbali, the shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah.

One of the great imams, a rare one among the people of tafsir, a unique investigator. He heard from al Taqi Sulayman, al Shihab al ʿAbir, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, al Bahaʾ Ibn ʿAsakir, al Hajar, and many others. He issued legal verdicts, excelled, became famous, his reputation travelled, and he led the people of his time in knowledge and action, in foundations and subsidiary rulings, with humility, long worship, modesty, and patience. He was harmed and tested many times, and studied jurisprudence under Ibn Taymiyyah.

Among his writings are: al Hady al Nabawī (The Prophetic Guidance), four volumes, without an equal before it; Ḥādī al Arwāḥ ilā Bilād al Afrāḥ (Description of the Garden), in one volume; (It is Driving the Souls to the Lands of Joys.) Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness).

Ijtimāʿ al Juyūsh al Islāmiyyah ʿalā Ghazw al Jahmiyyah (The Gathering of the Islamic Armies against the Jahmiyyah); Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn (The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes); Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Traps of Shaytan).

al Ṭuruq al Ḥukmiyyah (The Ways of Judgement); al Ṣawāʿiq al Mursalah ʿalā al Jahmiyyah wa al Muʿaṭṭilah (The Thunderbolts Sent upon the Deniers), in volumes; al Dāʾ wa al Dawāʾ (The Disease and the Cure), a complaint of love came to him so he authored it.

Rawḍat al Muḥibbīn wa Nuzhat al Mushtāqīn (The Excursion of the Longing and The Garden of the Lovers) in reply to making passion obligatory; Faḍl al ʿIlm (The Virtue of Knowledge), a volume; Tafḍīl Makkah ʿalā al Madīnah (Preferring Makkah over Madinah), a volume.

Nikāḥ al Muḥrim (Marriage of the Pilgrim in ihram), a volume; Rafʿ al Yadayn (Raising the Hands), a volume; Aḥkām Ahl al Dhimmah (Rulings of the People of Religions), two volumes; (In the printed edition it appears as Difference of the People of Religions, and it likely is a distortion. The intended meaning is the book of rulings of the people under covenant.)

ʿUddat al Ṣābirīn (The Book of Patience), a volume; (It is The Provision of the Patient.) Kitāb al Ṣalāh (The Book of Prayer), a volume; al Kabāʾir (The Major Sins); Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits), two volumes.

al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah (The Sufficient Poem in Defence of the Saved Group); al Fatāwā (Legal verdicts) he was asked about, reaching volumes. It was copied from his handwriting in an authorisation, where he said they reach, in their variety, several volumes.

He said: among the writings is Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ Mushkilātih wa al Kalām ʿalā ʿIlalih (Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Difficult Passages and speaking on the defective hadith within it), a volume; Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Gate of the Two Happinesses), a huge volume.

Madārij al Sālikīn bayna Manāzil Iyyāka Naʿbudu wa Iyyāka Nastaʿīn (Stages of the Travellers between the Stations of You alone we worship and You alone we seek help from), two volumes; al Kalim al Ṭayyib wa al ʿAmal al Ṣāliḥ (A Firm Knot of Brotherhood between the Good Word and the Righteous Deed Raised to the Lord of the Sky), a huge volume.

Asmāʾ al Kitāb al ʿAzīz (Names of the Noble Book), a volume; Zād al Musāfir ilā Manāzil al Suʿadāʾ fī Hady Khātam al Anbiyāʾ (Provisions of Travellers to the Stations of the Blessed in the Guidance of the Seal of the Prophets), a volume.

Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Dhikr al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām wa Sharḥ Aḥādīthihā wa ʿIlalihā (Clarifying the Understanding in mentioning the prayer and peace upon the Best of People and explaining its hadith and its defects), a volume; Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā anna al Sabq lā Yaḥtāj ilā Muḥallil (Clarifying the proof that racing does not need a legaliser), a volume.

Naqd al Manqūl wa al Mīzān bayna al Mardūd wa al Maqbūl (Critiquing what is transmitted and the distinguishing measure between what is rejected and what is accepted), a volume; Buṭlān al Kīmiyāʾ min Arbaʿīn Wajhan (Invalidity of alchemy from forty ways), a volume.

Ḥaqīqat al ʿIshq (The Reality of Love), a volume; al Farq bayna al Khullah wa al Maḥabbah wa Muḥājjat al Khalīl li Qawmih (The difference between intimate friendship and love, and the debate of al Khalil with his people), a volume.

Ḥukm Taghīm al Hilāl li Ramaḍān (The ruling on clouding the new crescent of Ramadan); Nūr al Muʾmin wa Ḥayātuh (Light of the believer and his life), a volume.

al Risālah al Miṣriyyah (The Egyptian Treatise); al Risālah al Makkiyyah (The Makkan Treatise); al Risālah al Qudsiyyah (The Qudsi Treatise); al Risālah al Mardāniyyah (The Mardani Treatise).

Bayān mā Yaḥillu wa mā lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr (Clarification on what is permissible and not permissible from wearing silk); Hidayat al Ḥayārā fī Ajwibat al Yahūd wa al Naṣārā (Answering the worshippers of the cross and what they are upon from the religion of Shaytan); and other answers.

Shihab al Din Ibn Rajab heard from him some of his writings. He said: sitting with him brought us much benefit, presence, and remembrance, with great good and blessing. May Allah reward him.

His birth was 691 AH. He died on the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. He was prayed over after midday prayer in the Umayyad Masjid, then in the Masjid of Jarrah, and his funeral was witnessed. He was buried in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir beside his father. Praise for him became good, and good dreams were seen for him. May Allah have mercy on him. He did not leave behind after him anyone like him.

From his poetry:

“If affirming His attributes is called embodiment, exalted is He, then I am today a servant who affirms embodiment.” (In the printed edition it appears as “then I am”, and the metre does not fit. See Madarij al Salikin 2/342 and al Sawaʿiq 3/940.)

His son Jamal al Din ʿAbd Allah, the wonder of his time, was buried beside him, in Rajab, 756 AH. May Allah have mercy on him.

The Supplement to the Levels of the Hanabilah

By ʿAbd al Rahman ibn Ahmad Ibn Rajab al Hanbali (d. 795 AH)
Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi, the jurist, foundational scholar, commentator, grammarian, knower, Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, our shaykh.

He was born in 691 AH.

He heard from al Shihab al Nabulsi al ʿAbir, the judge Taqi al Din Sulayman, Fatimah bint Jawhar, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, and a group.

He studied jurisprudence in the madhhab, excelled, issued legal verdicts, stayed with Shaykh Taqi al Din and took from him.

He was widely skilled in the sciences of Islam. He was a knower in tafsir with no equal, and in foundations of belief, and in them he reached the end. He was skilled in hadith, its meanings, its jurisprudence, and the fine points of extracting rulings from it, unmatched in that. He was skilled in jurisprudence and its foundations and in Arabic, and he had a great share in it, and in theology and other than that. He was knowledgeable in the knowledge of spiritual conduct, the speech of the people of spiritual paths, their indications, and their fine points. He had a great share in every one of these fields.

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in “The Concise Dictionary”: he gave attention to hadith and its texts and some of its narrators. He would work in jurisprudence and do it well in explanation, and in grammar and teach it, and in the two foundations. He was imprisoned for a period because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to the grave of al Khalil. He took a leading role in teaching, reading, and spreading knowledge.

I say: he had worship, night prayer, and very long prayer to the furthest limit, devotion, persistence in remembrance, deep attachment to love, turning back, seeking forgiveness, poverty to Allah, breaking himself before Him, and throwing himself at the doorstep of servitude. I did not see anyone like him in that, and I did not see anyone with broader knowledge, nor anyone who knew the meanings of the Qurʾan and the Sunnah and the realities of faith more than him. He was not infallible, but I did not see anyone like him in his meaning. He was tested and harmed many times, and imprisoned with Shaykh Taqi al Din in the last time in the Citadel, separate from him, and he was not released until after the shaykh died.

During his imprisonment he was busy with reciting the Qurʾan with reflection and thought, so much good opened for him from that, and he gained a great share of correct spiritual tastes and feelings. Because of that, he gained power in speaking about the sciences of the people of knowledge and entering into their depths, and his writings are full of that.

He performed Hajj many times and stayed in Makkah. The people of Makkah would mention about him the intensity of worship and much tawaf in a way that is wondered at. I stayed with his gatherings before his death for more than a year. I heard from him: “his long Nuniyyah poem in the Sunnah”, and things from his writings, and other than that.

Many people took knowledge from him from the time of his shaykh until he died. They benefited from him. The scholars would respect him and learn from him, such as Ibn ʿAbd al Hadi and others.

The judge Burhan al Din al Zarʿi said about him: “Under the skin of the sky there is no one broader in knowledge than him.”

He taught at al Sadriyyah. He led at al Jawziyyah for a long period. He wrote in his handwriting what cannot be described in quantity.

He authored many writings in all kinds of knowledge. He had intense love for knowledge, writing it, reading it, authoring it, and possessing books. He acquired books in a way no one else reached.

Among his writings are: Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ Mushkilātih wa al Kalām ʿalā ʿIlalih (Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Difficult Passages and speaking on the defective hadith within it), a volume; Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Gate of the Two Happinesses), a huge volume.

Madārij al Sālikīn bayna Manāzil Iyyāka Naʿbudu wa Iyyāka Nastaʿīn (Stages of the Travellers between the Stations of You alone we worship and You alone we seek help from), two volumes, and it is an explanation of Manāzil al Sāʾirīn by Shaykh al Islam al Ansari, a tremendous book; al Kalim al Ṭayyib wa al ʿAmal al Ṣāliḥ (A Firm Knot of Brotherhood between the Good Word and the Righteous Deed Raised to the Lord of the Sky), a huge volume.

Sharḥ Asmāʾ al Kitāb al ʿAzīz (Explanation of the Names of the Noble Book), a volume; Zād al Musāfir ilā Manāzil al Suʿadāʾ fī Hady Khātam al Anbiyāʾ (Provisions of Travellers to the Stations of the Blessed in the Guidance of the Seal of the Prophets), a volume.

Zād al Maʿād fī Hady Khayr al ʿIbād (Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants), four volumes, a very great book; Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Dhikr al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām wa Sharḥ Aḥādīthihā wa ʿIlalihā (Clarifying the Understanding in mentioning the prayer and peace upon the Best of People and explaining its hadith and its defects), a volume.

Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā anna al Sabq lā Yaḥtāj ilā Muḥallil (Clarifying the proof that racing does not need a legaliser), a volume; Naqd al Manqūl wa al Mīzān bayna al Mardūd wa al Maqbūl (Critiquing what is transmitted and the distinguishing measure between what is rejected and what is accepted), a volume.

Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn (The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes), three volumes; Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits), two volumes.

al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah (The Sufficient Poem in Defence of the Saved Group), the long Nuniyyah poem in the Sunnah, a volume; al Ṣawāʿiq al Mursalah ʿalā al Jahmiyyah (The Thunderbolts Sent upon the Jahmiyyah Deniers), in volumes.

Ḥādī al Arwāḥ ilā Bilād al Afrāḥ (Driving the Souls to the Lands of Joys), the book of the description of the Garden, a volume; Rawḍat al Muḥibbīn wa Nuzhat al Mushtāqīn (The Excursion of the Longing and The Garden of the Lovers), a volume.

al Dāʾ wa al Dawāʾ (The Disease and the Cure), a volume; Tuḥfat al Mawdūd bi Aḥkām al Mawlūd (The Precious Gift in the rulings of the newborn), a small volume.

Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness), a huge volume; Ijtimāʿ al Juyūsh al Islāmiyyah ʿalā Ghazw al Jahmiyyah (The Gathering of the Islamic Armies to attack the Jahmiyyah), a volume.

Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Traps of Shaytan), a volume; al Ṭuruq al Ḥukmiyyah (The Ways of Judgement), a volume.

Rafʿ al Yadayn fī al Ṣalāh (Raising the Hands in Prayer), a volume; Nikāḥ al Muḥrim (Marriage of the Pilgrim in ihram), a volume.

Tafḍīl Makkah ʿalā al Madīnah (Preferring Makkah over Madinah), a volume; Faḍl al ʿUlamāʾ (The Virtue of Scholars), a volume.

ʿUddat al Ṣābirīn (The Provision of the Patient), a volume; al Kabāʾir (The Major Sins), a volume.

Ḥukm Tārik al Ṣalāh (The ruling on the one who leaves prayer), a volume; Nūr al Muʾmin wa Ḥayātuh (Light of the believer and his life), a volume.

Ḥukm Taghīm al Hilāl li Ramaḍān (The ruling on clouding the new crescent of Ramadan); Bayān mā Yaḥillu wa mā lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr (Clarification on what is permissible and not permissible from wearing silk).

Hidāyat al Ḥayārā fī Ajwibat al Yahūd wa al Naṣārā (Answers to the worshippers of the cross, and that what they are upon is the religion of Shaytan); Buṭlān al Kīmiyāʾ min Arbaʿīn Wajhan (Invalidity of alchemy from forty ways), a volume.

al Farq bayna al Khullah wa al Maḥabbah wa Muḥājjat al Khalīl li Qawmih (The difference between intimate friendship and love, and the debate of al Khalil with his people), a volume; al Kalim al Ṭayyib (The Good Word and the Righteous Deed), a small volume.

al Fatḥ al Qudsī (The Qudsi Opening); al Tuḥfah al Makkiyyah (The Makkan Gift).

Amthāl al Qurʾān (Examples of the Qurʾan); Sharḥ al Asmāʾ al Ḥusnā (Explanation of the Beautiful Names).

Aqsām al Qurʾān (Oaths of the Qurʾan); al Masāʾil al Ṭarābulusiyyah (The Tripoli Questions), three volumes.

al Ṣirāṭ al Mustaqīm fī Aḥkām Ahl al Jaḥīm (The Straight Path in the rulings of the people of al Jahim), two volumes; al Ṭāʿūn (The Plague), a small volume.

He died, may Allah have mercy on him, at the time of night prayer on the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. He was prayed over the next day in the Umayyad Masjid after midday prayer, then in the Masjid of Jarrah. He was buried in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir. A great number followed him, and many good dreams were seen for him. May Allah be pleased with him.

He had seen before his death, by a period, Shaykh Taqi al Din in a dream and asked him about his rank. He pointed to its highness above some of the great ones. Then he said to him: “You nearly caught up with us, but you are now in the level of Ibn Khuzaymah.”

This poem, from his composition, was read to our shaykh, the imam, ʿallamah, Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub, and I was listening, at the beginning of his book “Description of the Garden”:

“And that is only jealousy that someone else should reach it, and the Lord knows His creation best.
If it is veiled from us by every hardship, it is deserved, since it pains and hurts the beings.
By Allah, within it are joys and kinds of pleasures that give delight.
By Allah, that is the life between its tents and gardens, and the mouth in the garden smiles.
By Allah, its valley, the appointment of extra favour for the delegation of love, if only I were among them.
In that valley, the lover wanders in longing, seeing longing as profit.
By Allah, the joys of the lovers when the One above them speaks to them and greets them.
By Allah, eyes that see Allah openly, no harm reaches them, and they never tire.
How a single look gives brightness to the face, can the deep lover ever forget after it.
How many a fine one, if she smiles, a light greater than dawn shines for her.
So delight of eyes when she comes near, and delight of ears when she speaks.
How the fresh branch is ashamed when it bends, and how the two seas are ashamed when she smiles.” (In some copies of “Driving the Souls”, it is “the two dawns”.)

“If there is a heart sick with love of it, then nothing remains except its connection, a healing.
So, suitor of the beautiful one, if truly seeking, this is the time, the dowry is the advance.
Hate the betrayers for love of her, and be granted her among them and take delight.
Be devoted to her above all else, for she is prepared for one like you in the Gardens of Eden.
Fast the nearer day, perhaps tomorrow the far Eid will come, while people are fasting.
Advance, and do not be content with a troubled life, for the one who does not advance does not win pleasures.
If the universe becomes narrow for you in all its breadth, and no home remains that is known to you,
then come to the Gardens of Eden, for they are your first homes, and there is the place of staying.
But we are captives of the enemy, so do we return to our homelands and find peace.
They claimed that when the stranger goes far and his homelands become distant, he becomes poor,
yet what exile is greater than our exile, when enemies rule us.
Come to the market where the lovers meet, that market is known to the people. Take what you wish from it without payment, for the merchants already paid and submitted.
Come to the day of extra favour, on it is the visit of the Lord of the Throne, it is the season today.
Come to a wide valley there, whose soil is a scent of musk greater than any.
Pulpits of light and silver there, and pure gold that does not break.
Dunes of musk made as seats for those beneath the people of the pulpits.
They are in their living and joy, and their provisions flow to them and are distributed.
When a bright light shines, the Gardens shine across its regions beyond what is thought.
The Lord of the skies manifests to them openly, and He laughs above the Throne, then He speaks:
“Peace be upon you.” They all hear His greeting with their ears as He greets them.
He says: “Ask Me what you desire, for all you want is with Me. I am the Most Merciful.”
They say together: “We ask You for contentment.” You are the One who grants beauty and mercy.
He gives them this and makes them witness it, exalted is Allah, and Allah is Most Generous.
So, seller of this for a quick low price, it is as if you do not know. Rather, you will soon know.
If you do not know, that is a disaster, and if you know, the disaster is greater.”

Clarifying the Desire of People of Insight in the Supplement to the Indication

By Taqi al Din al Fasi (d. 832 AH)
In Damascus, the great ʿallamah, Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi al Dimashqi al Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, the author of “The Guidance” and other writings, died in Rajab as a mature man.

He studied under Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah, took from him many sciences, and was from his companions. Ibn Taymiyyah was harmed because of him, because he openly spoke about Ibn Taymiyyah in many issues that were criticised against him, and he was harmed because of them as well.

He taught, debated, issued legal verdicts, and authored much.

Among his writings are: al Hady al Nabawī (The Guidance), meaning his guidance ﷺ, prophetic hadith in volumes; Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness), meaning the Garden, prophetic hadith, a volume.

Ḥawāshī ʿalā Sunan Abī Dāwūd (marginal notes on Sunan Abi Dawud), I think he completed upon the marginal notes of al Hafiz ʿAbd al ʿAzim al Mundhiri, one volume; al Radd ʿalā al Jahmiyyah (The Reply to the Jahmiyyah), one volume.

Madārij al Sālikīn (Madarij al Salikin) in explanation of Manāzil al Sāʾirīn (Stations of the Travellers).

He heard from al Shihab al ʿAbir and he narrated.

Ibn Shakir mentioned that he died on the night of the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH, and that his birth was 691 AH.

He heard from al Shihab al ʿAbir, took knowledge from Ibn Taymiyyah, and stayed with him from 712 AH until he died.

Clarifying the Confused

By Ibn Nasir al Din al Dimashqi (d. 842 AH)
The imam, ʿallamah, Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi al Hanbali, Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, the author of many writings, including “The Prophetic Guidance” and “Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Difficult Passages and speaking on its defective hadith”, in one volume.

He heard from the judge Sulayman ibn Hamzah, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, al Qasim Ibn ʿAsakir, and their level. A group took from him, among them Abu al ʿAbbas Ahmad ibn Rajab, ʿAbd al Rahman ibn al Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn Abi al Barakat Masʿud al Baghdadi al Muqriʾ.

He said, in his handwriting in his list of shaykhs: “He led in knowledge and action, with humility, worship, and modesty. He was harmed and tested many times. His birth was 691 AH. He died on the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. May Allah have mercy on him.” End.

The Abundant Reply to the One Who Claimed that Whoever Called Ibn Taymiyyah “Shaykh al Islam” is a Disbeliever

By Ibn Nasir al Din al Dimashqi (d. 842 AH)
The shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, one of the investigators, a banner of authors, a rare one among the people of tafsir, Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz, originally al Zarʿi then al Dimashqi, Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah, and the student of Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He has fine writings and works in the sciences of Sharia and realities.

His birth was 691 AH.

He heard from the judge Sulayman ibn Hamzah, ʿIsa al Mutʿim and their level. He stayed with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah and took from him much knowledge.

He had many sciences, especially tafsir and foundations, in expressed meanings and understood meanings. Among his writings are: “Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants ﷺ”, in four volumes; “The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Gate of the Two Happinesses”, one volume.

Shaykh Zayn al Din Abu al Faraj ʿAbd al Rahman Ibn Rajab and others narrated from him.

He died on the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. He was buried in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir in Damascus beside his parents. His funeral was witnessed.

Our shaykh, the hafiz Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al Muhibb, said in his handwriting: I said before our shaykh al Muzzi, “Is Ibn al Qayyim in the rank of Ibn Khuzaymah?” He said: “He is in this time like Ibn Khuzaymah in his time.”

He authored for his shaykh more than once with the title Shaykh al Islam, including what came shortly before. Among it is his statement: “I heard Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah say: ‘In the universe there is a garden, whoever does not enter it does not enter the Garden of the Hereafter’.”

He said: he would pray dawn prayer, then sit in his place remembering Allah until the day rose high. When he was asked about that he would say: “This is my morning meal. If I do not take this morning meal, my strength falls.”

He would say: “When Allah created the bearers of the Throne, they said: ‘Our Lord, why did You create us?’ He said: ‘I created you to carry My Throne.’ They said: ‘Our Lord, who can carry Your Throne while Your greatness is upon it?’ He said: ‘Say: There is no power and no strength except by Allah.’”

He would often say:

“I am the poor one, son of the poor one,
and so were my father and my grandfather.”

He would say: “With patience and certainty, leadership in religion is gained.”

He would say: “The traveller to Allah must have resolve that moves him and raises him, and knowledge that gives him clear sight and guides him.”

He would say: “The knower travels to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, between seeing the favour, and looking at the defect of the self.”

He would often recite:

“The wolf howled, and I felt calm with the wolf when it howled,
but a human cried out, and I almost flew away.”

He would also recite:

“I leave between the houses, perhaps I speak to myself about you in secret, alone.”

“al Suluk li Maʿrifat Duwal al Muluk”

By Taqi al Din Ahmad ibn ʿAli al Maqrizi (d. 845 AH) (2/3/834, edited by Muhammad Mustafa Ziyadah, Matbaʿat Lajnat al Taʾlif wa al Tarjamah wa al Nashr, first edition, 1958 CE.)

The ʿallamah Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH), al Zarʿi al Dimashqi, died in Damascus on the thirteenth of Rajab.

His birth was in the year 691 AH.

He excelled in several sciences, between tafsir, jurisprudence, Arabic, and others besides that.

He stayed with Shaykh al Islam Taqi al Din Ahmad Ibn Taymiyyah after his return from Cairo in the year 712 AH until he died, and he took from him much knowledge, so he became one of the unique people of the universe. His writings are many, and he came to Cairo more than once.

“Mukhtasar al Dhayl ʿala Tabaqat al Hanabilah”

By Ibn Nasr Allah al Hanbali (d. 846 AH) (Manuscript, Bayezid Library in Turkiye, number 135, folios 114–115.)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi, then al Dimashqi, the jurist, the foundational scholar, the commentator, the grammarian, the knower, Shams al Din Abu ʿAbd Allah Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH), our shaykh.

He was born in the year 691 AH.

He heard from al Shihab al Nabulsi al ʿAbir, the judge Taqi al Din Sulayman, Fatimah bint Jawhar, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, and a group.

He studied jurisprudence in the madhhab, excelled, issued legal verdicts, stayed with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah and took from him.

He became widely skilled in the sciences of Islam. He was a knower in tafsir with no equal, and in foundations of belief, and in it he reached the end. He was skilled in hadith, its meanings, its jurisprudence, and the fine points of extracting rulings from it, unmatched in that.

He was skilled in jurisprudence and its foundations and in Arabic, and he had a great share in it, and in theology and other than that. He was knowledgeable in the knowledge of spiritual conduct, and the speech of the people of spiritual paths, their indications, and their fine points. He had a great share in every one of these fields.

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in “al Mukhtasar”: “He gave attention to hadith and its texts, and some of its narrators. He would work in jurisprudence and do it well in explanation, and in grammar and teach it, and in the two foundations. He was imprisoned for a period because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to the grave of al Khalil عليه السلام. He took a leading role in teaching, reading, and spreading knowledge.”

I say: he, may Allah have mercy on him, had worship, night prayer, and very long prayer to the furthest limit, devotion, persistence in remembrance, deep attachment to love, turning back, poverty to Allah Most High, breaking himself before Him, and throwing himself at the doorstep of servitude.

I did not see anyone like him in that, and I did not see anyone with broader knowledge, nor anyone who knew the meanings of the Qurʾan and the Sunnah and the realities of faith more than him. He was not infallible, but I did not see anyone like him in his meaning. He was tested and harmed many times, and imprisoned with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah in the last time in the Citadel, separate from him, and he was not released until after the shaykh died.

During his imprisonment he was busy with reciting the Qurʾan with reflection and thought, so much good opened for him from that, and he gained a great share of correct spiritual tastes and feelings. Because of that, he gained power in speaking about the sciences of the people of knowledge and entering into their depths, and his writings are full of that.

He performed Hajj many times and stayed in Makkah. The people of Makkah would mention about him the intensity of worship and much tawaf in a way that is wondered at. I stayed with his gatherings before his death for more than a year, and I heard from him his long Nuniyyah poem in the Sunnah, and things from his writings, and others besides that.

Many people took knowledge from him from the time of his shaykh until he died. They benefited from him. The scholars would respect him and learn from him, such as Ibn ʿAbd al Hadi and others.

The judge Burhan al Din al Zarʿi said about him: “Under the skin of the sky there is no one broader in knowledge than him.”

He taught at al Sadriyyah. He led at al Jawziyyah for a long period. He wrote in his handwriting what cannot be described in quantity.

He authored many writings in all kinds of knowledge. He had intense love for knowledge, writing it, reading it, authoring it, and possessing books, and he acquired books in a way no one else reached.

Among his writings are: Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ Mushkilātih wa al Kalām ʿalā ʿIlalih (Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Difficult Passages and speaking on the defective hadith within it), one volume; Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Gate of the Two Happinesses), a huge volume.

Madārij al Sālikīn bayna Manāzil Iyyāka Naʿbudu wa Iyyāka Nastaʿīn (Stages of the Travellers between the Stations of You alone we worship and You alone we seek help from), two volumes, and it is an explanation of Manāzil al Sāʾirīn by Shaykh al Islam al Ansari, a tremendous book; al Kalim al Ṭayyib wa al ʿAmal al Ṣāliḥ (A Firm Knot of Brotherhood between the Good Word and the Righteous Deed Raised to the Lord of the Sky), a huge volume.

Sharḥ Asmāʾ al Kitāb al ʿAzīz (Explanation of the Names of the Noble Book), one volume; Zād al Musāfir ilā Manāzil al Suʿadāʾ fī Hady Khātam al Anbiyāʾ (Provisions of Travellers to the Stations of the Blessed in the Guidance of the Seal of the Prophets), one volume.

Zād al Maʿād fī Hady Khayr al ʿIbād (Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants), four volumes, and it is a very great book; Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Dhikr al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām wa Sharḥ Aḥādīthihā wa ʿIlalihā (Clarifying the Understanding in mentioning the prayer and peace upon the Best of People and explaining its hadith and its defects), one volume.

Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā anna al Sabq lā Yaḥtāj ilā Muḥallil (Clarifying the proof that racing does not need a legaliser), one volume; Naqd al Manqūl wa al Mīzān bayna al Mardūd wa al Maqbūl (Critiquing what is transmitted and the distinguishing measure between what is rejected and what is accepted), one volume.

Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn (The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes), three volumes; Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits), two volumes.

al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah (The Sufficient Poem in Defence of the Saved Group), and it is the Nuniyyah poem in the Sunnah, one volume; al Ṣawāʿiq al Mursalah ʿalā al Jahmiyyah (The Thunderbolts Sent upon the Jahmiyyah Deniers), in volumes. (It is written: two volumes, and in its original it is: volumes. If it were dual he would have said: two volumes, so what appears is that it is a distortion.)

Ḥādī al Arwāḥ ilā Bilād al Afrāḥ (Driving the Souls to the Lands of Joys), and it is the book Description of the Garden, one volume; Rawḍat al Muḥibbīn wa Nuzhat al Mushtāqīn (The Excursion of the Longing and The Garden of the Lovers), one volume.

al Dāʾ wa al Dawāʾ (The Disease and the Cure), one volume; Tuḥfat al Mawdūd bi Aḥkām al Mawlūd (The Precious Gift in the rulings of the newborn), a small volume.

Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness), a huge volume; Ijtimāʿ al Juyūsh al Islāmiyyah ʿalā Ghazw al Jahmiyyah (The Gathering of the Islamic Armies to attack the Jahmiyyah), one volume.

Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Traps of Shaytan), one volume; al Ṭuruq al Ḥukmiyyah (The Ways of Judgement), one volume.

Rafʿ al Yadayn fī al Ṣalāh (Raising the Hands in Prayer), one volume; Nikāḥ al Muḥrim (Marriage of the Pilgrim in ihram), one volume.

Tafḍīl Makkah ʿalā al Madīnah (Preferring Makkah over Madinah), one volume; Faḍl al ʿIlm (The Virtue of Knowledge), one volume.

ʿUddat al Ṣābirīn (The Provision of the Patient), one volume; al Kabāʾir (The Major Sins), one volume. (In al Dhayl: three volumes.)

Ḥukm Tārik al Ṣalāh (The ruling on the one who leaves prayer), one volume; Nūr al Muʾmin wa Ḥayātuh (Light of the believer and his life), one volume.

Ḥukm Taghīm al Hilāl li Ramaḍān (The ruling on clouding the new crescent of Ramadan); Bayān mā Yaḥillu wa mā lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr (Clarification on what is permissible and not permissible from wearing silk).

Hidāyat al Ḥayārā fī Ajwibat al Yahūd wa al Naṣārā (Answers to the worshippers of the cross, and that what they are upon is the religion of Shaytan); Buṭlān al Kīmiyāʾ min Arbaʿīn Wajhan (Invalidity of alchemy from forty ways), one volume.

al Farq bayna al Khullah wa al Maḥabbah wa Muḥājjat al Khalīl ʿalayhi al salām li Qawmih (The difference between intimate friendship and love, and the debate of al Khalil عليه السلام with his people), one volume; al Kalim al Ṭayyib (The Good Word and the Righteous Deed), a small volume.

al Fatḥ al Qudsī (The Qudsi Opening); al Tuḥfah al Makkiyyah (The Makkan Gift); Amthāl al Qurʾān (Examples of the Qurʾan); Sharḥ al Asmāʾ al Ḥusnā (Explanation of the Beautiful Names); Aqsām al Qurʾān (Oaths of the Qurʾan); al Masāʾil al Ṭarābulusiyyah (The Tripoli Questions), in volumes.

(In the margin of the manuscript, it mentioned several books: and he has a book called al Mawrid al Ṣāfī wa al Ẓill al Dāfī, he mentioned it in Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn, and he has a book Tuḥfat al Nāzilīn bi Jiwar Rabb al ʿĀlamīn, he mentioned it in Madārij al Sālikīn, the book Qurrat ʿUyun al Muḥibbīn wa Rawḍat Qulūb al ʿĀrifīn, he mentioned it in …)

al Ṣirāṭ al Mustaqīm fī Aḥkām Ahl al Jaḥīm (The Straight Path in the rulings of the people of al Jahim), two volumes; al Ṭāʿūn (The Plague), a small volume.

He died, may Allah have mercy on him, at the time of night prayer on the night of Thursday, the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. He was prayed over the next day in the Umayyad Masjid after midday prayer, then in the Masjid of Jarrah. He was buried in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir. A great number followed him, and many good dreams were seen for him. May Allah be pleased with him.

He had seen before his death, by a period, Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah in a dream and asked him about his rank. He pointed to its highness above some of the great ones. Then he said to him: “You nearly caught up with us, but you are now in the level of Ibn Khuzaymah.”

This poem, from his composition, was read to our shaykh, the imam, ʿallamah, Abu ʿAbd Allah Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub, and I was listening, at the beginning of his book “Description of the Garden”:

“And that is only jealousy that someone else should reach it, and the Lord knows His creation best.
If it is veiled from us by every hardship, and surrounded by what pains and hurts the beings,
then by Allah, within it are joys and kinds of pleasures that give delight.
By Allah, that is the life between its tents and gardens, and the mouth in the garden smiles.
By Allah, its valley, the appointment of extra favour for the delegation of love, if only I were among them,
in that valley, he wanders in longing, a lover who sees longing as profit.
By Allah, the joys of the lovers when the One above them speaks to them and greets them.
By Allah, eyes that see Allah openly, no harm reaches them, and they never tire.
How a single look gives brightness to the face, can the deep lover ever forget after it.
By Allah, how many a fine one, if she smiles, a light greater than dawn shines for her.
So delight of eyes when she comes near, and delight of ears when she speaks.
How the fresh branch is ashamed when it bends, and how the two seas are ashamed when she smiles.” (Refer to what came earlier in the note on “al Dhayl”.)

“If there is a heart sick with love of it, then nothing remains except its connection, a healing.”

He mentioned lines, then he said:

“So, suitor of the beautiful one, if truly seeking, this is the time, the dowry is the advance.
Hate the betrayers for love of her, and be granted her among them and take delight.
Be devoted to her above all else, for she is prepared for one like you in the Gardens of Eden, always lasting.
Fast the nearer day, perhaps tomorrow the far Eid will come, while people are fasting.
Advance, and do not be content with a troubled life, for the one who does not advance does not win pleasures.
If the universe becomes narrow for you in all its breadth, and no home remains that is known to you,
then come to the Gardens of Eden, for they are your first homes, and there is the place of staying.
But we are captives of the enemy, so do we return to our homelands and find peace.
They claimed that when the stranger goes far and his homelands become distant, he becomes poor,
yet what exile is greater than our exile, when enemies rule us.
Come to the market where the lovers meet, that market is known to the people.
Take what you wish from it without payment, for the merchants already paid and submitted.
Come to the day of extra favour, on it is the visit of the Lord of the Throne, it is the season today.
Come to a wide valley there, whose soil is a scent of musk greater than any.
Pulpits of light and silver there, and pure gold that does not break.
Dunes of musk made as seats for those beneath the people of the pulpits.
While they are in their living and joy, and their provisions flow to them and are distributed,
a bright light shines, and the Gardens shine across its regions beyond what is thought.
The Lord of the skies manifests to them openly, and He laughs above the Throne, then He speaks:
“Peace be upon you.” They all hear His greeting with their ears as He greets them.
He says: “Ask Me what you desire, for all you want is with Me. I am the Most Merciful.”
They say together: “We ask You for contentment.” You are the One who grants beauty and mercy.
He gives them this and makes them witness it, exalted is Allah, and Allah is Most Generous.
So, seller of this for a quick low price, it is as if you do not know. Rather, you will soon know.
If you do not know, that is a disaster, and if you know, the disaster is greater.”

“Tarikh Ibn Qadi Shuhbah”

By Ibn Qadi Shuhbah (d. 851 AH) (2/16–17, al Maʿhad al Faransi edition, Damascus, 1994 CE, edited by ʿAdnan Darwish.)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz, the shaykh, the hafiz, master of many sciences, Shams al Din, Abu ʿAbd Allah al Zarʿi al Dimashqi, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH).

He was born in the year 691 AH. He heard from al Shihab al Nabulsi al ʿAbir, the judge al Taqi Sulayman, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim and a group. He studied jurisprudence on the way of Ahmad, excelled, issued legal verdicts, taught, stayed with Ibn Taymiyyah and took from him, became widely skilled in the sciences, authored many good famous writings.

He was tested and harmed many times, and imprisoned with his shaykh in the last time in the Citadel, separate from him, and he was not released until after his shaykh died.

He had much worship, and he would issue legal verdicts on the issue of divorce that his shaykh chose, and because of that he had episodes that would take long to mention, with the judge Taqi al Din al Subki and others. The ulama of the age spoke against him and he spoke against them.

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in “al Muʿjam al Mukhtas”: “He gave attention to hadith and its texts and some of its narrators. He would work in jurisprudence and do it well in explanation, and in grammar and teach it. He was imprisoned once because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to the grave of al Khalil عليه السلام, and he took a leading role in teaching and spreading knowledge. But he was impressed with his own view, and events occurred to him.”

He died in Rajab in Damascus and was buried in the cemetery of Bab al Saghir.

“al Durar al Kaminah fi Aʿyan al Miʾah al Thaminah”

By Ibn Hajar al ʿAsqalani (d. 852 AH) (3/400–403, edited by Krnko, Daʾirat al Maʿarif al ʿUthmaniyyah.)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz al Zarʿi al Dimashqi, Shams al Din Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH), al Hanbali.

He was born in the year 691 AH. He heard from al Taqi Sulayman, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, al Mutʿim, Ibn al Shirazi, Ismaʿil ibn Maktum, and their level.

He read Arabic under Ibn Abi al Fath and al Majd al Tunisi. He read jurisprudence under al Majd al Harani and Ibn Taymiyyah. He taught at al Sadriyyah and led at al Jawziyyah. His father had skill in the laws of inheritance so he took it from him. He read in foundations under al Safi al Hindi and Ibn Taymiyyah.

He was bold hearted, broad in knowledge, knowing in disagreement and the madhhahib of the Salaf. Love of Ibn Taymiyyah overcame him until he would not depart from any of his statements, rather he would support them, and he was the one who refined his books and spread his knowledge.

He had standing with all the Egyptian amirs. He was imprisoned with Ibn Taymiyyah in the Citadel after he was humiliated and taken around on a camel, beaten with a whip, then when Ibn Taymiyyah died he was released. He was tested another time because of the legal verdicts of Ibn Taymiyyah. He would speak against the ulama of his age and they would speak against him.

Al Dhahabi (d. 748 AH) said in “al Mukhtasar”: “He was imprisoned once because he rejected travelling with the intention of worship to visit the grave of al Khalil عليه السلام, then he took a leading role in study and spreading knowledge, but he was impressed with his own view, bold upon matters.”

The period of his staying with Ibn Taymiyyah was from when he returned from Egypt in the year 712 AH until he died.

Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) said: he remained constant in study by night and day, with much prayer and recitation, fine character, much kindness, he did not envy and did not hold hatred. Then he said: I do not know anyone in our time from the people of knowledge with more worship than him. He would lengthen prayer greatly and prolong its bowing and prostration. Until he said: he was sought for legal verdicts on the issue of divorce, and because of that he had events that would take long to spread out with al Taqi al Subki and others.

He would pray dawn prayer, then sit in his place remembering Allah until the day rose high, and he would say: “This is my morning meal. If I do not sit this sitting, my strength falls.” He would say: “With patience, poverty, and certainty, leadership in religion is gained.”

He would say: “The traveller must have resolve that moves him and raises him, and knowledge that gives him clear sight and guides him.” (From “He would pray dawn prayer…” until here, these are statements of Shaykh al Islam Ibn Taymiyyah that Ibn al Qayyim quoted from him. Ibn Nasir al Din mentioned them in “al Radd al Wafir”. The author thought they were Ibn al Qayyim’s, so he transmitted them here.)

He was strongly drawn to gathering books. He gained from them what cannot be counted, until his children would sell from them for a very long time after his death, besides what they selected for themselves.

Among his writings are: al Hady al Nabawī (The Prophetic Guidance); Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn (The Signposts of the Muftis); Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits).

Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Paths of the Two Happinesses); Madārij al Sālikīn (Explanation of Stations of the Travellers); al Qaḍāʾ wa al Qadar (Judgement and Decree).

Jalāʾ al Afhām fī al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām (Clarifying the Understanding in prayer and peace upon the Best of People); Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Traps of Shaytan); Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness).

al Rūḥ (The Spirit); Rafʿ al Yadayn (Raising the Hands); al Ṣawāʿiq al Mursalah ʿalā al Jahmiyyah (The Thunderbolts Sent upon the Jahmiyyah Deniers), and other writings.

All his writings are desired among groups. He has long breath in them. He exerts himself in clarifying, so he expands greatly. Most of them are from the speech of his shaykh. He shapes it, and he has a strong ability in that. He continues to circle around his shaykh’s unique statements, supporting them and giving proofs for them.

From his poetry is a poem that reaches six thousand lines, he named it “al Kafiyah in Defence of the Saved Group”, and he is the one who said:

“The son of Abu Bakr has many sins, so there is no sin upon the one who takes from his honour.
The son of Abu Bakr became a leader, teaching knowledge, yet he has no knowledge.
The son of Abu Bakr is ignorant of himself, ignorant of Allah’s command, so how can knowledge come to him.
The son of Abu Bakr seeks rising to the Garden of Refuge, yet he has no resolve.
The son of Abu Bakr, his effort has failed, if he has no share in righteous deeds.
The son of Abu Bakr, as his Lord said, anxious, ungrateful, described by ignorance and injustice.
The son of Abu Bakr and those like him, by their legal verdicts, these people follow them, while they have no reach in knowledge, no piety, no abstinence, and the universe is their concern.
The son of Abu Bakr became one who wishes, wishing to reach lofty ranks, while sins are his concern.”

Events occurred to him with the judges, among them, in Rabiʿ al Awwal, al Subki demanded him because of his legal verdict permitting racing without a legaliser, so he rejected it against him, and the matter ended with him returning from what he used to give legal verdicts with in that.

He died on the thirteenth of Rajab, 751 AH. His funeral was very large, and good dreams were seen for him. He himself mentioned before his death, by a period, that he saw his shaykh Ibn Taymiyyah in a dream, and that he asked him about his rank. He said: he was placed in a rank above so and so, and he named some of the great ones, and he said to him: “You nearly caught up with us, but you are now in the level of Ibn Khuzaymah.”

“Tajrid al Wafi bi al Wafayat”

By Ibn Hajar al ʿAsqalani (d. 852 AH) (1/192, edited by Shadi Al Nuʿman, Muʾassasat al Rayyan, first edition, 1434 AH.)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Saʿd al Zarʿi, Shams al Din Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH).

The famous imam, al Hanbali, his fame removes the need to list his ways, and his writings are famous like his name. Ibn Taymiyyah did not leave behind anyone like him. He died in the year 751 AH.

“ʿAqd al Juman fi Tarikh Ahl al Zaman”

By Badr al Din al ʿAyni (d. 855 AH) (Manuscript of Dar al Kutub al Misriyyah, in the handwriting of the author, folio 42b.)

The ʿallamah Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zarʿi, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH).

He has writings full of benefits. He stayed with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah when he returned from the Egyptian lands to the Syrian lands.

He was engaged in issuing legal verdicts on the issue of divorce that Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah chose, and because of that he had episodes that would take long to explain with the chief judge Taqi al Din al Subki and others.

He died in Damascus on the thirteenth of Rajab. May Allah have mercy on him.

“al Nujum al Zahira fi Muluk Misr wa al Qahirah”

By Ibn Taghri Bardi (d. 874 AH) (10/195, Dar al Kutub al ʿIlmiyyah, first edition, 1413 AH.)

Shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, Shams al Din Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub al Zarʿi al Dimashqi al Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH), died in Damascus on the thirteenth of Rajab. His birth was in the year 691 AH.

He was skilled in several sciences, between tafsir, jurisprudence, Arabic, grammar, hadith, foundations, and subsidiary rulings. He stayed with Shaykh al Islam Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah after his return from Cairo in the year 712 AH, and he took from him much knowledge, until he became one of the unique people of his time. He took a leading role in teaching and issuing legal verdicts for years, and people benefited from him, all of them. He authored, composed, and wrote.

We have already covered his states, his writings, and some of his shaykhs in his biography in “al Manhal al Safi”, as we mentioned those like him.

“al Manhal al Safi wa al Mustawfi baʿd al Wafi”

By Ibn Taghri Bardi (d. 874 AH) (9/240–242, edited by Muhammad Muhammad Amin, Dar al Kutub wa al Wathaʾiq al Qawmiyyah, 1423 AH.)

Muhammad ibn Abi Bakr ibn Ayyub ibn Saʿd ibn Hariz, the ʿallamah Shams al Din al Zarʿi al Hanbali, known as Ibn Qayyim al Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH).

His birth was on the seventh of Safar, 691 AH.

Shaykh Salah al Din al Safadi (d. 764 AH) said: he heard from al Shihab al ʿAbir and many others, among them: Sulayman ibn Hamzah al Hakim, Abu Bakr ibn ʿAbd al Daʾim, ʿIsa al Mutʿim, Abu Nasr Muhammad ibn ʿImad al Din al Shirazi, Ibn Maktum, al Bahaʾ ibn ʿAsakir, ʿAlaʾ al Din al Kindi al Wadaʿi, and Muhammad ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿlabakki. He read with him “al Mulakhkhas” by Abu al Baqaʾ, then “al Jurjaniyyah”, then he read “the Alfiyyah of Ibn Malik”, and most of “al Kafiyah al Shafiyah”, and part of “al Tashil”, then he read with Shaykh Majd al Din al Tunisi a portion of “al Muqarrib”.

As for jurisprudence, he took it from a group, among them: Shaykh Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad al Harani. He read with him “the Mukhtasar of Abu al Qasim al Khiraqi” and “al Muqniʿ” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Ibn Abi al Fath al Baʿlabakki. Among them was Shaykh, imam, ʿallamah, Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Muharrar”, authored by his grandfather, and his brother Shaykh Sharaf al Din. He took the laws of inheritance first from his father, and he had skill in it, then from Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad, then from Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah.

As for foundations, he took them from a group, among them Shaykh Safi al Din al Hindi, and Ismaʿil ibn Muhammad. He read with him most of “al Rawdah” by Ibn Qudamah. Among them was Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah. He read with him a portion of “al Mahsul” and from the book “al Ihkam” by al Amidi. He read in the foundations of belief under Shaykh Safi al Din al Hindi most of “al Arbaʿin” and “al Muhassal”.

He read with Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah a portion of the two books and much of his writings. He worked a great deal, debated, strove, remained constant in seeking, authored, and he became from the great imams in the knowledge of tafsir, hadith, foundations, jurisprudence, theology, subsidiary rulings, and Arabic. Shaykh Taqi al Din Ibn Taymiyyah did not leave behind anyone like him.

Among his writings are: Zād al Maʿād fī Hady Khayr al ʿIbād (Provisions for the Hereafter in the Guidance of the Best of Servants), four volumes; Miftāḥ Dār al Saʿādah (The Key to the Abode of Happiness), a large volume.

Tahdhīb Sunan Abī Dāwūd wa Īḍāḥ ʿIlalih wa Mushkilātih (Refining Sunan Abi Dawud and Clarifying its Defects and its Difficult Passages), about three volumes; Ṭarīq al Hijratayn wa Bāb al Saʿādatayn (The Journey of the Two Migrations and the Path of the Two Happinesses), a large volume.

Rafʿ al Yadayn fī al Ṣalāh (Raising the Hands in Prayer), a medium volume; Aʿlām al Muwaqqiʿīn ʿan Rabb al ʿĀlamīn (The Signposts of the Muftis from the Lord of the Universes), a large volume.

al Kāfiyah al Shāfiyah fī al Intiṣār li al Firqah al Nājiyah (The Sufficient Poem for the Defence of the Saved Group), a poem of about six thousand lines; al Risālah al Ḥalabiyyah fī al Ṭarīqah al Muḥammadiyyah (The Halabi Treatise on the Muhammadan Path).

Bayān al Dalīl ʿalā Buṭlān Taḥlīl al Muḥallil fī al Sabq wa al Rimāyah (Clarifying the proof for the invalidity of the one who makes lawful the matcher in racing and archery); al Taḥbīr fīmā Yaḥillu wa lā Yaḥillu min Libās al Ḥarīr (Al Tahbir on what is permissible and not permissible to wear of silk).

al Furūsiyyah al Muḥammadiyyah (The Muhammadan Horsemanship); Jalāʾ al Afhām fī Aḥkām al Ṣalāh wa al Salām ʿalā Khayr al Anām (Clarifying the Understanding in the rulings of sending prayers and peace upon the Best of People).

Tafsīr Asmāʾ al Qurʾān (Tafsir of the Names of the Qurʾan); Tafsīr al Fātiḥah (Tafsir of al Fatihah), a large volume.

al Istighāthah bi al Dhikr li Jalb al Khayr wa Dafʿ al Shar (Seeking help through remembrance for gaining good and repelling harm); Ighāthat al Lahfān min Maṣāyid al Shayṭān (Uncovering the Cover on the ruling of listening to singing).

al Risālah fī Aḥkām al Muʿawwidhatayn (The Clear Treatise on the rulings of al Muʿawwidhatayn); Maʿānī al Ḥurūf wa al Adawāt (Meanings of tools and particles); Badāʾiʿ al Fawāʾid (Marvels of Benefits), a large volume.

He recited to me, from his own words, about himself:

“The son of Abu Bakr has many sins, so there is no sin upon the one who takes from his honour.
The son of Abu Bakr is ignorant of himself, ignorant of Allah’s command, so how can knowledge come to him.
The son of Abu Bakr became a leader, teaching knowledge, yet he has no knowledge.
The son of Abu Bakr became one who wishes, wishing to reach lofty ranks, while sins are his concern.
The son of Abu Bakr seeks rising to the Garden of Refuge, yet he has no resolve.
The son of Abu Bakr sees profit in what vanishes and ends, and what he leaves is the true profit.
The son of Abu Bakr, his effort has failed, if he has no share in righteous deeds.
The son of Abu Bakr, as his Lord said, anxious, ungrateful, described by ignorance and injustice.
The son of Abu Bakr and those like him, by their legal verdicts, these people follow them, while they have no reach in knowledge, no piety, no abstinence, and the universe is their concern.
By Allah, if the Companions saw their “best”, they would say: “They are the deaf and the mute”.”

End of the words of al Safadi (d. 764 AH).

I say: and he died … (Like this, there is blank space in the original, and he died on the thirteenth of Rajab in the year 751 AH.)