مناقب إمام الأئمة أبي حنيفة للدينوري

Manaqib Imam al-A'immah Abi Hanifah

This is a book on the virtues and merits of the Greatest Imam, Abū Ḥanīfah al-Nuʿmān, may Allah be pleased with him, authored by the trustworthy, widely travelled ḥadīth master Abū al-Ḥasan ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn Naṣr al-Dīnawarī (d. 468 AH), famously known as Ibn al-Labbān. It is among the earliest works composed on the virtues of the Imam, and almost all of its narrations are transmitted with chains of transmission.

Ibn al-Labbān divided his book into twenty chapters, covering the Imam’s name and lineage; his physical appearance, clothing, and adornment; aspects of his life and personal qualities; his worship, prayer, and night prayers; his recitation of the Noble Qur’an; his fasting and pilgrimage; his scrupulousness and piety; his avoidance of the courts of rulers; his refusal to accept judicial and governmental appointments; and his pre-eminence in the various branches of knowledge. It also contains accounts of his perceptiveness and acumen, generosity and courage, as well as selections illustrating his jurisprudence, proficiency, intelligence, and deduction of legal rulings.

The author also records the praise bestowed upon him by the Imams, along with other rare reports. The book contains a total of 264 narrations.

We present it today to our readers, critically edited for the first time and appearing in this splendid form. Praise be to Allah, by whose grace righteous works are brought to completion.

هذا كتابٌ في مناقب الإمام الأعظم أبي حنيفة النعمان رضيَ الله عنه، ألفه الحافظ الثقة الجوّال أبو الحسن علي بن محمد بن نصر الدِّينَـوَري (ت468هـ) الشهير بابن اللبّان، وهو من أوائل ما أُلّف في مناقب الإمام، تكاد رواياته تكون كلها مُسنَدةً! كسر ابن اللبّان كتابه على عشرين فصلًا، اشتملت على اسم الإمام ونسبه، وحليته ولباسه وزينته، وطرفٍ من سيرته وشمائله، وعبادته وصلاته وقيامه، وتلاوته للقرآن الكريم، وصيامه وحجِّه، وورعه وتقواه، واجتنابه أبوابَ السلاطين، وامتناعه عن القضاء والولايات، وبيان تفوُّقه في العلوم على اختلافها، وأخبارٍ في فِطنته ونباهته، وسخائه وشجاعته، ونبذٍ من فقهه وحذقه وذكائه واستنباطه للأحكام. كما ذكر ثناءات الأئمة عليه، وغير ذلك من الشوارد. وقد بلغت روايات الكتاب 264 رواية!نقدِّمه اليوم لقرّائنا محققًا لأول مرة، يرفل في هذه الحلة الغرّاء، والحمد لله الذي بنعمته تتم الصالحات