سير أعلام النبلاء-الرسالة

Allamah Dhahabi was amongst the greatest experts in tarajim and rijal, to such an extent that Hafiz Ibn Hajar described him as:

هُو مِن أَهْلِ الاستِقراءِ التَّامِّ في نَقْدِ الرِّجالِ

while his memory was so great that Ibn Hajar when drinking Zamzam would make dua to be blessed with a memory like that of Allamah Dhahabi!

He then possessed a trait that is really rare especially amongst those who authored on history and tarajim. Most just relate what has reached them, with no concern whether it is really correct or not.
Allamah Dhahabi, on the other hand, was a real naqid. Whenever he would pass by something that seemed problematic, he would clearly point out the issue.

Now, when a master possessing all these great qualities, decides to focus his efforts into authoring a work covering the tarajim of the luminaries in Islam, you could be assured that the book would be a masterpiece.
This is سير أعلام النبلاء .

Comprising tarajim of nearly 7000 luminaries, the book doesn’t restrict itself to any specific group, instead it covers rulers, qurra, fuqaha, muhaddithin, lughawiyin etc

Written in a flowing style, it is an easy read.

While the book also presents the usual info found in biographical works, the author includes the following, which add real value to the book:
- A large number of anecdotes and incidents from the lives of the salaf, filled with lessons
- Tons of words of wisdom and advice from these luminaries

But the greatest benefit of this mawsu’ah is the fawaid of Allamah Dhahabi.
He freely expresses his opinion regarding everyone and everything, pointing out the pros and cons of hundreds of books, exposing fabrications, showing how certain famous stories are really false, how the views of a certain person are problematic etc.

Some examples are when he passed by the famous story of Farrukh leaving home for 27 years, he pointing out a number of reasons why the story is baseless.
Regarding the long discussion between Sa’id ibn Jubayr and Hajjaj prior to Hajjaj having him executed, Allamah Dhahabi says: هَذِهِ حِكَايَةٌ مُنْكَرَةٌ، غَيْرُ صَحِيْحَةٍ.

To understand the extent of these fawaid, there are a number of contemporary works that have tried to gather these fawaid of Allamah Dhahabi, including a 2-volume work in over 1000 pages, devoted to gathering just the books that Allamah Dhahabi discussed, with most of it taken from Siyar.

A masterpiece of this calibre demands expert editing and this was provided in the form of a group of expert editors under the supervision of Sh Shuayb Arnaut. Amongst the editors was Sh Husain Asad, Dr Bashar Awwad Ma’ruf, Sh Muhamad Na’im al-Araqsusi etc.

High-quality edition in 30 volumes, printed by ar-Risalah al-Alamiyyah, well-known for their high-quality prints.