The Hedaya, Or Guide; A Commentary on the Mussulman Laws. Translated by the Order of the Governor-General and Council of Bengal, by Charles Hamilton. FOUR VOLUMES.

Al-Marghinani, Burhan Al-Din Abu’l Hassan Ali B. Abi Bakr B. Abd Al-Djalil Al-Farghani.

Published by T. Bensley, London, 1791

About this Item

Volume I: lxxxix, xii 561 pp. + 1 pp. errata leaf/ Volume II: viii 727 pp. / Volume III: viii 609 pp. + 1 pp. errata leaf/ Volume IV: viii 574 pp. + 52 pp. supplementary index + 1 pp. errata leaf; some wormholes at margins, spotting and repaired tears, Ex-library copy, library stamps front and rear, library book labels, contemporary tree calf, some tears and losses to spines, a little rubbed and scuffed, marbled endpapers & edges, Orientalist Charles Hamilton?s translation from the Persian, for the East India Company, of the al-Hidayah (Islamic personal law), originally composed by Burhan al-Din al-Marghinani in the twelfth century. First English edition of this important hadith collection. The work is a translation of the Persian version by Ghulam Ya. Khan of the original Arabic version of Al- Marghinani. Al-Firgani is the name of a family of Hanafi lawyers; the nisba comes from their native town Marghinan in Farhana. The author of the celebrated Hidaya , wrote a record of his studies, but it does not appear to have survived. His principal work is the legal compendium Bidayat al-mubtadi (mss. in Brockelmann), based on al Kuduri?s Muktasar and al-Shaybani?s al_Djami ?al saghir. On this work, he himself wrote a large commentary in 8 volumes Kifayat al-muntaha. But before he had completed it, he thought it was much too diffuse and decided to write a second commentary, the celebrated Hidaya, which later writers repeatedly edited and annotated. The most important commentaries and synopses are given in the table below. For the manuscripts and printed texts of these commentaries and synopses and of many super commentaries and glosses, see Brockelmann, II 2, 466-9, S I, 644-9; a printed edition of the Hidaya appeared in 4 vols., Cairo 1326/1908. ( The Encyclopedia of Islam volume VI, 557-558). #10875. Seller Inventory # 010950

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Hedaya, Or Guide; A Commentary on the ...

Publisher: T. Bensley, London

Publication Date: 1791

Binding: Hardcover

Condition: Fine

Edition: First Edition