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Abu Nu’aym al-Isfahani: Hilyat al-awliya

(Ornament of the Parents) (d1038) Isfahan

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Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Ishaq ibn Musa ibn Mahran al-Mihrani al-Isfahani al-Ahwal al-Ash’ari al-Shafi’i, died 1038 CE was a Persian Shafi'i scholar and a transmitter of hadith. Born in Isfahan, he travelled widely, visiting Nishapur, Basra, Kufa, Baghdad, Mecca and Andalusia. He is the presumed author of Hilyat al-awliya, one of the sources for early Sufism. It is a substantial work, comprising a total of 650 biographies (also of Sufis). His remarks on people of East Africa in this book are totally unexpected and not repeated elsewhere.

 

Taken from: حلية الأولياء وطبقات الأصفياء  by  أبو نعيم الأصبهاني  al-maktaba.org

 

Vol 1 p370

Rooh bin Jabbar Thana Al-Haytham bin Uday, on the authority of Hisham, the saint of Othman, on the authority of Hisham bin Urwa, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Aisha: Zinj, it is a distorted creation. (1)

Muhammad bin Jaafar al-Muddab told us, then Ahmad bin al-Husayn al-Ansari, Thana Rooh bin Essam Thanna Hashaim bin Bashir, on the authority of al-Awam bin Hushab, said the sellers are a lowly people.

Vol 1 p384

Told by Abu Bakr bin Malik, Thana Abdullah bin Ahmed, My father told me, Thana Abdul Malik ibn Amr, Thana Ismail, I mean Abdi, from Abu Mutawakil, that Abu Hurayrah, He had a Zanji to proud to work, and he lifted the whip on him one day and said: if it were not for retribution, I will sell you to who gives me your price, Go to Allah.

Vol2 p19

He narrated on the authority of Ismail bin Bahram, Yusef bin Salman and Hilal bin Bishr, on which he narrated Ghayath and Ishaq bin Ibrahim bin Zaid. Abi Thana Saeed bin Yaqoub, Thana Abdullah bin Ishkib and Jaafar bin Ahmed, told us they said Abd al-Aziz bin Abd al-Wahid, Than Abdullah bin Harb al-Laithi, Thana Jaafar bin Suleiman bin Ali, on the authority of his grandfather on the authority of Ali bin Abdullah bin Abbas, on the authority of Ibn Abbas he said The Messenger of God (may God’s prayers and peace be upon him) bought slaves and shared their livelihoods for them, for they have sustenance, and you have the Zinj, they are the least of the people.

Vol 6 p389

Abu Bakr al-Talhi told us, Thana Hassan bin Habash, Thana Abu Abd al-Rahman ibn Shabwaih said: I heard my father say: I heard Abdel Razek, saying: A Sufi called for food and ate it and a bit of butter and ate it, then he prayed when the sun went down and said: Do good to the Zinj and they did.

Vol 9 p391

What sayings of wisdom come from the Zinj, I knew that God is worshiped in their hearts like birds going to their nest, when their hearts were searched, one would find nothing in them except the love of the beloved.

Vol10 p179

Told by Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Jaafar, Thna Ali bin Hamza, Thna Abu al-Aynah said:

Al-Asma'i told me; It was narrated that Abu Amr ibn al-'Ala said: Whoever knows the virtue of virtue above him knows his virtue without him; It was reported that al-Sirri ibn Jabir (2) entered the land of Zanj, he said: I saw a black woman knocking rice and crying, I remembered her words and said: Let me ask for its translation, and I asked an old person about it, he said: I threw my eyes right and left. I did not see Allah, but my heart hoped.

(1) Beware of the Zinj, they are a distorted creation.

This hadith is repeated by: Abu Nu’aym al Isfahani 1038; Abu Ubayd al Bakri 1067; Ibn Qudama al Maqdisi 1223; Ibn al Jawzi 1257; Ibn abd al Rahman al Mizzi 1342; al Dhahabi 1348; (and many others). Al Kulayni 939 was maybe the first to use it.

(2) al-Sirri ibn Jabir:  Abu Al-Sirri = Mansur bin Ammar Al-Sirri bin Jaber. Perhaps Imam al Sirri (born 769) was an important Hadith collector. This early mention of a Muslim visitor of a Muslim place in the land of Zanj is important. The story is also repeated by Ibn al Jawzi (1200).