İbnü'd-Deyba

ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAlī ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Shaybānī al-ʿAbdarī al-Zabīdī al-Shāfiʿī, , commonly known as Ibn al-Daybaʿ (; 866–944 AH/ 1462–1537 CE) was a was a Yemeni Sunni scholar, hadith specialist, historian, genealogist, poet, and a jurist of the Shafi'i school. He was one of the leading hadith scholars of his time, he was regarded as Amīr al-Muʾminīn fī al-Ḥadīth ("Commander of the Faithful in Ḥadīth") and Khātimat al-Muḥaqqiqīn ("The Seal of the Verifiers"). His other known honorific epithets goes by Shaykh al-Islām and Hafiz al-Asr ("Hadīth Master of his Age"). He authored important works in history and prophetic traditions, most notably Taysīr al-Wuṣūl ilā Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl and Bughyat al-Mustafīd fī Akhbār Madīnat Zabīd.

Name and lineage His full name and patronymic was 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ali al-Shaybani al-Zabidi which indicated that he was from the Banu Shayban tribe. Hence, he is a descendant of the Arabian patriarch Adnan through Rabi'a ibn Nizar. Dayba' was a slang word founded by the local Ethiopians in Yemen that was used to describe a fair-skinned Ethiopian.

Students Among his own students were: It was published with critical editing by Dr. ʿAlī Ḥasan al-Bawwāb. Tanqīḥ al-Wuṣūl wa-Jāmiʿ al-Uṣūl li-Aḥādīth al-Rasūl — Mentioned by Ismāʿīl Pasha in Hidāyat al-ʿĀrifīn as Ibn al-Daybaʿ's work, though not confirmed in earlier biographies. It may have been another summary of Taysīr al-Wuṣūl. No known manuscript has yet surfaced. Al-Aḥādīth al-Qudsiyyah — A collection of about 80 hadith qudsī, transmitted without chains or indications of authenticity. Later scholars such as Dr. Yūsuf Ṣādiq attempted takhrīj on some of them. Manuscripts exist in the Great Mosque Library of Ṣanʿāʾ (997 AH) and in the Ahqāf Library of Tarīm. Ghāyat al-Maṭlūb wa-Aʿẓam al-Minah fīmā yaghfir Allāh bihi al-dhunūb wa-yūjib al-Jannah — Written during the lifetime of his teacher, Zayn al-Dīn Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Laṭīf al-Sharjī, who trained him in writing and composition. Edited by Dr. Riḍā Muḥammad Ṣafī al-Dīn al-Sanūsī and published in Beirut (1998). Kitāb al-Awāʾil — A compilation of “first” hadith reports, which scholars traditionally recited to teachers at the beginning of study to establish isnād connections. Survives only in manuscript form. Al-Taʾyīd Mukhtaṣar al-Taqyīd fī Ruwāt al-Sunan wa'l-Masānīd — Cited by the Yemeni bibliographer ʿAbd Allāh al-Ḥabshī. Appears to be a shortened version of works on narrators of the Sunan and Musnads. Asānīd al-Daybaʿ ʿan Shaykhihi al-Sharjī ʿan Nafīs al-Dīn al-ʿAlawī — A ten-folio collection of isnāds, half relating to the Kitāb al-Sunnah. A manuscript is preserved in the Western Library of Ṣanʿāʾ. Tashīl al-Murtaqā li-tanāwul al-Muntaqā — Mentioned by al-Ḥabshī, apparently an abridgment of Ibn Taymiyyah's al-Muntaqā fī Aḥādīth al-Aḥkām. Muʿjam al-Ḥāfiẓ ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Ibn al-Daybaʿ — Listed by al-Ḥabshī, possibly identical with his Asānīd collection noted above. Needs further study to determine if they are separate works. Tuhfat al-Zamān bi Faḍāʾil al-Yaman wa Ahluh — A short treatise in three chapters compiling Prophetic traditions on the virtues of Yemen and its people. It was published in Beirut (Dar al-Kotob al-'Ilmiyya, 1992), edited by Sayyid Kasrawī Ḥasan under the title Tuhfat al-Zamān fī Faḍāʾil Ahl al-Yaman.

History Bughyat al-Mustafīd fī Akhbār Madīnat Zabīd, also known as Tarikh al-Zabid — His most famous history work, focused on the city of Zabīd. This work is especially valuable for the information on the architecture, noble figures and scholars. Al-Faḍl al-Mazīd ʿalā Bughyat al-Mustafīd — A continuation of the above, recording events and deaths of scholars from 1495–1517 CE, covering the end of the Ṭāhirid dynasty and Mamlūk entry into Yemen. Published in multiple editions, including Yemen (1993) and Kuwait. Qurrat al-ʿUyūn bi-Akhbār al-Yaman al-Maymūn — A general history of Yemen from the early Islamic period through his own time. Based on al-Khazrajī’s al-ʿIqd al-Masbūk, with additions on the Rasūlid and Ṭāhirid dynasties. Published in several editions, including one by Muḥammad ʿAlī al-Akwaʿ. Al-ʿIqd al-Bāhir fī Tārīkh Dawlat Banī Ṭāhir — A focused account of the Ṭāhirid rulers, prepared for Sultan ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. Considered a lost work, though al-Ḥabshī reported a manuscript in the Great Mosque Library of Ṣanʿāʾ (no. 115). Tārīkh al-Dawlatayn al-Nāṣiriyyah wa’l-Ẓāhiriyyah wa-mā baynahumā — Covers the reigns of Yemeni rulers al-Nāṣir ibn al-Ashraf (1400–1423), al-Manṣūr II (1423–1426), al-Ashrāf III Ismāʿīl (1426–1427), and al-Ẓāhir Yaḥyā ibn al-Ashrāf II (1427–1438). Mukhtaṣar al-ʿAṭāyā al-Sunniyyah — A condensed version of al-ʿAṭāyā al-Sunniyyah wa al-Mawāhib al-Haniyyah fī al-Manāqib al-Yamaniyyah by al-Malik al-Afḍal ʿAbbās ibn ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd al-Mujāhid al-Rasūlī (764–778H / 1363–1376M). Ibn al-Daybaʿ's summary preserves accounts of companions, scholars, saints, and ministers who came to Yemen. The work is organized alphabetically for easier reference.

Sīrah Mawlid al-Dayba'i — Abd al-Rahman al-Zabidi famously compiled Mawlid al-Dayba'i, a work of poetry that eulogizes and praises (Salawat) the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The poem begins with the birth of Muhammad and continues into describing exemplary events in his life, with other figures like Husayn ibn Ali occasionally being mentioned. Ithāf al-Labīb bi-Isrāʾ al-Ḥabīb, also known called Kitāb al-Miʿrāj — This short treatise covers the Prophet's Night Journey (isrāʾ) and Ascension (miʿrāj). Qāṭin records the title as Ithāf al-Labīb bi-Isrāʾ al-Ḥabīb, whereas al-ʿAydarūs and Ibn al-ʿImād refer to it as Kitāb al-Miʿrāj. According to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥabshī, a manuscript copy exists in the Maktabah al-Gharbiyyah in |Ṣanʿāʾ, although it has not yet been published. Tuhfat al-Azkiyāʾ li-Mawlid Khātam al-Anbiyāʾ — Mentioned by the Yemeni researcher ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥabshī, this work commemorates the birth of the Prophet Muhammad (Mawlid), highlighting its religious significance. Al-Tuhfah al-Laṭīfah fī ḥādithat al-biʿthah al-sharīfah — A short didactic poem recounting the major events of the Prophet's life, preserved in manuscripts and printed in a critical edition by Dār al-Bashāʾir (2006).

Other literary works Kashf al-Kurbah fī Sharḥ Duʿāʾ al-Imām Abī Hirbah — This is a commentary on the khatm al-Qurʾān supplication composed by Imām Muḥammad ibn Yaʿqūb Abī Hirbah. Ibn al-Daybaʿ stated that he wrote it after returning from his third pilgrimage in 896H/1491M. Radhi Daghfus listed it among his lost works, but this was incorrect. Manuscripts of the book survive in the Library of al-Aḥqāf (Tarim, Ḥaḍramawt) and in the private collection of Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Jalīl al-Ghāzī (Zabīd). Ghāyat al-Waṭar fī Adhkār al-Safar — Cited by Dr. Aḥmad ʿAwwād al-Kubaysī, who listed it among Ibn al-Daybaʿ's works. It parallels Tuhfat al-Ikhwān of Shaykh Aḥmad Muḥammad Qāṭin. Muntaqā al-Durar al-Maknūn fī Gharāʾib al-Funūn — Mentioned by Yemeni researcher ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥabshī, though he provided no source. No surviving copy has been identified. Shifāʾ al-Fuʾād bi Sharḥ Banāt Suʿād — Also noted by al-Ḥabshī without citing a source. No manuscript has been located. Bughyat al-Irbah fī Maʿrifat Aḥkām al-Ḥisbah — A treatise on ḥisbah and comparative jurisprudence, drawing on the methods of al-Ghazālī and al-Māwardī. Edited by Dr. Ṭalāl ibn Jamīl al-Rifāʿī (Umm al-Qura University), who confirmed the manuscript dates to the 10th century AH and is in Ibn al-Daybaʿ’s own hand. It comprises eight folios, each with 25 lines. The work was published in 1423H/2002. Al-Rifāʿī noted the need for further investigation to confirm attribution and to search for additional copies. Mukhtaṣar Muntaqā al-ʿAsjād fī Ḥurūf Abjad — Briefly mentioned by al-Kubaysī in his study of Ibn al-Daybaʿ's al-Tuhfat al-Laṭīfah. Its content remains unknown. Al-Nuẓm al-Shāmil fī Aḥkām al-Manāzil fī ʿIlm al-Falak — Also cited by al-Kubaysī, who reported that a single folio is preserved in the Library of al-Ashāʿir (Zabīd, Yemen).