A Library of Classical Islamic Texts

Compiled by the eminent ḥadīth scholar Abū Bakr Aḥmad ibn al-Ḥusayn al-Bayhaqī, al-Arbaʿūn al-Sughrā (The Lesser Forty Ḥadīths) is a concise guide to spiritual and ethical formation built around 125 narrations arranged in forty thematic chapters. Beginning with faith, repentance, and sincerity, the collection proceeds through topics such as steadfastness, remembrance of Allah, righteous companionship, humility, and noble character, offering a practical framework for embodying Prophetic teachings in daily life. This bilingual edition presents the complete Arabic text with full vocalization alongside an English translation of both the chains of transmission (isnāds) and the narrations themselves, together with source documentation (takhrīj), paragraph numbering, explanatory notes, a glossary of key terms, and comprehensive indices.

Ithbāt ʿAdhāb al-Qabr (The Affirmation of the Punishment of the Grave) is Imām Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī’s (d. 458/1066) definitive classical treatise on the intermediate realm (al-Barzakh), systematically establishing orthodox Sunni creed concerning life after death. Comprising 240 chain-supported traditions across thirty-one thematic chapters, the monograph seamlessly synthesizes Qurʾānic exegesis, rigorous ḥadīth criticism, and Ashʿarī rational theology to demonstrate that consciousness, perception, and divine justice endure beyond physical bodily death. Al-Bayhaqī meticulously documents the descent of the angels of mercy and wrath, the interrogation by Munkar and Nakīr, the realities of post-mortem bliss and torment, and the specific moral failings—such as talebearing, unfulfilled debts, and carelessness in purification—that trigger the trials of the grave. Balancing stern warnings with divine mercies, the work details the righteous acts that secure protection—including martyrdom, guarding the frontier, and the regular recitation of Sūrat al-Mulk—while culminating in essential prophetic supplications and pastoral guidance for the living. Presented in a complete bilingual edition with fully vocalized Arabic text and comprehensive scholarly indices, this volume stands as an indispensable classical monument of Islamic eschatology and spiritual readiness.

This volume presents the first English translation of Imām Abū al-Qāsim al-Qushayrī’s Kitāb al-Arbaʿīn fī Taṣḥīḥ al-Muʿāmala (The Book of Forty Ḥadīths on the Rectification of Conduct), a classic collection devoted to the cultivation of character and spiritual refinement. Comprising fifty-six Prophetic reports arranged across forty thematic chapters, the work addresses foundational virtues such as repentance, sincerity, remembrance of Allah, humility, patience, and reliance upon Him. This bilingual edition features the complete Arabic text with full vocalization alongside an English translation of both the chains of transmission (isnāds) and the narrations themselves, together with source documentation (takhrīj), paragraph numbering, explanatory notes, a glossary of key terms, and comprehensive indices.