al-Ihsan fi Taqrib Sahih Ibn Hibban

Al-Ihsan fi Taqrib Sahih Ibn Hibban ("Excellence in Bringing Ibn Hibban's Sahih Within Reach") is the rearrangement by al-Amir 'Ala' al-Din 'Ali ibn Balban al-Farisi (d. 739 AH) of Ibn Hibban's [[work/sahih-ibn-hibban|al-Musnad al-Sahih 'ala al-Taqasim wa-al-Anwa']] into books and chapters. ²

In his preface Ibn Balban says that Ibn Hibban's book is among the most comprehensive works on the Prophet ﷺ's reports and was woven on no earlier pattern, but that its ingenious design made it hard to approach, so that many kept away from it and its rarities were hard to catch. He wished to bring it within reach and make it easy for students by putting every hadith in the chapter where it belongs best, and says he completed the task in a short time. ³

He gave the book a three-part introduction: first, a biography of Ibn Hibban; second, the text of his preface together with what he set down at the opening and close of his work; third, the list of books, sections and chapters of the new arrangement. ⁴ It is through this second part that the text of Ibn Hibban's preface, his condition, his list of four hundred types and the closing words of his five divisions have been preserved. ⁵

Ahmad Muhammad Shakir says that Ibn Balban did nothing to the book but arrange and divide it anew: he removed no word and dropped no letter, setting the whole text in its places in the new book. ⁶ Its chapters open with beginning with God's praise and holding fast to the Sunna, followed by the books of the Night Journey, Revelation and Knowledge, the Book of Faith with chapters on legal responsibility, the natural disposition (fitra), the merit of faith, the qualities of believers, hypocrisy and associating partners with God, and then the Book of Excellence (ihsan). ⁷ In al-Arna'ut's edition each hadith is followed by its place in the original, by division and type. ⁸

The copy in the Egyptian National Library (no. 35 Hadith) fills nine volumes in eighth-century hands, with no date or copyist's name except in one supplementary volume written by Yusuf ibn 'Ali ibn Muhammad, known as Salah al-Su'udi. ⁹ Shakir thinks the eight original volumes are the author's own copy, made from his draft under his supervision, because whole hadiths and chapters are struck through with a fine line in place, which does not look like a copyist's errors; they carry an endowment note by 'Abd al-Basit ibn Khalil al-Shafi'i dated Shawwal 1113 AH. ¹⁰

• Ahmad Muhammad Shakir's edition, Dar al-Ma'arif, Egypt, vol. 1, 1372/1952. ¹¹
• Shu'ayb al-Arna'ut's edition, Mu'assasat al-Risala, Beirut, 1st ed. 1408/1988. ¹²
• Khalil ibn Ma'mun Shiha's edition, Dar al-Ma'rifa, Beirut, 1st ed. 1425/2004. ¹³