Mir'at al-Mafatih, a commentary on the Mishkat al-Masabih

Mir'at al-Mafatih, a commentary on the Mishkat al-Masabih, was written by Ubayd Allah Muhammad Abd al-Salam al-Mubarakfuri. It takes each hadith in turn, with its isnad and matn, and explains its language, meanings and jurisprudence. ¹

Each chapter opens with its numbered heading and then gives the commentary on the words used in it, followed by the discussion of the hadith and its rulings. The editor draws on lexicographers and earlier commentators. In the chapter on the morning and evening, for instance, he sets out what al-Raghib al-Isfahani and the Qamus say about the words for morning and evening, compares them, and gives his preference. He then quotes al-Nawawi in al-Adhkar and sets out the Qur'anic passages on remembrance at morning and evening without reproducing their text here. ²

This volume, the tenth, continues the Book of Supplications and then covers the Book of Rites. Its hadith numbers, as the edition gives them, run from 2404 to 2584. ¹

• Chapter 6, what is said at morning, evening and bedtime: the editor explains that evening begins at sunset, and cites the report from Ibn Abbas that explains the words for the five prayers. ²
• Cross-references to the sources: the editor gives the numbers of parallel reports in al-Bukhari, Abu Dawud and al-Tirmidhi beside each hadith. ³
• Explanation of words: in the hadith about the prayer at sleep, the commentary explains the words for taking the soul, mercy, and the request for protection. ⁴

First edition, Riyadh: Dar al-Qabas for Publishing and Distribution, 1438 AH (2017 CE). The cataloguing record gives fourteen volumes. Muhammad Sulayman Amin edited this volume and carried out the takhrij of its hadiths. ⁵

• The text is a commentary on the Mishkat, and the hadiths are cited by the Mishkat's numbering as the edition prints it. Those numbers are not the numbers of the original collections.
• Takhrij and cross-references are the editor's and should be attributed to him, not to the author.
• The commentary quotes many Qur'anic verses on remembrance. This article does not reproduce them; check the edition.
• Compare with Mirqat al-Mafatih, another commentary on the Mishkat, in the places where they overlap.