Authentication of Two Narrations Containing the Proverbs

Changizi, Soheila; Sarshar, Mojgan; Tabatabaei-Amin, Tahere-Sadat

doi:10.22034/hsr.2026.52338.1148

Authentication of Two Narrations Containing the Proverbs "Āfat al-ʿIlm al-Nisyān" and "al Tadbīr Niṣf al Maʿīsha"

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Ph.D student ,Quranic Sciences and Hadith, Sciences and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran، Iran.

² Assistant Professor, Department Of Quran and Hadith Sience, Sciences and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran، Iran.

³ Associate Professor, Quran and Hadith Sciences, Faculty of Qur'anic Sciences, University of Qur'anic Sciences and Education, Tehran, Iran.

10.22034/hsr.2026.52338.1148

Abstract

One of the areas that has received comparatively little attention in hadith studies concerns narrations that have become widespread in popular culture in the form of proverbs and maxims and have been attributed to the impeccable Imams (AS) without reliable evidence. The present study examines, through Rijālī and textual approaches, narrations containing the two proverbs "Āfat al‑ʿIlm al‑Nisyān" (The affliction of knowledge is forgetfulness) and "al‑Tadbīr Niṣf al‑Maʿīsha" (Prudence is half of livelihood) in both Shiʿi and Sunni sources. The findings indicate that in the earliest available sources these narrations were transmitted from non‑Infallible individuals, and in later sources most of the transmitters mentioned in their chains of transmission are unknown or weak. Based on Isnad analysis, the primary common link of the first narration in "al‑Maḥāsin" and "Man Lā Yaḥḍuruh al‑Faqīh" is Ḥammād ibn ʿAmr al‑Naṣībī, an obscure figure in hadith biographical literature. The primary common link of the second narration is Anas ibn Mālik (d. 91 AH), while its secondary common link is Khallād ibn ʿĪsā (d. 220 AH). Accordingly, the production of these narrations can be dated respectively to the late second century and the early third century AH. This study demonstrates the necessity of critically examining the attribution of commonly circulated proverbs to the impeccable Imams (AS).

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