Book: Siyar A'lam An-Nubala by Ad-Dhahabi - سير أعلام النبلاء ـ الإمام الذهبي

Twelfth: Our Methodology in Editing the Book

1 - In editing this book, I relied on the manuscript located at the Egyptian National Library in guarded Cairo under the general number "12195" Hadith, which is a photographic copy of the original located at the Library of Ahmed III in Istanbul, number "2910 - 13". This manuscript comprises eleven volumes, with the number of folios in each of these eleven volumes sequentially as follows:

"252, 285, 293, 293, 292, 292, 288, 289, 290, 288, 319" folios from the Library of Ahmed III in Istanbul. Each folio contains two pages facing each other, with an average of "24" or "25" lines per page, and the line contains "14" words. The dates of the copying of these sections are noted, for instance, the fourth section states: Completed copying in the year nine hundred and thirty-nine [739 AH]. The tenth section mentions: Completed on the night of Sunday, ten days past the month of Rajab, in the year forty-one seven hundred [741 AH]. The eleventh section states: Completed copying on the night of Monday, twelve nights remained of Dhul Hijjah, year "741 AH", which is the first version copied from the author's handwriting. The twelfth section reads on its last page: Completed writing on the night of Friday, three days remained of Jumada al-Awwal, year seven hundred and forty-two [742 AH], and praise be to Allah alone, may His blessings and peace be upon our master Muhammad, his family, and his companions, and salutations.

As for the thirteenth section, its scribe wrote on the last page: The thirteenth section of "The Lives of Noble Figures" was completed for the esteemed imam, the knowledgeable scholar, the discerning critic, the compiler of scattered sciences, and the historian of Islam, Shams al-Din Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Uthman al-Dhahabi, may Allah extend his lifespan. It is the first version copied from the author's handwriting and was reviewed as much as possible, completed on two nights past the month of Safar, the year seven hundred and forty-three [743 AH], and praise be to Allah alone, and may Allah's blessings be upon Muhammad.

Thus, it is clear that this copy was written during the author's lifetime from a version in his handwriting, with the script uniform across all sections. However, the name of the scribe, as is customarily noted at the completion of copying, is not mentioned. Overall, the manuscript is written in a good, readable script, although some pages show vertical smudging, which is rare but not uncommon in manuscripts. I resorted to some printed editions, the most reliable being the edition by Al-Risala Institution.