…on p. 4, and likewise his quotations from Ibn al-Zamlakani (p. 13) and al-Mizzi (p. 12).
– Some material, however, seems to derive from the compiler’s own recollections—whether through direct audition, private transmission, or written correspondence—and this falls into two categories:
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He sometimes names his source explicitly, as when he writes, “al-Dhahabi informed me” (p. 172); “al-Muqatili wrote to me” (p. 345); “One day I sat with the Chief Judge Ṣadr al-Din ʿAli al-Hanafi” (p. 346); and, “His brother Zayn al-Din told me so” (p. 443).
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At other times he keeps the transmitter anonymous, as when he cites “a brief biography of Shaykh al-Islam by one of his earliest companions” (pp. 10–11); or says, “News reached me from some shaykhs of Aleppo” (p. 8); “More than one person told me” (p. 108); “I read, in the handwriting of one of his disciples, an account of the Tatar campaign” (pp. 226–233); “I read, in the script of one of the Shaykh’s students” (p. 308); “One of our colleagues informed me” (p. 342); “This was related to me by someone who attended the consultation” (p. 397); and simply, “I was informed” (p. 307).
The second source consists of the texts and quotations embedded in the book itself, which also divide into two groups:
- Passages authored by Shaykh al-Islam. Listed in the order in which they appear, they are:
a) His reproduction of the riddle posed by Rashid al-Fariqi together with the Shaykh’s solution (pp. 21–29).
b) His citation of the introduction to the book Tanbih al-Rajul al-ʿAqil (pp. 45–51).