and since the book’s primary purpose was to describe his guidance, peace and blessings be upon him, and the author—being on a journey—had no sources at hand to help him investigate the points on which the biographers differed, he kept the biographical chapters brief. He elaborated only on a few topics that he or his teacher had previously discussed, such as the identity of the son intended for sacrifice and the meanings of the Prophet’s names, peace and blessings be upon him. While explaining the name Ahmad, he also discussed at length a grammatical question: forming comparative and superlative adjectives from a verb with reference to the recipient of its action.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—did not separate the biographical chapters from those concerning the Prophet’s guidance. Rather, when he composed the chapter on the Prophet’s clothing, peace and blessings be upon him, following Ibn Jamā‘a’s arrangement in Mukhtasar al-Sīra (A Concise Prophetic Biography), and quoted from his teacher’s al-Qaramāniyya, he followed that work’s progression from clothing to the Prophet’s guidance in eating and drinking. He then continued describing his guidance in other aspects of daily life and overlooked mentioning his death, peace and blessings be upon him. Nor did he describe the Prophet’s physical appearance or miracles, as noted earlier. When discussing the Prophet’s manner of walking and his weeping, peace and blessings be upon him, he digressed into detailed accounts of the different kinds of walking and weeping.

He followed these chapters with “Chapters on His Guidance in Worship, Peace and Blessings Be upon Him,” describing his guidance in ablution and dry ablution, then in prayer. It appears that he wrote these chapters when he was able to obtain a number of sources, for they lack the brevity found in the preceding chapters. On some questions, he comprehensively surveyed the scholars’ views, their supporting arguments, and their responses to one another. He then examined them all and determined which view he considered strongest, following his well-known methodology, as he did in discussing the qunūt supplication in the dawn prayer and melodious recitation of the Quran. He treated Friday’s distinctive features in extraordinary detail, listing thirty-three of them, then devoted an extensive discussion to the distinctive feature