It includes the Prophet’s biography—peace and blessings be upon him—his miracles, the history of the Muslims after his passing, and the yearly chronicle of events. According to a number of scholars, the work was brought down to the year 774 AH, though the extant portion stops at the events of 768 AH. The section entitled “al-Nihāyah” deals with great battles to come, trials and tribulations, the portents of the Last Hour, and the conditions of the Hereafter.
This monumental historical work is currently being critically edited by a select group of scholars and specialists, and Dār Ibn Kathīr is publishing it in an authenticated, fully indexed edition prepared according to the latest academic standards. We shall devote a separate part of these important introductions to studying it in detail.
[4 – The Expanded Prophetic Biography]
Al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Kathīr states in al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (6/271) that he authored the Prophet’s life story in both an extended and a concise version. He repeats this in Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (1) under his commentary on Sūrat al-Aḥzāb (3/590), where he says:
“All of this has been fully set out, with its proofs, ḥadīths, and elaboration, in the book of Sīrah which we compiled in a brief and straightforward form; and to Allah belong all praise and favor.”
The extended Sīrah has not come down to us, nor do the early biographers of Ibn Kathīr mention it. This led Dr. Muṣṭafā ʿAbd al-Wāḥid to extract the Prophet’s biography from al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah, convinced that the four volumes he issued under the title The Prophetic Sīrah are in fact the long version. In his introduction he writes:
“It seems that when he composed his voluminous work al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah he incorporated that Sīrah into it; the book’s fame and wide circulation made people read the Sīrah therein, so it never acquired an independent identity as a separate work. If Ibn Kathīr did indeed say that he possessed an expanded—that is, lengthy—Sīrah, it is inconceivable that he wrote in it anything beyond the section found in his al-Bidāyah wa-l-Nihāyah (2), and this is a reasonable conclusion.”
5 – al-Fuṣūl fī Sīrat al-Rasūl ﷺ
This is the abridged Sīrah to which the author alludes in his history and his tafsīr, or, as the early biographers call it, the “small Sīrah.” Later scholars refer to it as al-Fuṣūl fī Sīrat al-Rasūl ﷺ, and, praise be to Allah, its manuscript copies have reached us.
It comprises two sections:
- The life of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
- His states, the evidences of his prophethood, and his unique qualities.