and it, together with its companion, Da‘if al-Adab al-Mufrad, was published. Praise be to Allah, by whose grace righteous deeds are brought to completion.

Know that hām is the plural of hāmah. Ibn al-Athir said in al-Nihayah: “Hāmah means the head, and it is also the name of a bird, which is what is meant in the hadith. They regarded it as an ill omen, and it is a nocturnal bird. It has also been said that it is the owl. The Arabs used to claim that the spirit of a murder victim whose blood had not been avenged would become a hāmah and cry, ‘Give me to drink!’ When his blood was avenged, it would fly away…”

On this occasion, I must point out two grave errors concerning this word, hām, made by certain people, one of whom is a scholar: Shaykh Fadl Allah al-Jilani, in his commentary on Imam al-Bukhari’s al-Adab al-Mufrad. In its text, it was corrupted into al-hawamm! In this, he merely followed the Indian edition published in 1306 AH (p. 131). Then Shaykh al-Jilani compounded the error when he explained it as follows (2/367): “Al-hawamm is the plural of hām, the name of a bird among nocturnal birds…”

The correct view is that hām is the plural, its singular being hāmah, as stated in al-Qamus and other works. As for al-hawamm, it is the plural of hāmmah, meaning a creeping creature; it includes every venomous creature whose venom kills, as stated in the books of language.

The other error was committed by Zuhayr al-Shawish, the proprietor of al-Maktab al-Islami. He reprinted the aforementioned book of mine, Da‘if al-Jami‘ al-Saghir, in a second edition without my permission or knowledge. It contained extraordinary matters, strange alterations, and comments and marginal notes that betray a blatant infringement upon its author and a ruinous pretension to knowledge. For the moment, one example will suffice me—