101 Hadith Qudsi by pImam ibn Arabi

Appendix
±ad¨th and Ibn ¡Arab¨
Qur¤an, ¢ad¨th and ¢ad¨th quds¨
In general, the Arabic word ¢ad¨th (plural a¢ådith) means “news” or “report”.
As William Graham notes, “the word ¢ad¨th itself is impossible to render in
English by one word that is satisfactory for all senses of the original. ‘Tradition’
is the usual translation, but this does not convey the inherent sense
of something spoken or narrated that the Arabic root does.” 1 As a technical
term within Islam, a ¢ad¨th signi¥es a report of things said by the Prophet
Muhammad, or a report of things which he did, or which he saw others do
and tacitly accepted. Such ¢ad¨th are referred to as ¢ad¨th nabaw¨ (or sometimes
¢ad¨th shar¨f, translated as prophetic ¢ad¨th), reported by one of his
close Companions.
In contrast, ¢ad¨th quds¨ (or ¢ad¨th ilåh¨ or rabbån¨, translated as Divine
or Sacred Sayings) are a special kind of ¢ad¨th, reporting a communication
spoken by God Himself to the Prophet Muhammad, who thus assumed the
role of transmitter. On occasion, such ¢ad¨th are addressed by God to another
prophet, such as Abraham, Moses or David, or to the angels, and reported by
Muhammad. There are also several which God speci¥cally addresses directly
to the “children of Adam” (or “Son of Man”) or people in the next world. 2
Although both Qur¤an and ¢ad¨th quds¨ convey the word of God Himself,
there are important distinctions to be made between them. For example,
the Qur¤an was revealed through the medium of Gabriel, and is inimitable;
a ¢ad¨th quds¨ does not necessarily come through Gabriel, but may
be revealed through inspiration or a dream. While a Muslim must recite
portions of the Qur¤an during the prescribed prayers, it is not permitted to
include ¢ad¨th quds¨. An important difference also arises in the way each has
been preserved and transmitted. The Holy Book, the Qur¤an, was revealed
1. See William Graham, Divine Word and Prophetic Word in Early Islam, p.|47 n.|108.
2. In the Mishkåt, for example, we ¥nd 5 ¢ad¨th quds¨ addressed to Muhammad, 8 to
other prophets, 12 to the angels, 18 to the child of Adam, and 20 to people in the next
world (i.e. on the Day of Judgement, in Paradise, etc.).
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