ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Baʿlī

The shaykh, jurist, scholar, and skilled Imām ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. ʿAbd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-Ḥalabī al-Dimashqī al-Ḥanbalī was born on Sunday morning, the 12th of Jumādā al-Ūlā, 1110H (1698CE) in Damascus, to a family originally from Baʿlabakk—hence his nisbah al-Baʿlī. He hailed from a noble family of scholarship—his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather were all respected Hanbali scholars. His older brothers, Shaykh Muḥammad al-Ḥanbalī and Shaykh Aḥmad, author of al-Rawḍ al-Nadā, a commentary on Kāfī al-Mubtadī, were likewise men of learning and virtue. Although his family traced its scholarly roots to Damascus, their ancestral connection to Baʿlabakk earned them the title al-Baʿlī, while his residence and later teaching career in Aleppo led others to refer to him as al-Ḥalabī.

Education and Teachers
After reaching the age of discernment, he memorized the Qurʾān with his father, completing it by the age of ten. His pursuit of knowledge began in earnest around the year 1120H under Shaykh ʿAwwād al-Ḥanbalī al-Nābulusī, with whom he studied Arabic grammar through al-Ājrūmiyyah and fiqh through Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt. He remained under his tutelage for nearly twenty years, building a strong foundation in the Hanbali school.

Upon his father’s passing in 1122H, he continued his studies with his brother, the eminent Shaykh Abū al-Mawāhib al-Ḥanbalī, for approximately five years, focusing on fiqh and ḥadīth. He then studied with the distinguished jurist ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Taghlibī al-Ḥanbalī—author of Nayl al-Maʾārib—for fifteen years, learning ḥadīth, fiqh, inheritance, Arabic grammar, arithmetic, and uṣūl. He was granted a comprehensive ijāzah upon completion.

He also attended the lessons of Shaykh Ismāʿīl al-ʿAjlūnī, the author of Kashf al-Khafāʾ, in Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī under the Dome of Naṣr in the Umayyad Masjid for approximately nine years, receiving a general ijāzah. His studies extended to other great teachers such as Shaykh Muḥammad al-Kāmilī, al-Shaykh Ilyās al-Kurdī, Shaykh Aḥmad al-Minīnī, Shaykh ʿAlī Kizbar, and Shaykh Muṣṭafā al-Nābulusī, from whom he learned inheritance and arithmetic.

He also read with the spiritual master Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī (d. 1143H), from whom he studied Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam of Ibn ʿArabī, Tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyyah, Sharḥ Dīwān Ibn al-Fāriḍ, and other works in fiqh and Arabic. He remained in his company for eight years, was granted ijāzah in his handwriting, and was introduced to the spiritual path of the Khalwatiyyah through Shaykh Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-Kinānī al-Khalwatī, from whom he also received ijāzah and spiritual instruction.

In 1144H, he traveled to the Ottoman lands and eventually settled in Aleppo. There he studied ḥadīth with Shaykh Muḥammad ʿAqīlah al-Makkī, reciting Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and the Musalsal bi-l-Awwaliyyah, and was known for possessing one of the shortest existing chains of transmission to Imām al-Bukhārī—only ten narrators between him and the Imām, making him the eleventh in the chain. In his thulāthiyyāt (three-narrator chains) to the Prophet ﷺ, he was separated by only fourteen narrators—an exceptionally elevated isnād.

Scholarly Reputation
Imām al-Baʿlī’s dedication to learning and teaching earned him wide recognition among the scholars of his time. Al-Murādī described him as:

“The shaykh, the scholar, the virtuous and righteous; a jurist, proficient in the sciences, particularly in the variant Qurʾānic recitations.”

Ibn Badrān wrote,

“He was a faqīh, an expert, eloquent, and a poet.”

And Shaykh ʿAbd al-Ḥayy al-Kettānī referred to him as,

“The shaykh, the scholar, the reciter, and the possessor of isnād.”

He was known for his uprightness, humility, and ascetic lifestyle. Aleppine benefactors supported him financially, enabling him to devote himself to worship, teaching, and writing without worldly distraction.

Works and Contributions

Imām al-Baʿlī was a prolific author, leaving behind a rich legacy of scholarship in fiqh, ḥadīth, and Arabic literature. Among his notable works are:

• Nūr al-Akhyār wa Rawḍ al-Abrār fī Ḥadīth al-Nabī al-Muṣṭafā al-Mukhtār, an abridgement of al-Jāmiʿ al-Ṣaghīr of al-Suyūṭī restricted to narrations collected by Imāms Aḥmad, al-Bukhārī, and Muslim.

• Fatḥ al-Sitār wa Kashf al-Mukhtār, his commentary on the above abridgement.

• Bidāyat al-ʿĀbid wa Kifāyat al-Zāhid, a concise manual of worship and fiqh.

• Bulūgh al-Qāṣid Jull al-Maqāṣid, his commentary on Bidāyat al-ʿĀbid.

• Kashf al-Mukhaddarāt wa Riyāḍ al-Muzharāt, his commentary on Ibn Balbān’s Akhṣar al-Mukhtaṣarāt.

• al-Durrat al-Maḍiyyah fī Ikhtiṣār al-Raḥbiyyah, a poetic abridgement of al-Raḥbiyyah in inheritance law.

• al-Fawāʾid al-Marḍiyyah, his commentary on that poem.

• Naẓm al-Ājrūmiyyah, a poetic rendering of al-Ājrūmiyyah in Arabic grammar.

• al-Nūr al-Wāmiḍ fī ʿIlm al-Farāʾiḍ, a treatise on inheritance law.

• al-Jāmiʿ li-Khuṭab al-Jawāmiʿ, a collection of model sermons.

• Manār al-Isʿād, his personal thabat (list of shaykhs and transmissions).

• A dīwān of poetry filled with spiritual counsel and ascetic reflection.

Poetic Interests
Imām al-Baʿlī was also an accomplished poet. His dīwān contains both devotional and didactic verse. In one of his lines echoing Qur’anic style, he wrote:

Allah and strive, and when you are free, labor again,
Cling sincerely to piety, and toward your Lord turn your yearning.*

He was meticulous in discussing literary techniques such as iqtibās (quoting the Qurʾān or ḥadīth within poetry) and ʿaqd(incorporation of revealed phrases into verse), distinguishing their permissible and impermissible uses—a sign of his refined scholarship and literary taste.

Spiritual Disposition and Influence
Beyond his legal expertise, Imām al-Baʿlī was deeply drawn to spiritual refinement. His study under the great master ʿAbd al-Ghanī al-Nābulusī and his early association with the Khalwatī order shaped his contemplative and devotional temperament. Yet as he matured in his journey of knowledge and inner realization, he eventually adopted the Qādirī ṭarīqah, walking the path of the great master Shaykh ʿAbd al-Qādir al-Jīlānī, may Allah sanctify his secret. Through this path, he deepened his focus on spiritual discipline, remembrance (dhikr), and service to creation.

He emphasized sincerity, restraint in speech, and constant remembrance of Allah. His character was marked by humility and gentleness, which earned him the affection of the common people and the esteem of scholars alike. To those who met him, his presence reflected the grace of one who had combined the outer knowledge of the jurists with the inner knowledge of the gnostics.

Passing
Shaykh ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Baʿlī remained in Aleppo for the rest of his life, supported by righteous benefactors who attended to his needs. He passed away there in 1192H (1778CE). He was remembered as a man of learning, devotion, and poetic insight. May Allah shower him with mercy and raise his rank among the scholars of guidance.