What is the first book authored on the biographies of the narrators of the Six Books, and what is the name of its author?
The first to author biographies of the narrators in the Six Books was Ibn Asakir, in his book "Al-Mu'jam Al-Mushtamil ala Dhikr Asma' Shuyukh Al-A'immah An-Nubal," in which he briefly confined himself to the shaykhs of the authors of the Six Books. Then Abd Al-Ghani Al-Maqdisi authored the book "Al-Kamal fi Asma' Ar-Rijal" to include all the narrators of the Six Books, but he did not completely encompass them. Then Al-Mizzi came and authored "Tahdhib Al-Kamal fi Asma' Ar-Rijal," correcting what "Al-Kamal" missed and adding to it. Scholars gave great attention to this book and wrote many works based on it, among them "Tadhhib At-Tahdhib" by Al-Dhahabi. Finally, Ibn Hajar Al-Asqalani authored "Tahdhib At-Tahdhib," a concise version of "Tahdhib Al-Kamal" with additions and corrections, and then abridged it further into "Taqrib At-Tahdhib."
Summarized from the full answer at Ftawy · reviewed Sep 2, 2026
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