Al-Mu'jam al-Saghir: The Small Lexicon
Al-Mu'jam al-Saghir (Arabic: المعجم الصغير), meaning The Small Lexicon, is one of three major encyclopaedic hadith collections compiled by Imam Abu'l-Qasim Sulayman ibn Ahmad al-Tabarani (260–360 AH / 873–971 CE), one of the most prolific hadith scholars in Islamic history.
1. Al-Tabarani's Trilogy of Mujams
Al-Tabarani compiled three interrelated mujam (dictionary-style) collections:
- Al-Mu'jam al-Kabir (The Large): ~60,000 hadiths, organised by Companion
- Al-Mu'jam al-Awsat (The Medium): ~9,274 hadiths, organised by teacher
- Al-Mu'jam al-Saghir (The Small): ~1,197 hadiths
The Saghir serves as a carefully selected digest — one hadith per teacher from each of al-Tabarani's personal shaykhs, documenting his own sanad (chain) rather than purely topical content.
2. Arrangement and Content
Organised across 47 books covering the major topics of Islamic jurisprudence and practice. Unlike the Kabir (organised by Companion) or the Awsat (organised by his teachers), the Saghir is thematically arranged, making it easier to locate hadiths by subject.
3. The Compiler: A Century of Scholarship
Al-Tabarani lived to approximately 100 years old and spent his entire life traveling to collect hadiths — journeying from his homeland near Tiberias (modern Israel/Palestine) across the full extent of the Abbasid world. He studied under over 1,000 teachers and is estimated to have collected more hadiths than any other individual scholar in Islamic history.