Ranks of The Elite - Volume Three By Imam Ibn Jawzi

The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: "A man follows the religion of his friend; so each one should consider whom he makes his friend." (Sunan Abi Dawud 4833, graded hasan by al-Albani) The scholars understood from this that a person takes on the manners of those he keeps company with, and that reading the lives of the righteous is one way of keeping their company.

Ranks of the Elite (Volume 3) continues Imam Ibn al-Jawzi's Sifat al-Safwah, his abridgement of al-Asbahani's Hilyat al-Awliya. Ibn al-Jawzi removed the chains of transmission to shorten the narrations and left out reports he considered unsound, keeping the accounts of the people themselves: what they said, how they worshipped, and how they lived.

What This Book Covers

The People of Kufa

This third volume opens with the first rank: the people of Kufa from the Tabi'un and those who followed them. Kufa was one of the garrison cities of Iraq where many Companions settled and where their students carried on the knowledge they had received. The volume begins at chapter 378 with Suwayd ibn Ghaflah, then al-Aswad ibn Yazid and Masruq ibn al-Ajda'.

The People of Basra and the Surrounding Regions

The volume then moves to Basra and the lands around it, recording the scholars, worshippers and ascetics who lived there in the generations after the Companions.

Over 280 Biographies

In all, the volume gathers over 280 figures known for their knowledge, piety, courage, sacrifice and asceticism across 800 pages. Each entry records the person's statements and conduct, with the focus Ibn al-Jawzi kept throughout the work: the servant's relationship with his Lord.

About the Author

Imam Abu al-Faraj Abd al-Rahman Ibn al-Jawzi (510–597 AH) was born and taught in Baghdad, where he was known as a preacher whose gatherings drew large crowds. He wrote several hundred works across hadith, tafsir, history and the sciences of the heart; Sifat al-Safwah is his biographical collection of the early generations. Published by Dar as-Sunnah Publishers, first edition 2025.

Who This Book Is For

Readers who own Volumes 1 and 2 and are continuing the set. Any Muslim who wants to know the people of Kufa and Basra in the early centuries of Islam through their own words and deeds. And anyone who wants regular reading that turns the heart back toward worship and the Hereafter.

Continue Reading

The set begins with Ranks of the Elite Volume 1, covering the Companions promised Paradise and the major Tabi'een, and continues with Volume 2, which opens with the Mothers of the Believers. The chapter on the Prophet himself is published separately as The Illustrious Life of Muhammad. For the generations that followed the Companions, see Those Who Followed. Browse more works by Ibn al-Jawzi and the full Islamic history collection.