Finding narrators

In Rijāl, every narrator is an entry inside one of the library’s works. So finding a narrator means opening the work that contains them and searching it — or browsing it volume by volume. This page covers both.

Open the work first

Start from the library home and open a work — for example Kitāb al-Ṭabaqāt al-Kabīr. The work’s page is where you search and browse its narrators. See The library for how to get there, and Reading a work for everything a work page offers.

Searching by name

On a work’s page, the search box sits at the top of the Directory view. Type a narrator’s name and the matching entries appear instantly as you type — no button to press.

• Search in Arabic. Narrator names are in Arabic, so type the name in Arabic script. The placeholder reads “Search by narrator name or entry number.”
• Diacritics don’t matter. The search ignores ḥarakāt (vowel marks) and small spelling differences — for example, it treats alif forms (أ, إ, آ) and a final tāʾ marbūṭa the same way — so you can type the bare letters and still match.
• Partial names work. Typing part of a name matches any entry that contains it, so you can search a kunya or a single distinctive word.

Each result row shows the entry number, the narrator’s name, and the volume and page where the entry sits. Select a row to open that narrator’s entry.

Looking at a very common name returns a long list. Add more of the name to narrow it, or note the volume and page in each result to find the person you mean.

Searching by entry number

If you already know an entry’s number, type that number into the same search box. The search recognises a plain number and jumps to that exact entry rather than matching names. This is the quickest way back to a narrator you have seen before.

How many results you see

When a search matches a great many entries, the page shows you the total count and lists the first of them, with a note such as “showing first 120.” If the narrator you want isn’t in the list, type more of the name — a more specific search brings the right entry into view.

To clear the search and return to browsing, select the Clear (✕) button inside the search box, or simply empty it.

Browsing volume by volume

When the search box is empty, the work’s page shows its volumes instead — each as a card with the volume’s Arabic title, its subject, and how many entries it holds. This is the way to explore a work when you don’t have a specific name in mind.

Open any volume to see its full list of narrators in order. Within a volume:

• Entries are listed by their number and name, with the page each begins on.
• Section headings break the list into groups (for example, a class of narrators from one city or generation). These are headings, not people, so they aren’t links.
• Select any narrator to open their entry.

Browsing a volume is the natural way to read a generation in sequence — for instance, working through the Companions of one region one entry at a time.