Something to Help Memorize the Prophet’s Lineage
Shaykh Ibn Kathīr, ʿAbd al-Razzāq ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Badr
Categorized under: Sīrah (Biography)
During his third lesson explaining Al-Fuṣūl, Ibn Kathīr’s biography of the Messenger ﷺ, Shaikh ʿAbd Al-Razzāq Al-Badr suggested the following mnemonic to help memorize his ﷺ lineage:
عِهْ عَقُّكَ مُكَلٌّ غَفٌّ مِنْ كَخْمَأٍ مُنَمَّعٍ
The letters in this mnemonic stand for each of the 20 grandfathers of Muḥammad ﷺ, the son of ʿAbd Allāh. Not all the words in this mnemonic mean something in Arabic, however; roughly, they mean: “Understand this: your mistreatment is tiresome and dry, from a kakhmaʾin munammaʿin,” the last two words being meaningless in Arabic, serving only as an abbreviation.
عِهْ: “understand this”
1. عبد المطلب ʿAbdul-Muṭṭalib
2. هاشم Hāshim
عَقُّكَ: “your mistreatment”
3. عبد المناف ʿAbdul-Manāf
4. قصي Quṣayy
5. كلاب Kilāb
مُكَلٌّ: “is tiresome”
6. مرّة Murrah
7. كعب Kaʿb
8. لؤيّLuʾayy
غَفٌّ: “and dry”
9. غالب Ghālib
10. فهر Fihr
مِنْ: “from”
11. مالك Mālik
12. نضر Naḍr
كَخْمَأٍ: “a kakhmaʾin”
13. كنانة Kinānah
14. خزيمة Khuzaimah
15. مدركة Mudrikah
16. إلياس Ilyās
مُنَمَّعٍ: “munammaʿin”
17. مضر Muḍar
18. نزار Nizār
19. معدّ Maʿadd
20. عدنان ʿAdnān