Finding a full is a common goal for students of Hadith, but it is important to clarify what is currently available. While the original Arabic text by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani is widely accessible, a complete, formal English translation of this multi-volume masterpiece does not yet exist in a single PDF format. What is Tahdhib al-Tahdhib?
Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali. Tahdhib al-Tahdhib . Edited by Ibrahim al-Zaybaq and ‘Adil Murshid. 12 vols. Beirut: Mu’assasat al-Risalah, 1994. PDF. tahdhib al-tahdhib english pdf
This is Ibn Hajar’s own abridgment of Tahdhib al-Tahdhib . An English translation of Taqrib al-Tahdhib was published by Dar al-Arqam (incomplete) and later by Amina El-Ewady under the title “The Summary of Refinement of Refinement.” Several versions of this exist as PDFs. Note: Taqrib is much shorter, giving only one or two words per narrator (e.g., “trustworthy,” “weak,” “acceptable”). It is not a substitute for the full Tahdhib . Finding a full is a common goal for
The title Tahdhib al-Tahdhib translates to “The Refinement of the Refinement.” The work is essentially an abridgment and reorganization of a previous masterpiece: Tahdhib al-Kamal by Jamal al-Din al-Mizzi (d. 742 AH). Al-Mizzi’s book, in turn, was an enhancement of Al-Kamal fi Asma’ al-Rijal by ‘Abd al-Ghani al-Maqdisi. Ibn Hajar al-‘Asqalani, Ahmad ibn ‘Ali