The Political Doctrine of the Ismailis: An edition and translation with introduction and notes of Abu'l Fawaris Ahmad ibn Ya'qub's `ar-Risala fi l-Imama'

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This bookis basedon a 4th centuryA.H.(l0th-l lth CenturyA.D.)trcatiseby Abfi-l-Fawiris Ahnrad Ibn Ya'qfrb. Besidesediting and translatingthis important Sami N. Makaretnmadea comParative treatise,Professor studyof the doctrineof Imamatc as taught by the Fatimid Ismd'ihs, the Sunru-s,the Twelver Strr-'a,the Khar,rdrij and other Islamicsects.In his introduction to the hrook and his commentarieson the text, Prol. Makarem gives a clearand deepaccountof the Isma'Ili doctrineas professedby the Fdtimids in dreir goldenage. Dr. Makarem is a Professor of IslamicThotrght and Arabic Languageand Literature,and Chairmanof the Departrncntof Arabic and Near Easternl,anguagesat the ArnericanlJnivemiryof Beirut. He earnedhis Pn.D. in Near East Studiesfrom the Univeniry of Michigan in 1963. He is author of ThcDntzcFaith (A Caravan publication, 197+); T-hcDoctrircof tlu Ismi'-dis(Beirut, 1972),Shihabad-Din Abu Fir6s'sash-Sltnfya (Beimq l96i) , A(wfr' 'ald illaslakat-Tauhid(ad-DurzlDa)[lights cn the Druz,eFaith,] (Beirut 1966);and rranslatorof Slirda: Madinfrtctl-tltali,d'u,ash-Shu'ord' (Shiraz Penian C:ityof Saintsand Poets)by AJ. Arberry'(Beirut, l96z).

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CONTENTS Acknon'ledgments .-. -..

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Conrrentions Introductiotr

I

flrc Inrlnrtancc of nr-Ris-alaftl-lmdrnu

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:lr-RisfiluJil-lmdnmand its Atrthor. . The Relation of ar-Risftlaftl-lmdntato Other Similar ContcnrporarvIstnifih Works Uscd in ['dititlg. . f)escriptionof the N{anuscripts

6

7 B I l9

ar-Ri.ritlaJil-lmdma

i\'Ictlrodsin Editing and Translating A Sumntar)' of'the Isnrii'ih Doctrirle Notes to thc Introcltrction

TheEpistleonImamate ( E n g l i s ht r . a n s l a t i oonf a r - R i s A_lfoil - l n f i m o. .

... ... .....

tor the institutionof Inramate) Csnrrnn Oxn (The necessity CHnrre,RTlryo (Refutationof the idea that the Qur':in, the l'raditions and the Shafi'acarrbe strbstitutcdfor the Imam) ' rvhy the Imam must be installedby divine appointCu,lprsR'l.gRr,E(Rca.sons ment. rathcr than be electcdby the Commtrnity) . CHarren Foun (Proofsfor the validity of divinc appointment) . . . divine appointment Crrnrrs,RFrvE(Disparityamong peoplcnecessitates """ ofianlmam) be only Cneprs,nSr.x(R"**ns why thc Imarn after thc Prophetcould

2l 22

25 27 28 33

'AIi ibn Abi Talib) ,

36

to the Intamate) .

40

'Ali's refraining from claiming his right Cnarren Snvr,x (Reasonsbchind CHnrrr,n Etcn'r (RcasonswlrY it is not possiblcto have morc onc Inram :tt the sanle time)

Cttaprnn NlNu (Reasonsrvhv it is not permissiblethat the Imamate be transferrcdfrom'Ali's descendants)

u

4l 4l

'r.x ClH,qrrr:n f (The institution of Irnamate being God's \Vill) (ltt.tl't'r--nEr.r,vex (Rcasons lbr the imprtxsibility of the rightful Imarn not ro lt;trr an heir) (jnn,'r-ER-['wcr-ve,('fhe pos;-*ibilityof the fmam's b.irg a rnirrur] .-(.H.'rt-l't:nTstHrp,Ex (Reasonswhy l\{uhammad ibn Ism.r5l was thc rightfiui lrnanr rather than lvffr,vl ibnJa'far) - (irrnl/t-ER FouH'rEsx (Horv allegiance to a concezrledImarn is justified) . Clrtet'rr:H lrtr-rurx (Reasons rvhv the names of thc oncealed Imarns \f'erekeptsecret) .j-. CIH-lI'ff:n Srx'nnx iFlov*' a rightful hnam crn be distinguished from a prt.render).

Note.sto the Trarrslation

Bibliography. ,lr- Ri.sAla fi l-Imdma(Arabic rext)

X

+3 +3 +5 ,16 48 +g 49

52 93

INT RO DUCT I O N

OF AR-RISALAFI I.-|fu{AMA THE IMPORTAI.{CE, Ar-Risdto -fi l-Imdmaby Abfr l-FarvdrisAl.rmadibn Ya'c1frbdealsrvith one of the most important issuesin Ismd'ilism. The questionof Imarnate occupies a paranrount position in the Ismd'Ili doctrinc. This questionis $r" basison u'hich lies the {int of the sevenIsmd'ill pillan, naln ely Intdn.r Iu dealingrvith the subjectof Intantate,Ab[ l-Fawirjs Ahmad ibn Ya.qfrb usuallyreliesfinion the Qur'dnic vcrscsand thc Tizditions whicir he thinls support his thc.sis,and then introducesrational argumentswhich substantiatehis theory. After a brief introduction the author, i. sixteenchaptets,discusses for the institutionof Imamatealter the Prophet.Then he the necessity attemptsto refute the idea that the Qyr'dn, the Tradition.sand the Shari'acan be substitutcd{br the Imam. He then oiplains rvhy the Imam must be installed by appointmentfrom above (^.t), rather than be electedby thc Cornmuniry.Hencehe triesto provetltevaliclity of nass.He then goeson to prove that the disi>ariryo*ong the people makesit r.c.t*ry that God appoint an Imam to guide mankind to t5e rigfit path. After that he showshow this Imam, rvho]vaschosenby 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, even God through the Prophet, could only bc though 'Ali had refrained from claiming his right to the"Imamate to rvaivcit. Here the author triesto explainthe and had evencleciderJ 'Ali's actiorx. Then he proceedsto explain why it is reasonbehind not permisiblc to havemore than one Imam at one time. Having done this the author proves that all Imams, other than thosedescending from 'Ali, are usurpers. The author then proceedsto show,ho-wit is categoricallynot permissibleto removetheln-*ate from'the descendun[ of 'Aii. This leaclshim to explain why it is i*po*ible for the rightful Imam nor to havean heir; this heir could still be citherin his rnoth.r's womb or a newborn baby. For when there is a child, even entitled,whenborn, thoughhe is still in his mother'swomb, he is morc 'l-ltat iswhy, acconditg to be hisfather'sinheritor than any otherperson.

-t'HE poLrrICAL DocrRrNE oF THE nnaA'Itis

to the author, rVuhammad ibn IsmS'Il, rather than his uncle, Mrlsd ilrrr Ja'far (al-Kezirn), inherited the Imamate from Ism6'il ibnJa'far rvho allegedlydiccl during the life of his father,Ja'far q-tsdiq. From this point the author goes on to prove that allegiance to the rightful Imam, even if he goesinto concealment, doesnot justifr thc Twelvers' o allegianceto their concealed Imam, M.rttarrunad al-Munta?ar. Then the author procceds to justif,v the fact that the narnesof the concealed Imams ll,erc kept secrct even rvhen it lvas no lotrger necessaryto do so. Finally the author explains horv a rightful Imam can be distinguished, fronr a pretender. He concltrdss that allegiance to the rightful Imarn is imperative rvhet]rerhe is in concealmentor preselttand ac[ive. It is intcrestirrgro notice that when citing Traditiolrs the author of to rely on thosc Traditions which are ar-Risdln -fi l-Infintl, was careful'Iraditionists. This shorvsthat he was trsually accepted by the Sunru rvell versedin thc scicnccof Hadth. This is mqst probably why he was appointecla dAl in Syrierwhose population had, and still h^, a largc majority ofSunnls. Among tlie frvent,v-oneTraditions rvhich Cteauthor relied upon tlrroughotrt his Risdla,only four wcre considered unanimously by the Sunrrl Tr:rditionists to be inventedzand trvo Traditions to be rveak.3Whcreas trvelvc Traditions were unanimously accepted bv the SunnrT'raditionists,aand three lvere accept.d b)'.sonleof them.5 This hct, however,Ccesnot mean drat thc Sunnl scholarsagreewith dA'l orl the intcrprctations of drescTraditions. In hct, our Isnrd'111 there are radical diflcrcnces lrctwecn the Ismd.'Ih concept of Imamate and that of the Srinnis. In thc notes to the translation of the RisAlaan aucrnpt rvas rnetclc{br' ?Lconrptrative stucly oi the trvo ccncepts and sometintesof tlrc corrccDtsol hnarnate in other sects, such as the i(hawAttj, the Zaydts and thc'-fu'elt'els. The importance ol ar-Risataji l-Intinm lies also in the fact that it represenhthe Ismi'IIi vierv-pointin the controversythat occurrcd among the diffcrent Islamic factioru, ry'hetherSunni, Shfa or othes, on the strbject of Imamate. In manv instanceswe even see that this Risdla representsthe viewpoint o[ all the Strfa, and not only that of the Y :'e'o lsma-ltrs. The dispute over the question of Imamate reached its zenith during the 4th and 5th'cenruriesA.H. (l0th and llth centuries A.D.) In this period the Fagimids were in their apogee, Their propaganda was infiltrating dcep into the domain of their apponents: the Sunni 'Abbesids and their vassals. It wzrsnatural, therefore, for the

INTRODUCTION

'Ni to the of Flouse the of right the emphasize Ismi.-rh Fatirniclsto the Imam. , Imarnateand to strcssdivine appointrnentof Islam Sunni not in On the other hand, the q,noiion of Imamate was Hamilton A'R' Gibb asprincipal an issueas it ouasin Shi'ism. As Sir ontlu Ciuilizatiutof Islarn(ChapterB, pp' l4l ft'), poir,r,o.r, in his Snulies doctrine of the the Sunnls ncver cicvclopeclone universallyaccepted al-Ghazdllsays' Caliphate. In his book al-lqttsrldJit-ttiqa4@-234),. ,.Know tirat ciealinswith the ptobl.- of Imamate is not oReof the nor oWgh-" Howe'er. *;i"; frour.*s. It ii neithera parr ofphilosophy compelledto in faceof Shi.a propaganda,the Strnnlsfound themselves They orgrr. back orri rejec"tthe Shi'a claim of divine appointment. the community. AIso emphasized in.steadelection of fie Imam by 'Ali ibn Abi Talib to the of drey lvere keen to trnderminc any rislrj 'Umar and 'Uthm6n, a^s weli as to deny any Imamateo'er r\br.rBakr', 'Ah's descendants. To makc it more inheriteclrighr ro the Imamateof the'Abbasids diffictrltibr"theFatimiclrule to prosperand nrn srnoothly, t5eauthcnticityof theFadmids'descentlrom'r\li. In his evenconrestcd issired book rtl-ytmpzum (7 :355-56j, Ibn al-Jayzi quotesa manifesto -abbasid Caliph al-Qadir Billah in Rabid II, 402 in t5is effectby U.ri This manifeslo*ur signedby many of the rlsiraJ' [November.f Of f 1. 'Ali) and of , thejudsestthescholars,the piouspeople itlre descepdaprs ir,. prominerr persoralitiesin Bagdadand Basra. ff'ris period of potitical struggle Tq ideologicalconflict beween the Sun'ism and Shr'ism, ffid in- particular Ismi'ilism, witnessed of rvriting of ar-Risdlafi l-lmnma and,other Shfa works on the subj_cct Imamate. It also ivitnessedrvritings on the salne subject by Sunni suchas al-Ash'an (d. A.H.32Alno.936),al-Bdqillini (d. A.H. scholars 403fn.o. l0l3), al-Baghdadifd. A.H. 4291n.o.l03B), al-Mewardi (d. A.H. aso/rr.o. l05B), al-Juwayni(d. A.H. |7&le,.o.l0B5) and alGhazAh(d. A.H.505/a.o.I I I )By studp g the aryunents rvhich appeared in Stri'a worls, such as or-iirAbrt flnnma, und in thoseof the Sunni scholarson the subjectof Imamati, we seethat aqgumentsof a logical nature were not restricted to the domains of Hafrth, theologyandjurisprudence.The controversy playecl ovcr Imamate was anotherdomain where such argumentat"ion a lcading rolc. Imamate occupieda paramount importanceamong advocatesof Shi'a Islarn. This is becausethc question of Imamate was a very influencial political weapon in either propagatingShi'ism

THE POLII.ICAL DOCTRINE OF THE TSTTIA.IIIS

or attacking Sunnism. In this question lies the raison d'6tre of the Shi'a theoriesof state. A{gumen[ation along this line could have a lar r-eachingeffect on the comrnonpeople; it could influence their allegiarlceto their stateor their hostilitvto it' fnir sometimesled the Sunnl scholam,ffi a delensivemeans,to use methods.of aryumentation follorvedby the Shfa. In sorneirutances meanitg th.y cvcnresortedto interpretationsrernotcfrom the app_arent of a religioustext, despitethe fact that in principle the Sunnlsrejected such r.-otcness from the obviousmeani^g of any text. An example of tlris *uy be found in al-Bdqilleni'sTwnlud (pp. 169 f0, and algave the.rvord .jurvayri'slrshfrd(p. +22),lvhere theseSunnl'scholars 'i,**li meaningsdiffcrent from its apparent and usual meaning of master. (S.. tr.50.) Attother exampleis what al-Bayqlawimentioned at- TanzTt(l :387),abouta Sunnlintcrpretationof the laterin hisAtwsdr lvltcn the trvo were in the cave' Q,trr'd,nicverse,'"The secondof two 'sorrorv trot; surelyGd is with us.' tuh.n he said to his companion, 'l'hen Go,Csentdown or him the Shechina,and confirmed hirn with youdid not see."(9 :40). The receiverof thc Shcchina,accorditg le.qions by the to al-Baycliwi,wasnot the Prophct,asoneInay fint utrcierstand verse.but tather Abfr Bakr. (Scen. 104).

FI L-IMAMAAND ITS AUTHOR AR IT]StrLA the ..lr-^RrsAta JT l-lmdtnaby Abir l-FarvarisAl.rnradibn Yir'qfib is ser,eltlro[ tfic treatisesincl,rdedin the secondvolutnc ol A'lajmii'ntTarhiya(calleclalso Kitab al-Janahit) compiled lry N'{ultiurunadibn -l'alrii is a collcction of ibn Ibrllrinr al-Hdrithi. L{ajmu' at-TarbiT-u tjriitv-r\vuIspr5'ili treatisesin nvo volunres.The first volutneincludes treatiscsand the secondrlrirtcen. The compilgr ol this tr.,,,,enty-fi1,e h1ajnfi',\{uhammad ibrr T'ahir, held thc rank of I{a'dluin (Licensee) of ihe third'dA'f in Yemen,Hatim ibn Ibrahim ibrr al-HuseynalH.inridi.G Al-Mqid[' tells us that iVluhamnradibn T'Ahir studied under 'Ali ibn al-Husap ibn Al.rmadibn al-Walid and lvas then dre tcacherof l{atim ibn lbrihim al-Hdmidi belorcdrc latter becamethe 'fdhir died on 7 Sharwval584 [29 NovemMuhammad ibn rlrinddd'1.7 irer I I BBl.8

INTRODUC-TION

In the manuscriptsrelied upon in editing Ab0 l-Fawiris Ahmad ibn Ya'qr1b's Rlsdtathere is no mention of anv de{inite title. However, in hi; book, A Guilletn Imaili Likrattre, Wladimir Ivanow g}vesthis epistlethe title of ar-Risakfi l-Imimn ln. +Z). In the secondamplified of his Gui^de , entitled Imaiti Litnrature,he also descfibesthis "dition epistleunder the sarnetitle (p. 39).t But on p. 57_ofthe salnebook lre simply calls this epistle Kifib Abi l-Faatdrisad-Da'i bi-Jaarat ashShnn ffh. book of Abfr l-Fawiris, the missionary in Syria]. fvanow alsogio an arnpledescriptionof dris epistlein his book Isnaili Traditinn tlu ri;tt of the Fatimids (pp. 145-46),_br! he mentions no Coru"ernirrg -fi l-Imara ffhe definite litle. For practical reasons-thetitle ar-Risfrlo work. Epistlcon Imamate] h* beenadoptedby ther,vriterofthe,present fu shown at the beginnirg of the epistle, it was related'bYthe dfr'-t Abtr l-Farvlris Ahmad ibn Ya'qtb to his own scribe ( kafib) .Lo The narneo[ ttris scribe is not mentionedanywherein the epistle. All we know is that Ab[ l-Fawiris Ahmad ibn Ya'qrlb rvasa dd'i (missionary) of the sixth Fatimid Caliph-Imam, al-Hdkim bi-Amrillih in Syttu (Jazint ash-Sham).No date of this dd'l's,birth or death is mentiotred, por do we have any information about his origin. We do not know whcther he authored any other work. Al-Majdfr', in his Frlrist, and Ivanow, ip both his Grridi and,IsmailiLitcrature,mention no OtJrerwork of his. Carl Brockelmanndocsnot mention Abu l-Faw:rrisanywhere in his Gesclfuhteder ArabbchenLitteratur, although he mentions menFuat Sezgin Mulrammad ibn Tahir's Mqjmtt' at-Tarbt2a.Lr "1tf tions AbLr l-Fawf,ris in relation to his Rkala.fi l-lmfrmn-LzNo other above' ;;;rl t the author is rnentionedin any o{- the books cited which Moreover, neither do we have any knorvledgeof the year in r^'asa dal of alur-RisakJi l-lmamawas rvritten. Since the iuthor Hakim who assumedrhe Fatimid Imamate in A.FI.386 [1."' ^990], ir. describedal-Hdkim asthe Imam of the dme (seefol' 106r'), il;.. 'during we can only surmisethai this Risdtamust have been written it neither the relgn of this Caliph. In oraminit€ this epistle\r'escethat nor does it converysany Druze doctrines,mentiorn a"i Druze da,ns, rvasprobably refute any br,rr. beliefs. We can thereforeinfer that it Movement rtritte' before A.r{. 4oB [o.p. l0l7J, t]re ycerrthe Druze df is in ,,o*J,especially bccaus.it was,uiitt.n b)'one of al-Hd,kinr's Syria rvherethe brur. Movement found many adherents.l3

THE pot,ITrL:.{t. DOCTRINEoI.-THE lsnaA.it_Is

THE RET.ATIO}{OF. AR-RIStrI.AFI L-IfuTAA,IA To OTHER SIMIIAR CC)N'I'I]N,fPORARY ISN4A'ILIWORKS In exarniningthe Isrna 'ili u,orkswe seetlratanothcrbookof thesarre perioddealsrvith the samesubject. This brnk wasrvritten by apot6er rlAi of al-Hdkirn,Ahmad Hamid ad-Din al-Kirmdnl (d. ca. A.H.4ll [o.o. 102l l ). It isentitledal-A4a:-afitiiIthbatal-lmame.ra It iscoprposed 'Each rrf trvoparts(maqdla) , eachdividcd into sevenchaprerc (mi;to4l. of tlrasechaptersis dividedinto a nlrmberof Rurhdns(proofs). Th. first chapterof the first part consists o{:agener?lintroduction, The sccopd chapterdealswith the existenceof God, the thind with the existence tif-the huntansoul. The fourth'discusses reward and punislunentin the afterlilb. The filth provesthc necessary existenceof religiousLarvs ( sfund'i') and the neccssityof following their commandmenrs.T[e sixth dealsu'ith the neccssalvcxistcnceof allegoricalinterpretation ( ta'wzl) of thesereligious Lrr"r. T'he scventl, !.o,ro the necessary cxistenceof thc divine l\4essage (rbAla). The secondpart is a discussion of the doctrineof Imarnateproper. The fint chapter dealsr,r,iththe necessary exi.stence of Imamate. The seconddealsrvith the impeccability of the Inraln. Thc third consislsof refuting the idea of electingthe Intarn b), the Comrntrnity.The lourth consistsof proolsof the clivine appoinbnentof tlrc Irnanr. l'hc fifth provesthat the Imam after il4trhammadr,vas.Ali ibn Abi TAlib. The sixth pro\/esthat the rightful itnanr after Ja'fhr as-Sadiq\vas his sorl Ismii'il. And thc seventh provesthat al-Hakim\vasthe rightful Imarn of thc time. In examiningal-fu[asabiI Ji Ithbat al-hnaffie,cspccialll'the sucond part, \r'escethat it resernbles Ibn Ya'qrib's/tlsola. Ilon'ever it diflen lrom thc latter b1, r'elyingnrostly ort rational eyidellccs.Altfiough -fraditions, al-Kirmdni sometirnesrclies on the Qur'dn and thc he doesnot ntakeit a point to start his argurnencrvith thcsetrvo Islamic sourcesas Ab[ l-Farvdrisdoes. I]c mentionsa Qur'dnic verseor a Tradition only in the context of a rational proofl This is probably becausehe rvrotehis book {br pcopler,vhodifler in their environment and religiousand cultural backgrounds{iorn thosewhonrAbir l-Fawdris Ahmad ibn Ya'qrib n'rote for. Iiurtherrnore, al-Kirmdni avoided relyingmuch on thc Qur'dn and thc Traditions,probably becausehe noticedthat the sameQpr'dnic.versesand Traditions could be usedby holdersof opposingview'points.

TNTRODUCTION

-fraditions ir-r al-Mu.a{'\, and verses of scarciry The Qur'd.nic of kno*irg thc way the Isn'ri'Ilis underhorvever,depri""d d; reaclcr 'fraditions. Bv relf ing on these two sotlrccs' stooclthe eur'f,n ancl the way thc Ismd'Ilis Ab[ l-Farviris A]rmad ibn Yatlub shonveclus lLte fiurtherrnorc'was interpreted thc Qur'dn and the Haditlt, His Risala, un .*umple of thc lsnrf,'Ili rvay ofaryumentatio'.

IN EDITING DE,SCRIPTIONOF THE, IWANUSCRIPTSUSE'D 1.,'IFT I,-TMAA'LA AR.III,STT

relicd uPoll in editing Tr'o man*scriptsof Majmfi' at-Tarbita-\1'ere J'he first manuscript Ab[ l-Farviris Ahrnacl i6,r Ya'qfrb"_ Ris.alais_thesecorrdvohune ol A4ajmil'at-Tarbi'a' : (,.L,, irr later rcrbir:nces) oltlre AmericanuniverIt is thepropcrryof rhc.Jufrl N{emorialLibrary H 2BmA: v.2. The first sit,vof Beirut and is ,rumlrcredIvIS 2g7.8: Univcnity of Beirut Library' volurneis also owned by tJrcAmerica. Khdn ibn al-Hdfiz Mulln sulaybut was copierlby o different scribe, tB34] sil:" i: is a completely rnf,', on 23 Ramadirnl24g [3 February it outsiclethe scoPeof this considcr., .dito, the manuscript difrercnt seconclvolume, he is Luqnratr rvork. As for rhe scribervho col)ieclthe that hc cornpletcd the shorvs coloplro' The ibn Mulla Jirvdkhrln. 'fhursday,BJu'recleI'I t 280 [21october manuscripr of-rhe copying 9. rvasoriginallyfrom thc he thit hirnself abotrt n,rote l863]. The scr-itle to the tournof Saidpttt"roThis movect later He o{'Radhanpur.r5 town l-Fawaris Ahnrad ibn Ya'qirb's manuscriptconiai's rgg fots. Abu Thc manuscriptis l9'7 x.l2'5 ctn' 106r,. to Blv. [rts. Ri-rdlaoccupies l4 lincs-The lengtliof thelineisapproxico*rains pagc i, sizeandever), 'Ii naskliland rvith .,r,.'.rlatlized reaclable in rvrirten i; rrratelvB crn. that the scribekept the rubric letters fact rhe to due rubricadon little Bur for somereasonlrc only ,!. q.Jlcriptcopying 'I'hus the entire rll&ouu*til he finished. pages. foui first the i-n inserteclthe red *o^1, is vr'ithouttitles. script,exccptfor t}resefirst four P€s, used of Mqi"\' at-Tarbia was --t"itiP! of-another A phorocopy second ,rr.later'refercnces)is the This by the editor. *o:o.opy-,('in-t volumeofMajmu,at-Tarbg,6andisalsotheproperryoftlreJafetLibrary ,ru,tti"red Ms 297'B: H is It Bcinrrof of the American univeniry is the proPerryof phorocop-Y, a also is rvrrich xl ma A. The first 'olr-e,

TFIE POLITICAL DOCTRINE OF THE IST{A.IdS

thc A.U.B. Jafet Library as well. It rvascopied on 3 Shawrnd.l1332 manuscript,it will [25 Augusr l9l4]. Sinceit is an entirely different ilro b. cliscarcledin this present edition. The nalne of the scribe rvho copied the sccondvolume is rnentionednowltere in the volurne. The copyingofthe manuscriptwasconrplcted,asshowllin thecolophor, on I Dhu l-Qp'da 1350[9 March 1932]. This secondvolume is pagnateclwith Arabic numeralsby a latcr hand and consistsof 393 pages. Abu l-FarvarisAhrnad ibn \tzr'qfrb'sRrala occupiespages157to 208. is 2l x 15 crn. in sizeand there are 15 lines to a page, fhe .'u'olume exceptfor thc first page which containsonly ten lines. It is copied in rcadablcrrrlvocalizedrrurkluand rvith little rubrication. The mistakesrvhich rverernade by the scribesof both manuscripts are designatedin the notesto the Arabic text.

\,IE,THODS OF' EDITING AND TRAI\SI-ATING The editor has been keen to reproducethe works and sentences of Abir l-FarvdrisAhrnad ibn Yu'qtrb ascloselyastheycan be detennined. He has alsomade it a point to render the text as clearly as possible. He has therelbreinsertedpunctuation and paragraphed the text to shorvthe main breaksin the author's thoughts. The editor has also supplied enough hsnrizi al--l-al 2:402,arrclal-KhaLi' .gunan

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'I'I-IF.poI_I-I'ICAL Doc'I'RINE oF THF, tsu,4.itis

70. A similar Traclitiori is also nrcntioncd by tlre Isnri'ili rholar al-Qfldi ar> Ntr'rndn in his Da'f im.2:341, and by tln'frvclver Shi'a Ib* Bibarrayh, il1ft' -l'ht: book ;l'[an la l"aldurulur l-l'-arfh, p. '1011. latter rclates this fiaditiorr from F.ht as-Sadiq. Horvcver, suclt Ilodith \\'ilstlot rnelrtionedbv anv ol'the Srrnpl traditionists. 71. Qtrr'in B:72. J'hc Sunni conlnrcrrtators,of courue, explain tftis verse differetttl\'. At-'fabarl cxplains the Qur'f,nic passagc,"those rvho believc, but have not nrigrated" as referring to tlrosc arlrong tlre believel'srvho havc not lcft their poplc 'fhe rrncl tlreir country nf'disbeliet'[or. thc abocleo{'Islanr. rvord wila;a rrrcntioff in tlrc Qur'dnic vetsc is explainccl lty' :rt-T'itbari [o mcan "1)rotection apcl l>cqtrcst". l-htts. accordirtgto at..l'itbat'i,the verscrr)c:rrls:"'I'lrt)s(:itn)on.qtlre bclicrrer-s rvlrolrar.r: rtot lcft their pcoplc artd thcir (rountrl,o['disltelir:f fcrrrlrc;rboclcof'I.sl:rnr.---],ou ha,,",r: tttr dutt' of prtttcction and bcclrrt:sttou':trclstlrcrn. (Scr:at--l-;rll:tri.Trtf..tlr,1.1:tll.) IJettce, the Sr-rrtt'tis, ttrrlikc tltc Isnt:I'Ilis, clo not undcrstancltht: rr,or'1lii,illtl,nip tlris \'('r'scas clutY r-ifallcq^iancc. 72. See r]. 19.

7 3 , Q u r ' d n 2 : 1 5 9- 1 6 2 . 7 4 . S e en n . 2 3 , 3 1 , 3 6 . 75- This is one ol'tlre basiccliflcrcrrces bcnvcentlrc Isrna'ili and Sunni concepts o['ltl't:rrtutl.e. T]rtt Inr:tntit, Isrtr:I'ili.srn i.sconsidercd to be tlrc Starionof'Grxl's\Vill or \'Vorcl. (SeeIt. 23.t FIc is in charse of allegoric-alll' intcrprctip.grfic otrtwarcl revelation;irr otlret'tvtlrd.s.lrc is cortsidcrcdto bc thc guiclero the rcal nreanipgol' revelation.(Sccn. 31.1 FIcmttst,cottscquclltly', bc supcriorover1ll nritpkipd. C)ntireother lrancl,tltt:Irnatnirt SuttniIslanris consiclcrccl to bc merclva protector atrclexcctltoroItlte Sihofi'a.l'hcrcfore'it is rrotabsolutclyr]cccssary irr SurrpiIst:rrp fbr thc Itrtattrto be tltc lterior (st:en' 137)' fi-orrr[rtlrer t()sottrviLhotttal)\'itrtcrt'ttlltion' t-rfIrrrerrrlrt(: lts t6c set:cl l):rssc.s '['6is tlrc cttrtcijPtof Irll:Il]latc in IsnrS'ilisrn is o'e oI tlre nrlirr ciiifcrcnccsi'rct\\'('cl] :ttrcltlt;tt of Strnnl Islatn. (Scc al'son' 75') l7l.

See n- 131.

Grxl's \\'ili or'\\;ord (st:crr-231-tltc Itrtanris:tl$'ay5 L7Z.Si'cc lrnanrlrt. r'cpn:st:nt.s Ili.s \\Iortl. (Sct: i\fakarctr)assistcdbt,Grd. FIe fulfiis Gtxl's \\fill :urcl cxl)r'c.s.scs ' ' . 1 - l t cI r t r i r n i r r I s n r d ' ' I l i s l l t , " 1 1 1 4l ' 1 { l ' 1 ' on rlre earttr scc Shihriit:rc1-l)inAllir Fir:is-a.t/rI73'.For thc efn:ct,rf rhe s1thcru:s .\lfifit'u, l)[). lB0-B I .

L74.Qur'enl4:31. 1 7 5 I. b i d . , 6 , 1 5 8 . 1 7 6 .I b i d . .2 : 1 6 5 -1 6 7 . n. 3. 177. St-'c 1 7 8 .Q u r ' d t t . 3 : 1 7 3 . 1 7 9 .I b i d . ,B : 4 O -