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Author’s Preface

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful; and to Him we turn for help.

All praise, limitless and incalculable belongs to Allah, as He is worthy of; the Self-subsistent, Who is invisible from the world of thought and perception.

Unlimited and immeasurable eulogy for the one in whom hopes are reposed during difficulties and ease, the guide to the One who is manifest, the one who directs to the execution of His commands; and complete salutations on the pure soul, who was the first to reply ‘yes’, the chosen one of the Almighty before Adam (‘a) was clothed in the garb of the selected ones; the opener of the doors of goodness and guidance, and the Seal of the pure Prophets, the aided and the assisted one, the praised one (محمود) and the most praised (أحمد), Abu al-Qasim Muhammad (S).

And (complete salutations) on the purified progeny of the chief of the prophets, especially on the successor, who is the possessor of exalted honour, the Pole of the earth and the refuge of the time, the treasure of hope, the fort of security and the radiant gem in the sea of possibility, divine veil and the greatest Divine name concealed and hidden, the summit of Mount Qaf surrounding the earth, the bestower of justice on the oppressed, and revenger for the blood of the chosen; the purifier of the earth from the stain of unbelievers; the controller of the earth and the heavens and the far-reaching proof of the Almighty Allah on the earth and the earth dwellers, the remnant of Allah (Baqiyat Allah), al-Hujjah Ibn al-Hasan al-’Askari, the Master of the age and the times; blessings of Allah be on him and his forefathers.

Thus, this sinful servant, Husayn, son of the confirmed scholar, Muhammad at-Taqi al-Noori al-Tabarsi, may Allah make his end good and make it to be the best of the ends, a close confidant of Hajj Mirza Hasan ‘Ali, son of Hajj ‘Ali Asghar Noori realized that the best option in life was to remain attached to the Caliph of the Beneficent and the Imam of the men and jinns (‘a) and to serve him is the best of occupations.

Thus, some months ago, the most senior scholar of his time, Mirza Muhammad Hasan Shirazi, residing at Surra Man Ra’a requested this humble servant to translate the book of Kamal al-Din wa Tamam al-Ni’imah by Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Babawayh, called Shaykh as-Saduq, into Persian, so that it may be published and distributed among believers.

I stated with utmost respect that ‘Ali Ibn Sayyid Muhammad Isfahani, called al-Imami, student of Allamah al-Majlisi had already translated that book within his book Hasht Behisht in which he has translated eight books such as the ‘Uyun, Amali and Khisal1. Also, some contemporary scholars from the Sayyids of Shamsabad, Isfahan, have translated that book and to translate it once again is of no use. It would be better to procure and republish it.

After that we discussed another book, but no conclusion was reached and some months passed after that till last year in Sha’ban of 1303, I again had the honour of meeting the honourable scholar when this subject arose, at the end of which he said: It would be better to write a fresh book on this subject and you are the best person for this task.

The humble servant, due to paucity of scholarly expertise and excess of hardships and absence of more books in his possession, which should have been the basis of this great work, suggested: Sufficient sources for this important topic are not available, but last year I wrote a treatise entitled Jannah al-Ma’wa, in which I compiled incidents of those who had the good fortune to meet Imam al-‘al-’Asr (‘aj) during the Major Occultation, other than those mentioned in the thirteenth volume of Bihar al-Anwar [New Edition Vols: 51-52-53]2; so, it would be better to translate them all into Persian and add those incidents mentioned in Bihar al-Anwar.

He liked this suggestion, but said: It would be better to include the account of Imam az-Zaman (‘a) as well in brief.

In compliance with this command, I began this work when I was facing extremely hard times, except for the fact that I had the good fortune of the neighbourhood of the holy shrines of Imam ‘Ali Al-an-Naqi (‘a) and Imam Hasan Al-’Askari (‘a); so, I sought their mediation for this great task.

Praise to Allah, by the blessings of this place of divine favours, this project was completed in a short time, thanks be to the Almighty Allah, high is His praise. I entitled this book: Al-Najm al-Thaqib fi Ahwal Imam al-Gha’ib consisting of twelve chapters.

Books On Occultation And Their Authors

Before a brief table of contents and the actual beginning of discussion, it is necessary to mention that there are a large number of books known as books of occultation غيبة and those which are presently available are as follows:

1. Shafa’ wa Jala dar Ghaybat شفا و جلا در غيبة by Abu al-‘Abbas or Abu ‘Ali, Ahmad Ibn ‘Ali Radhi Khasibabadi

2. Mukhtasar ma Nazala fi al-Qur’an fi Sahib az-Zaman مختصر ما نزل في القرآن في صاحب الزمان by Abu Abduh Muhammad Ibn Ahmad ‘ Ayyash

3. Tartib al-Adillah ترتيب الأدلة في ما يلزم خصوص الامامية دفعه عن الغيبة و الغائب Ahmad Ibn Husayn Ibn ‘Abd Allah al-Mihrani Abi Abu al-‘Abbas ‘Arudhi.

4. Kitab fi Dhikr al-Qa’im min Al Muhammad كتاب في ذكر القائم من آل محمد عليهم السلام by Ahmad Ibn Ramih al-Maruzi.

5. Kitab al-Mahdi كتاب المهدي by Abi Musa ‘‘Isa Ibn Mihran

6. Kitab al-Ghaybah كتاب الغيبة by Hasan Ibn Hamza al-‘Alawi al-Tabari al-Mar’ashi

7. Kitab Ithbat al-Raj’ah كتاب اثبات الرجعة well-known as al-Ghaybah by Abu Muhammad al-Fadhl Ibn Shadhan al-Nishaburi

8. Kitab al-Hujjah fi Ibta’ al-Qa’im كتاب الحجة في ابطاء القائم Also, by the same author.

9. Kitab Izalah al-Ran ‘an Qulub al-Ikhwan كتاب إزالة عن الران عن قلوب الاخوان by Abu ‘Ali Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Junayd, called Ibn Junayd.

10. Kamal al-Din كمال الدين by Shaykh as-Saduq3.

11. Risalah al-Ghaybah li Ahl al-Rayy رسالة الغيبة لأهل الري Also, by Shaykh as-Saduq

12. Al-Ghaybah الغيبة by Muhammad Ibn Mas’ud al-‘Ayyashi.

13. Kitab al-Raj’ah كتاب الرجعة Also, by Muhammad Ibn Mas’ud al-Ayyashi.

14. Al-Ghaybah الغيبة by Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Ibrahim an-Nu’mani, student of Thiqah al-Islam Kulayni, and this is one of the best books on this topic. Shaykh Mufid has extolled this book in his Kitab al-Irshad, and this shows that before this book was written, there was no better book on this subject.

15. Al-Muqna’ fi al-Ghaybah المقنع في الغيبة by Sayyid Murtadha.

16. Kitab al-Ghaybah كتاب الغيبة by Shaykh al-Ta’ifah Abu Ja’far al-Tusi.

17. Kitab al-Burhan fi T al-‘Umr al-Sahib az-Zaman كتاب البرهان في طول عمر الصاحب الزمان by Abu al-Fath Muhammad Ibn ‘Ali Ibn Uthman. Allamah Karajaki has made it a part of his book Kanz al-Fawa’id.

18. Kitab Sahib az-Zaman كتاب صاحب الزمان by Muhammad Ibn Jamhur al-‘Ami.

19. Waqt Khuruj al-Qa’im وقت خروج القائم by the same author.

20. Kitab al-Faraj al-Kabir fi al-Ghaybah كتاب الفرج الكبير في الغيبة by Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad Ibn Hibah Ibn Ja’far al-Warraq al-Tarabulisi.

21. Al-Ghaybah الغيبة by Abu al-Muzaffar ‘Ali Ibn Husayn al-Hamdani, a representative of Imam (‘a); as Shaykh Muntajab al-Din mentioned in his Rijal.

22. Kitab Tawqi’at al-Ghaybah كتاب توقيعات الغيبة by Abu ‘Abd Allah Ibn Ja’far al-Himyari.

23. Jana al-Jannahayn fi Dhikr Walad al-’Askariyayn جنا الجنتين في ذكر ولد العسكريين by Qutub Rawandi.

24. Kitab al-Sultan al-Mufarrij ‘an Ahl al-Iman كتاب السلطان المفرج عن أهل الايمان

25. Surur Ahl Iman fi ‘Ala’im Zuhur al-Sahib az-Zaman سرور أهل الايمان في ظهور الصاحب الزمان

26. Al-Ghaybah الغيبة. All these three books are authored by Baha’ al-Din ‘Ali Ibn ‘Abd al-Karim Ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid Husayni Nili An-Najafi.

27. Allamah al-Majlisi ’s Kitab Bihar al-Anwar بحار الانوار, vol. 13, which is the most comprehensive book written on the occultation (ghaybah).

28. Risalah al-Raj’ah رسالة الرجعة is Also, written by ‘Allamah al-Majlisi.

29. Kifayah al-Muhtadi fi Ahwal al-Mahdi كفاية المهتدي في أحوال المهدي by Sayyid Muhammad Ibn Muhammad Lawhi al-Husayni al-Musawi al-Sabzawari.

30. Risalah Shar’ah al-Tasmiyah رسالة شرعة التسمية by Muhaqqiq Damad.

31. Kashf al-Ta’miyah fi Hukm al-Tasmiyah كشف التعمية في حكم التسمية by Shaykh al-Hurr al-‘Amili

32. Iqaz al-Huj’ah fi Ithbat al-Raj’ah إيقاظ الهجعة في اثبات الرجعة, Also, by the same author.

33. Risalah al-Raj’ah رسالة الرجعة by Amir Muhammad Mu’min Astarabadi.

34. Risalah fi Tahrim Dhikr Ism al-Imam Sahib az-Zaman رسالة في تحريم ذكر اسم الإمام صاحب الزمان by Shaykh Sulayman al-Mahuzi al-Bahrani.

35. Risalah al-Falak al-Mashhun رسالة الفل المشحون by Sayyid Al-Baqir al-Qazwini.

36. Kitab Mawlid al-Qa’im كناب مولد القائم

37. Al-Mahajjah fi ma Nazala fi al-Hujjah المحجة في ما نرل في الحجة.

38. Tabsirah al-Wali fi man ra’a al-Qa’im al-Mahdi تبصرة الولي في من رأى القائم المهدي. All three books are written by Sayyid Hashim Tubili al-Bahrani.

39. Kitab al-‘Awalim4 كتاب العوالم

One volume of it is the Kitab al-Ghaybah كتاب الغيبة, by al-Fadhil al-Akhund Mulla Kadhim Hazar Jaribi. It is an abridged version of the translation of al-Bihar or a translation of an abridged version of al-Bihar.

40. Risalah Jannah al-Ma’wa رسالة جنة المأوى فيمن فاز بلقاء الحجة عليه السلام في الغيبة لكبرى, by this humble author. It is a supplement to Chapter 23 of the volume on al-Ghaybah in al-Bihar, the translation of vol.13 of al-Bihar and the translation of Kamal al-Din.

41.Risalah al-Ghaybah رسالة الغيبة, Sayyid Dildar ‘Ali Naqvi Hindi Nasirabadi. He was a very prominent scholar in that country and the author of very fine books, having permission from His Eminence Bahr al-‘Ulum. This treatise is a refutation of the statements of ‘Abd al-‘Aziz Dehlavi regarding the occultation of Imam az-Zaman.

Other books as well, some of which contain the account of Imam al-‘al-’Asr (‘aj) and as per the ability of the writer and some are discussions of certain points related to His Eminence (‘a).

In addition to these books, there are certain discussions related to His Eminence, which so far have not been compiled into a single book and since this humble author did not find these points in those books, he decided to compile them in a separate book regarding the occultation of Imam az-Zaman (‘a) and also, to rearrange some topics related to His Eminence. It is hoped that the benefit of this book will not remain concealed from the folks of knowledge and excellence.

  • 1. Al-Dhari’ah, vol.5, pp.159-60; Nuqaba’ al-Bashar, vol.2, p.551.
  • 2. Also, published by JPC under the title of The Promised Imam.
  • 3. Two translations of this book are available:
    (a) The old translation of the late Muhammad Al-Baqir Kamrahi, Tehran, Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiya, 1379 lunar.
    (b) New translation from Mansoor Pahalvan, Intishrat Masjid Muqaddas Jamkaran, Qom, 1382.
    The translations which the respected author has mentioned in the preface were not found. (Al-Dhar’iah, vol. 25, p. 223).
  • 4. Shaykh ‘Abd Allah al-Bahrani d. 1130 A.H. comprising of 129 volumes, exciding the work of Bihar al-Anwar by his late teacher, Allamah al-Majlisi.