A Shiʿite Anthology

Edited and translated by William C. Chittick

Subjects: Islam
Paperback : 9780873955119, 158 pages, June 1981
Hardcover : 9780873955102, 158 pages, June 1981
Out of print (Hardcover)

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Table of contents

Introduction: Seyyed Hossein Nasr

Translator's Introduction

Foreword:Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i

Part I: On the Unity of God

A. The Prophet

1. Profession of Faith

2. God's Attributes

B. cAli, the First Imam

1. The Transcendent Lord

2. Via negativa

3. Firm Rooting in Knowledge

4. The Fairest of Creators

5. Oneness

6. Discernment

7. The Vision of the Heart

C. al-Baqir, the Fifth Imam: The Incomparable Lord

D. Jac far al-Sadiq, the Sixth Imam

1. Seeing God

2. The name that can be named...

E. Musa, the Seventh Imam: The Mighty and Majestic

F. the Eighth Imam

1. Profession of Unity

2. The Veil

Notes: Pan I

Part II: The Ruler and Society

Instruction to Malik al-Ashtar

Notes: Pan II

Part III: The Spiritual Life: Prayer and Supplication

A. al-Husayn, the Third Imam: Prayer for the Day of c Arafah

B.the Fourth Imam

1. In Praise of God

2. Prayer for the Morning and Evening

C. Muhammad al-Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam: Prayer for the Month of Rajab

Notes: Part III

Appendix: The Twelve Imams

Bibliography

Index

Description

Created by the Prophet Muhammad and his twelve Imams, the Hadith is an ancient and profoundly influential body of religious texts in Shi'ite Muslim literature, second in importance only to the Holy Koran itself.

Texts on the practical aspects of life and pure metaphysics are included in this first English translations of excerpts from the Hadith. Especially selected for the Western reader by the renowned Islamic scholar Tabataba'i, the passages from the Hadith shed light on the culture, history, law, and theology of the Shi'ite community and provide direct translations of some of the most famous of Islamic prayers.

Allamah Sayyed Muhammad Husayn Tabataba'i is the author of many studies in Islamic philosophy. His book Shi'ite Islam, edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr, was also published by the State University of New York Press.

Reviews

"This volume is particularly pertinent at the present moment, when volcanic eruptions and powerful waves of a political nature associated with the name of Islam in general and Shi'ism in particular have made an authentic knowledge of things Islamic imperative, lest ignorance destroy the very foundations of human society and the relations which make discourse between various nations and religious communities possible." -- Seyyed Hossein Nasr