Al-Manāqib

(The virtues and
merits of the Holy Prophet and his Ahl-ul-Bayt A.S. )

Written by: Ibn-e
Shahr-Āshūb Māzandarānī (died in 588 Hegira)

Background for Compilation:

The present
book is among more than 90 books, which are entitled as
Manāqib,
written by dignified Islamic scholars. There are further
hundreds of books written about the same subject, with different titles.

Amongst
those who have written books about
Manāqib
(merits and virtues)
of the Holy
Prophet of Islam (S.A.) and his Household (A.S.), we can point to: Nasr
son of Muzāhim, Ibn-e Betrīq Hellī, Tabarī, Alī son of Ibrāhīm Qummī,
Khārazmī, Ibn-e-Shādhān, Sayyid-e Radhī, Muhaddith Bahrānī and Faydh
Kāshānī.

All of these dignitaries who
have tried their best to collect as much article as possible, have
confessed their inability in complete perception of Ahl-ul-Bayt's virtues
and divine position.

Value
of the book:

Among about
100 books entitled as Al-Manāqib, Ibn-e Shahr Āshūb's book can be
accounted as one of the best, which has been praised by everyone.

Ibn-e
Shahr-āshūb lived in sixth century Hegira during which Islamic science
developed, Libraries flourished and a large number of scientific books
were published. The number of books in the libraries of Baghdad and Hillah
outnumbered 100,000 copies, which were accessible to scholars and
authors.
Manāqib-e
Āl-e Abī-Tālib
was also
compiled in such an atmosphere, and was so highly reliable that both Shi'a
and Sunnī Ulamā trusted in it and quoted its narrations with full
confidence.

Abstraction:

Abū
Abdullāh Husain son of Jubair, who was a pupil of one of Ibn-e-Shahr
Āshūb's students, abridged the noble book of Manāqib. This abridged
version of Manāqib has been published under the title of
Nukhab-ul-Manāqib Le Āl-e Abī-Tālib.

Contents of the Book:

The present
book is edited in 4 volumes, starting from the eulogistic biography of the
Holy Prophet of Islam (S.A.) and ending to that of the eleventh Imām, Imām
Hasan Askarī (A.S.).

Index of Volumes:

The first
volume is about the Holy Prophet of Islam (S.A.), which includes: good
tidings (Bishārat) on his prophecy, his birth, his prophetic mission,
wars, etc. A discussion on Imamate of twelve infallible Imāms(A.S.) as
well as their qualifications are next topic of the volume.

The second
volume discusses about Amīr-ul-Mu'minīn's(A.S.) divine stations, virtues,
miraculous excellences, and his judgments. Furthermore, the persecutions
and afflictions from which the Ahl-ul-Bayt(A.S.) suffered, are
chronologically exposed in this volume.

The third
volume begins with the Holy Prophet's Hadīths (Traditions) about Imām
Alī's successive Imamate. Some issues about Imam Ali's braveries and
spiritual virtues, his high position in the Day of Resurrection,
his superiority to all prophets
(except the Holy Prophet of Islam S.A.),
plus his biography have been mentioned in some other chapters.

Then, the
excellence, virtues, and biography of Seddīqah Kubrā Hazrat-e Zahrā (S.A.)
have been pictured. Finally there is a discussion about the Imamate of
Hazrt-e Zahrā's infallible descendants.

The fourth
volume deals with the excellence, virtues, and biographies of the rest of
infallible Imāms up to the eleventh Imām, which leads to the end of the
book.

Volume
of the Book:

The volume
of the book is almost the same as that of available manuscripts whose
dates of writing go back to the year 777 Hegira.

But as
Sheikh Āqā Buzurg-e-Tehrānī pointed out, the volume of the book had
been much more, some parts of which have been lost during passage of time.
There are some evidences for Sheikh's claim: one of them is that the book
doesn't include the biography of the 12th Imām (Mahdi, Aj.F.),
or any reference to his occultation and/or specified representatives after
his occultation.

Also there
are some issues, for which Ibn-e Shahr-Āshūb -- in his other compilations
-- has asked his readers to refer to his
Manāqib,
but cannot be traced in its present copies.

Publication:

Sheikh
Muhammad Husain Dānish Āshtīanī and Sayyid Hāshim Rasūlī Mahallātī were in
charge of revision of
Manāqib,
as well as comparison to other manuscripts.

There is no
good introduction and table of contents in the present copy, and
consequently it is of an average quality from printing point of view.