Kalimat-i qisar-i Imam ?Ali

Being the first imam of the Shi?a, ?Ali b. Abi Talib's (d. 40/661) statements-in any form-have always been important. In the centuries following his death, there appeared several collections of aphorisms, speeches, sermons, rulings and letters, all ascribed to him. The significance of these works was not just informative or even literary; they also had a didactic side insofar as ?Ali was regarded as a channel for God's grace to man, it being through him that man could learn how to fulfil God's wish of obeying Him. Among these works, there are the Mi?at kalima by Bahr b. ?Amr al-Jahiz (d. 255/868-69) and the Nathr al-la?ali?, probably by Fadl b. Hasan Tabarsi (d. 548/1153). The present volume contains the facsimile editions of a well-executed 19th-century copy of both of these Arabic texts, followed by a Persian translation into poetry of part of the Nathr al-la?ali? by Yar ?Ali ?Alanawi Tabrizi (early 16th century).