Majmu?a-yi athar-i Imamiyah

At first glance, the collection of traditions, notes and drafts published here is just like so many other personal documents from the library of the average medieval Muslim scholar. But on closer inspection, this codex dated 580/1185 is quite interesting. The manuscript is in two different hands, one part being by a certain Abu Na?im al-Na?imi al-Bayhaqi, and the other part by the equally unknown Abu 'l-Hasan al-Bayadi. As is evident from two study certificates (ijaza) contained in this manuscript, Abu 'l-Hasan was a student of Abu Na?im. Abu Na?im was a native of Bayhaq and Abu 'l-Hasan of Rayy. The manuscript contains mainly excerpts from Ibn Babawayh's (d. 381/991) Amali and ?Uyun akhbar al-Rida and traditions which Abu Na?im himself had collected in Khurasan. As such it contains the oldest known fragments from the Amali, besides being a rare witness of the early Imami teaching tradition in Khurasan, more specifically in Bayhaq and Nishapur.