So he -asws said...

So he -asws said: ‘Those -asws for whom Rasool-Allah -saww spoke of at the end of his -saww sermon on the day Allah -azwj Mighty and Majestic Caused him -saww to pass away: ‘I -saww am leaving behind two matters among you all.

You will never stray after me -saww for as long as you attach yourselves with these two – the Book of Allah -azwj and my -saww offspring, the People -asws of my -saww Household, for the Knower of the subtleties and the All-Aware has Informed me -saww and has Covenanted to me -saww that these two will never separate until they both come to me -saww at the Fountain, like these two’ – and he -saww gathered between his -saww ‘ Tasbeeh fingers’ (the forefinger and the thumb), ‘And I -saww am not saying like this’ – and he -saww gathered between the thumb and the middle finger, ‘So that one of the two would precede the other.

Therefore, attach yourselves with these two and you will neither be deceived nor stray, and do not precede them -asws , for you will go astray’. [12] The Earlier Sources of Ahadith Books: ‘The Book of Sulaym Bin Qays Al-Hilali’ (First Shia Ahadith Book): (98 Ahadith) Time Frame: A companion of the 1 st Imams -asws and lived up to the time of the 5 th Imam -asws .

Background: Sulaym ibn Qays Kufi Amari Hilali -ra is ‘Tabai’ [13] and has seen the lifetime of five Masoom Imams -asws , including Imam Ali -asws , Imam Hassan -asws , Imam Hussain -asws , Imam Zainul Abadeen -asws and Imam Mohammed Baqir -asws . Sulaym has written those accounts in his priceless book, which he has either observed by his own eyes or has directly heard from those who have directly heard from the Divine tongues of the -saww or Amir-ul-Momineen Ali -asws ibn Abi Talib -asws .

The date of birth of Sulaym ibn Qays can be estimated from the history somewhere during the early years after migration of the Holy Prophet -saww to Medina and his demise is believed to have taken place somewhere between 70 to 90 Hijri [14] . Most of the Shia scholars have agreed that his book is the first Shia Ahadith book compiled even before the famous Shia book, consisting of the sermons and Ahadith narrated by Imam Zain-ul-Abadeen -asws ‘Sahifa-e-Kamila’.

Ibn Nadeem has included in his book when commenting about the scholars and Ahadith contributors that Sulaym ibn Qays Hilali was among the devout companions of Amir-ul-Momineen -asws . He escaped persecution of Hajjaj ibn Yousef and took refuge with Abaan ibn abi Ayash.