I cannot forget Sheikh Muhammad al-Hassoun for his kind and sincere help.

I cannot forget Sheikh Muhammad al-Hassoun for his kind and sincere help. Indeed, Sheikh Muhammad al-Hassoun's cooperation makes me indebted to him forever; he suggested to me to have this 15 book published in the series of the publications of Imam al- Husain's Sacred Sanctuary. Also Sayyid Hashim al-Milani, the Curator of the Library of Imam ?Al?'s Sanctuary in Najaf deserves my sincere appreciation for this support. I express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Ali Afkhami and Dr.

Ali-Muhammad Haghshenas-Lari, distinguished professor of linguistics at the University of Tehran, and his family for having read the final draft of the present volume and the suggestions they made. My special thanks go to His Grace Archbishop Sebouh Sarkissian, Sheikh Muhammad Sadiq Muhammad al- Karbasi, the editor of the London-based Imam al-Husain Encyclopedia, Sheikh Muhammad Kalbasi, Dr. Ali-Reza Babazadeh, and Mr. Kamal al-Sayyid. Among my university students, Mr.

Hamed Akhyani deserves my profound and special appreciation. He has always expressed keen academic interest as well as devoutly religious fascination and rendered his substantial assistance while the present volume was in gestation. I am, and will always remain, appreciative of his effective and invaluable cooperation and crucial help. Regarding office jobs, Mr. Gholam-Reza Yazdandoost, Mr. Muhammad-Hosseyn Shahri, and Miss Minoo Jalali also helped me a lot.

I cannot forget the assistance I received from my good friends in New Delhi in the summer of 2006. Among a long list of friends who proved cooperative, I ought to mention the following: Mr. Morteza Shafi'i-Shakib, Mr. Mohammad- Hossein Mozaffari, Dr. Syed Quayam Hussain, all at Iran Culture House in New Delhi, Mrs. M. Vijayalakshmi, 16 Librarian of Sahitya Akademi(National Academy of Letters), New Delhi, Mr. Murad Ali Baig, Prof. Makarand Paranjape of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Mr.

Mortaza Danesh Husaini and her eminent mother, Dr. Bilquis Fatimah Husaini of the University of Delhi, Dr. Nonica Datta, professor of history at the University of Delhi as well as at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Dr. Shah Muhammad Waseem of Aligarh, Prof. Abdur Rahim Kidwai and Dr. Syed Faiz Zaidi both of Aligarh Muslim University. I am also grateful to Prof. Richard Parmentier of Brandeis University, and Dr.

Tabish Khair of the University of Aarhus, Denmark, for contributing one of his poems to this collection.