The first part covers the period from the time of the...

The first part covers the period from the time of the Prophet (S) up to the establishment of the ‘Abbasid caliphate while the other part covers the ‘Abbasid period.

Although this book deals only with the life account and martyrdom of the martyrs among the descendants of Abu Talib { al abi talib }, including life account of the Imams ( ‘a ), martyred leaders and leading figures among the ‘Alawis (descendants of ‘Ali ( ‘a )) and their own followers, a part of the history of Shi‘ism can be extracted from every part of it.

Of course, since this book is more relevant to Shi‘ism’s political history, it is less beneficial with respect to other aspects of the history of Shi‘ism. Ad-Darajat ar-Rafi‘ah fi Tabaqat ash-Shi‘ah The author of this book is Sayyid ‘Ali Khan Shirazi who was born on Jumadi al-Awwal 5, 1052 AH (August 2, 1642) in the holy city of Medina where he was educated. In 1068 AH (circa 1657-8) he migrated to Hyderabad, India where he lived for 48 years.

He then went to Mashhad, Iran for the ziyarah {visitation} of Imam ar-Rida ( ‘a ). During the reign of Shah Sultan Husayn Safawi, he went to Isfahan in 1117 AH (circa 1705-6) where he stayed for two years. Thereafter, he proceeded to Shiraz where he shouldered the religious and educational management of the city.[^5] The book, Ad-Darajat ar-Rafi‘ah fi Tabaqat ash-Shi‘ah , is one of the works of this high-ranking Shi‘ah scholar.

Although the subject of this book is a description of the condition of the Shi‘ah and their history, general history of Shi‘ism can also be deduced from it for two reasons. One reason is that it is a study of the conditions of the Shi‘ah in the different periods and places, while the other reason is that the author himself has dealt briefly with the history of Shi‘ism especially during the Umayyad period of strangulation.

He thus says in the introduction: Be aware that—may God be merciful to you— in every epoch and period the Shi‘ah of the Commander of the Faithful { Amir al-Mu’minin } (‘Ali) ( ‘a ) and other Imams ( ‘a ) from among his descendants were hiding in the nook and corner, keeping away from the attention of the rulers…[^6] Then, he described the beginning of repression from the time of the Umayyads up to the period of the ‘Abbasids.

This book, as it is noted by the author in the introduction, has been arranged in 12 classes.