It took twenty years to write during the minor occultation...

It took twenty years to write during the minor occultation of the twelfth Imam (peace be upon him). It has been published in eight volumes in Tehran by Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. We have used the 1362 A.H. /1983 C.E. edition.

The whispered counsel of God to Jesus (peace be upon him), taken from al-Kafi, Volume 8, Pages 131-141, may also be found in Tuhaf al-’Uqul, Page 496, without mention of the name of the Imam from whom it was narrated, and in Al-Amali of Shaykh Saduq it is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him). Another of the “four books” of Shi’i narrations containing reports about Jesus (peace be upon him) is Tahdhib al-Ahkam by Shaykh al-Ta’ifah Abi Ja’far Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali al-Tusi (d.

460 A.H./1039 C.E.). There are said to have been four hundred small books of Shi’i narrations extant during the author’s lifetime, known as Usul al-Arba’A.H. Mi’A.H., and the author claims to have compiled this collection from these. This book is a commentary on Al-Muqni’A.H. of Shaykh Mufid, a work of jurisprudence containing references to ahadith. The edition of the Tahdhib al-Ahkam we have used is that of Tehran Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah (no date).

Mustadrak al-Wasa’il wa Mustanbat al-Masa’il by Hajj Mirza Husayn Nuri al-Tabarsi ibn Muhammad Taqi (d. 1320 A.H./1899 C.E.) contains more than twenty-three thousand narrations and has been published in Qom by Mu’assasah Al al-Bayt (peace be upon all of them) li Ihya’ al-Turath, first edition published in 1408 A.H. (1988 C.E.). This is considered one of the four most important collections of Shi’i hadith of the modern period, that is, after the eleventh/seventeenth century.

The others being Al-Wafi by Faidh Kashani, Biharul Anwar by ‘Allamah Majlisi and Wasa’il al-Shi’A.H. by Shaykh Hurr al-’Amili. It was written in order to complete the narrations not included in the Wasa’il al-Shi’A.H.. [^1]: This detailed look at the sources of this work has been taken from the original publication, “Jesus Through Shi’ite Narrations” by Muhammad Legenhausen.

[^2]: This infomation is given in the article “Biharul Anwar” by Baha’ al-Din Khoramshahi in Dayirah al-Ma’arif Tashshayyu’, Volume 3, (Tehran: Mu’assasah Dayirah al-Ma’arif Tashshayyu’, 1371 A.H. /1992 C.E.), Page 91-98. [^3]: See the article “Tuhaf al-’Uqul” by Sayyid Mahdi Ha’iri in Dayirah al-Ma’arif Tashshayyu’, Volume 4, (Tehran: Mu’assasah Dayirah al-Ma’arif Tashshayyu’, 1373 A.H. /1994 C.E.), Page 169. [^4]: Tuhaf al-’Uqul, Page 392…