Ibn al-Nadim...

Ibn al-Nadim, while discussing 'Ali's (A) codex in al-Fihrist, had left some empty space but apparently could' not record the order of the surahs from the codex written by 'Ali (A) which he had seen. This is in itself evidence that the surahs were arranged differently by 'Ali (A). 4. Codices Attributed to 'Ali (A) The codex compiled by 'Ali (A) existed until the time of Ibn al Nad'im, i.e.

the last decades of the 4th/10th century." As mentioned in al Fihrist, he saw this codex in the possession of Abu Ya'la Hamzah al-Hasani and it remained as a legacy in the family of al-'Imam al Hasan (A). 38 Probably, the aforementioned person is al-Sharif Abu Ya'la - Hamzah ibn Zayd ibn al-Husayn al-Hasani al-'Aftasi who was a disciple of al-Sayyid al-Murtada.

39 Considering that al-Fihrist was written in the year 377/987 and al-Sayyid al-Murtada was probably born in 355/966, Abu Ya'la's meeting with Ibn al-Nadim must have preceded his discipleship of al Sayyid al Murtada for it is unlikely that Abu Ya'la may have become the Sayyid's pupil before the latter had reached the age of 22 years. Previous…