(958 A.

(958 A.D.) until he requested permission from Rukn ud-Duwleh, the ruler of the Buya clan, to visit the holy shrine of Imam Reza (MGB) in Mashhad. Then he traveled to Mashhad in 352 A.H. (963 A.D.) and returned to Ray after visiting the holy shrine. Regarding this he wrote in this book: ''When I asked the successful ruler Rukn ud-Duwleh permission to visit the holy shrine of Imam Reza (MGB), he approved my request in the month of Rajab in the year 352 A.H.

(963 A.D.) When I returned home, he called me in again and said, ''The place you want to visit is a blessed place of martyrdom. I have visited it myself. When I was there I asked God to fulfill the requests I had in my mind. God answered my prayers and fulfilled them.

Therefore, when you get there, remember me, and do not forget to visit on my behalf and pray for me since prayers will be fulfilled by God when they are presented in that holy place.'' I promised him to do so, and I fulfilled my promise. Upon my return from the blessed town of Mashhad I went to see the ruler. He asked me if I had prayed for him, and visited the shrine on his behalf. I replied in the positive.

He said, ''You did well since it has been proven to me that prayers will be accepted there.'' ''On this trip to Mashhad that year he entered Neishaboor.

He recorded some traditions from the religious scholars there, among whom we can name Abu Ali Hussein ibn Ahmad Beihaqi who narrated several traditions for him in his own house, Abdul Vahed ibn Muhammad ibn Abdus Neishaboory, Abi Mansoor Ahmad ibn Ibrahim ibn Bakr Khori, Abu Saeed Muhammad ibn Fazl ibn Muhammad ibn Ishaq Mozak'kar Neishaboory known as Abi Saeed Mual'lem, Abut-Tayýeb Hussein ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad Razi and Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Abdul Wahab al-Sejezy.

Also Abu Nasr Ahmad ibn al-Hussein ibn Ahmad ibn Ubayd al-Zab'by al-Marvani al-Neishaboory cited some traditions for him in Neishaboor. Also a group of people cited traditions for him in the town of Marv al-Ruz among whom we can name the jurisprudent Abul Hussein Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Shah, and Abu Yusuf Rafih ibn Abdullah ibn Abdul Malik. In the same year he traveled to Baghdad and heard some traditions from the religious scholars there.

He had also gone to Kufa, Fayd, Mavara un-Nahr, Balkh, Samarghand and Furghaneh, and had heard traditions from the religious scholars in these cities. THE BIRTH OF THE AUTHOR MAY GOD HAVE MERCY UPON HIM We are not precisely aware of the year in which he has born.