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Shaykhism II : Western Sources and Materials

أحمد بن زين الدين الأحسائي

Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Aḥsā'ī

(d.1241/1826)

A Select, Annotated, Alphabetical Listing of Sources for the Study of the Shaykhi School of Shi`i Islam. Part II Western Sources.

Stephen N. Lambden.

In Progress :
Under revision and supplementation - last revised 25-07-2018.

The alphabetically organized (bio-) bibliographical notes below will attempt to list books and other writings of importance for the study of al-Shaykhiyya (= Shaykhism), the name given to the twelver Shī`ī movement originating with Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (d.1241/1826). Neither the latter spiritual genius nor his Persian successor Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī (d.1259/1843) intended to form a new sect or faction but to set forth Shī`ī, imamologically inspired insights into the significance of Islam in the, for some, eschatologically charged late 18th- early 19th century.

The foundational writings of Shaykh Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī and Sayyid Kāẓim al-Husayni al-Rashti (d. 1259/1843) and their various Shaykhi successors - selectively listed in the well-known Shaykhi Fihrist ("Index") of Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim ibn Zayn al-Abidin Khān al-Ibrahīmī [Kirmani](1314-1389 /1896-1969) - will not be listed below. Included here are general and biographical studies pertaining to Shaykhi leaders and examinations of their thought, writings, milieu and other aspects of their lives, writings and associates written by western scholars and academics.

MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF SHAYKHISM, SELECT WESTERN SOURCES.

Algar, Hamid

Religion and State in Iran, 1785-1906: The Role of the Ulama in the Qajar Period. University of California Press; 1st Edition, June 1980. See esp. 66-71.

Amanat, Abbas,

Resurrection and Renewal, The Making of the Babi Movement in Iran, 1844-1850. Ithaca and London: Cornell Univ. Press, 1989. Pt.1 Ch.2 pp. 48-69 is a section headed `The Shaykhi School'.

Abbas Amanat, Farzin Vejdani

Iran Facing Others: Identity Boundaries in a Historical Perspective. New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. Reference to Shaykhis on p. XX.

Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali (in collaboration with Sabine Schmidtke),

Twelver-Shî'ite Ressources in Europe. The Shî'ite Collection at the Oriental Department of the University of Cologne, the Fonds Henry Corbin and the Fonds Shaykhî at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris. With a Catalogue of the Fonds Shaykhî », Journal asiatique 285, 1997, pp. 73-122

Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali

`Une absence remplie de présences. Herméneutiques de l'Occultation chez les Shaykhiyya' (Aspects de l'imamologie duodécimaine VII) », Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 64 (1), 2001, p. 1-18 (Eng. trans. in R. Brunner et W. Ende [éd.], The Twelver Shia in Modern Times. Religious Culture and Political History, Leiden, Brill, 2001) as `An Absence filled with Presences: Shaykhiyya Hermeneutics of the Occultation (Aspects of Twelver Shi`ite Imamology VII), pp. 38-57.

Bausani, Alessandro (1921-1988), prolific Italian orientalist and Baha'i.

See : EIr. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/bausani-alessandro-prolific-italia...

al-Aḥsāʾī , Sh̲ayk̲h̲ Aḥmad b. Zayn al-Dīn b. Ibrāhīm... in EI²(Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition; Leiden, Koninklijke Brill NV, 20120424 / Leiden : E. J. Brill, 1960>2007).

Bayat, Mangol.

Mysticism and Dissent, Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran. Series : Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East. Syracuse University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8156-2260
2nd ed. Mysticism and Dissent: Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran (Modern Intellectual and Political History of the Middle East) Syracuse Univ Press April 2000 = ISBN-10: 0815628536. ISBN-13: 978-0815628538. 224(8)pp.

Behmardi, Vahid (ed.), Sayyid Kāzim b. Qāsim al-Ḥusaynī al-Rashtī

Risālat as-Suluk fī'l-Ahlāq wa'l-A`māl. von as-Sayyid Kāzim b. Qāsim al-Ḥusaynī ar-Rashtī ( = Orient-Instirur der DMG Beirut / Beiruter Texte und Studien 93) Ergon Verlag Würzburg in Kommission, 1st printing 2004. PBk. 120pp. Ar.+ 7pp.Eng. ISBN 3-899813-340-4.

The first 30 or so pages (pp. 9-40) of this excellent new critical edition consists of a detailed introduction by Behmardi to the aforementioned (loosely) `Treatise on the Ethics and Good Deeds accompanying the [Spiritual] Path'. It is based upon 3 mss., one in Behmardi's personal library and two in Princeton Univ. Library (see pp. 36-40 and the clear reproductions of the 1st and last pages between [unpaginated] pp. 41-49). The Behmardi edition is printed from page 50-94 and is followed by detailed annotations (pp. 95-113) and a bibliography of sources cited and consulted (pp.115-120). Behmardi does not give any details of the relationship of his edition and the various other middle eastern printings of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī's al-Suluk ila Allah - see further the abstract and other details in the Sayyid Kazim bibliography of this Website.

An accomplished Arabist with a doctorate from the Univ. of Cambridge (UK), Prof. Behmardi thas taught at the Lebanese American University, Beirut. He specializes in Abbasid Literature, Islamic Mysticism and Intellectual developments in Iran during the Qajar period.

Brunner, Rainer and Werner Ende (eds.),

2001 The Twelver Shia in modern times : religious culture & political history . edited by Rainer Brunner and Werner Ende. Brill: Leiden, Boston, Koln. 2001. ISBN 9004118039 OCLC # 44518259. Vol. 72 in the series, `Social, economic, and political studies of the Middle East and Asia, 1385-3376'.

This magnificent volume rich in contributions dealing with Shaykhism and other matters of considerable interest, contains a Preface ix-xx (Brunner and Ende); List of Contributors (pp. xxi-xxii) and Four Parts: Part One `Theology and Learning` (pp. 3-93 = six papers); Part Two, `Internal Debates and the Role of Dissidents' (pp.97-219 = seven papers); Part Three, `Ideology and Politics in the Twentieth Century' (pp. 223-297= five papers) and Part Four `The Case of the Islamic Republic of Iran' (pp. 301-364 = three papers), Bibliography and Abbreviations (pp.365-382), and index (pp.383-395).

The papers dealing with Shaykhism (al-Shaykhiyya) in this volume are:

Juan R.I. Cole.

`Casting Away the Self: The Mysticism of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī' (pp. 25-37) ( cf. Cole below).

Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali (cf. above),

`An Absence filled with Presences: Shaykhiyya Hermeneutics of the Occultation (Aspects of Twelver Shi`ite Imamology VII) (pp. 38-57. An English trans. originally entitled, `Une absence remplie de présences. Herméneutiques de l'Occultation chez les Shaykhiyya' . Part seven in a series of articles entitled, `Aspects de l'imamologie duodécimaine' ( = Aspects of Twelver Shi`ite Imamology VII), pp. 38-57.

Naqvi, Syed Hussain Arif.

`The Controversy about the Shaikhiyya Tendency among Shia `ulamā' in Pakistan' pp. 135-149.

It is here stated that "Shaykhism is almost as old in the [Indian] subcontinent as it is in Iraq and Iran" (p. 137). In this essay the identity of the 9th of the Ḥurufat-i Ḥayy (abjad ḥayy = 18), `Letters of the Living', the first 18 disciples of the Bāb) is given as Shaykh Sa`īd-i [Hindi the Indian] al-Multānī (Naqvi, p. 137 citing Şābir Āfāqī, Nujūm-i ḥidāyat (Karachi, BPT., 1987, p.95).

Also of central interest for Shaykhī studies is the article by Guido Steinberg, `The Shi`ites in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia (al-Aḥsā), 1913-1953' in ibid. pp. 236-254.

Cole, Juan, R. I.,

`Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and the Sources of religious authority' . Paper delivered at the centre for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, October 1993. Now published in Linda S. Walbridge ed. The Most Learned of the Shi`a, The Institution of the Marja` Taqlid. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001, pp. 82-93.
1994 `The world as Text: Cosmologies of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa`i', Studia Islamica 80 (1994),145-163. H-Bahai URL http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/ahsai2.htm
1993 "Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsà'î on the Sources of Religious Authority", paper delivered at the Center for Iranian Studies, Columbia University, October 1993.
Available http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/ahsai1.htm
1997 "Individualism and the Spiritual Path in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī" H-Net (H-Baha'i), Occasional, Papers in Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Studies no. 4 (September, 1997). .
2001 "Casting Away the Self. The Mysticism of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i" in Ral Brunner and Werner Ende, eds., The Twelver Shia in Modern Times (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 2001).

(ed.). `Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī Collected Works: al-A'mal al-Kamilah'.

At : www.h-net.org/~bahai/areprint/ahsai/ahsai.htm.

H-Bahai website Note: "This paper is forthcoming in print form in a book on Shi`ism edited by Lynda Clarke and Mahmoud Ayyoub, and appears here in digital form [on the H-Bahai Website] with their kind permission".

Sacred Space and Holy War, The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam. London/New York : I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. 2002. 250pp.+ index. ISBN 186064 736 7 (Pbk); 186064 761 8. A collection of eleven papers containing 15 or more references relating to Shaykhi studies.

Corbin, Henry (d. 1978).

Add URLs for biography, bibliography, etc.

"Henry Corbin (d. 1978) was professor of Islamic relgion at the Sorbonne and director of the department of Iranic studies at the Institut franco-iranien in Tehran. His wide-ranging work included the first translations of Heidegger into French, studies in Swedenbort and Boehme, writings on the Grail and angelology, and definitive translations of and commentary on Persian Islamic/Sufi texts. He introduced us to such seminal terms as the 'imaginal' realm, ta'wil, and 'theophany' into Western psychospiritual thought. His published works include Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn Arabi, Avicenna and the Visionary Recital, and The Man of Light in Iranian Sufism" (Publishers Note).

En Islam iranien, Aspects spirituels et philosophiques. Tome IV L'Ecole d'Ispahan, L-Ecole shaykhie Le Douzieme Imam.

This 4th volume of Corbin's ground-breaking En Islam Iranien (first published in 1972) after a consideration of the `School of Isfahan' deals in considerable detail (pp. 205-300 ed. Gallimard, 1972) with `The Shaykhi school' and its leading figures, followed by a section centering on the question of the messianic 12th Imam/ Qā'im.

L-École Shaykhie en Théologie Shî`ite. Extrait de'l-Annuaire 1960-61 (Ecole Practique des Hautes Etudes Section des Sciences Religieuses). Reproduction Anastatique. Traduction Persane par Feredoun Bahmanyar. Pages 1-59 in French with the title `L-École Shaykhie en Théologie Shî`ite' then its Persian Translation by Dr. Feredoun Bahmanyar pp.1-105 to which there is also a 3 page French Preface by Corbin dated Tehran December 1966/ Azar 1345. The Persian front, cover page is entitled: Maktab Shaykhī āz ḥikmat-i ilāhī shī `ī bi-qalam Henri Corbin .. with Persian trans. Dr. Feridoun Bahmanyar. Tehran Chāp-Tābān, 1347/1967.

Add 1999/2000 (?) Persian trans. of En Islam Iranien...

Nazrat al-Faylasuf fi sirat al-Shaykh al-Ahsa'i wa'l-Sayyid al-Rashtial-Faylasuf al-Faransi al-Duktur Henri Corbin.... ed. Radi Nasir al-Salman translated by Khalil Zamil. Beirut + Damascus..1423/2002

Terre celéste et corps de résurrection de'l-Iran Mazdéen a 'l-Iran Shi`ite. Paris: XX., 1960. Eng. trans. Nancy Pearson =
Spiritual body and celestial Earth : from Mazdean Iran to Shiʻite Iran [Series: Bollingen series, XCI, 2]. Princeton, N.J. : Princeton University Press, ©1977. 2nd ed. Princeton, 1989.
Spiritual Body and Celestial Earth, From Mazdean Iran to Shī`ite Iran. 3rd ed. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. 1990.

In the above work Ch. IX = `The Shaykhī School: Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (d.1241/1826) and includes:

1. Physiology of the Resurrection Body pp. 180-189. Extract translated from the Sharḥ al-Ziyāra (Lithograph, Tabriz, 1276/1859), 369-370.
2. On the Esoteric Meaning of the Tomb pp.189-191. Extract from the Risālat al-qāṭifiyya in Jawāmi` al-kalim I/2 (3rd Risāla), p.136.
3. The Heavens and Elements of Hūrqalyā pp.191-197.Extracts from the reply to Mullā Muhammad Husayn Anari Kirmani, in Jawāmi` al-kalim I/3 ( 9th Risāla), pp.153-4.
4. Alchemy and the Resurrection Body pp.197-210. Translated from an Epistle for Fatḥ `Alī Shah Qajar (d. 1834) in Jawāmi` al-kalim I/1 (5th Risāla), pp.122-4.
5. The Active Imagination and the Resurrection Body pp. 210-221 = Extracts translated from Kitab Sharh ḥikmat al-`arshiyya, (Lithograph Tabriz, 1278/1861) pp.175-6, 179-80, 186-7.
Ch. X = Shaykhī Hajji Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani...
1. In what sense is the Body of the Faithful Believer is the Earth of His Paradise. pp.222-236 = Extract from the Persian Irshād al-`awāmm. .. Kirman 1354/1935 vol.1 Pt. ii pp. 48-9, 66-68,271,277,282-6.
2. A World in Ascent, Not in Evolution. pp.236-239 = Extract trans from Irshād al-`awāmm. .. Kirman 1354/1935 vol.2 Pt. 3 pp.274-5.
Ch. XI = Shaykhī Abu'l-Qasim Khan Ibrahimi (Sarkar Agha). Fifth successor to Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i (b.1314/1896).

The Celestial Earth of Hurqalya and the Shiite Faith, pp. 240-268.

Extract translated from the Persian Tanzīh al-awliyā. Kirman 1367/1947, 5th Question, pp. 702-726.

Further works of Henry Corbin containing materials pertaining to Shaykhism.

Creative Imagination in the Sufism of Ibn `Arabi, trans. Ralph Manheim, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1969.
Realisme et Symbolisme des Couleurs en Cosmologie Shi`ite'. Paper delivered at the annual Eranos Conference (at Ascona Ticino, Switzerland) in 1972, which had the theme `Le Monde des Couleurs' The proceedings were first published in Eranos-Jahrbuch XLI (1972), (Leiden: E.J.Brill, 1974) with the lengthy Corbin paper being on pp.109-175(6). This paper also appears in the 1980 French volume of collected papers of Henri Corbin entitled Tempel et Contemplation (Paris: Flammarion et Cie) which was translated into English by Philip Sherrard in the (Isma'ili) series `Islamic Texts and Contexts' as Temple and Contemplation (London, Boston, Henley: KPI. 1986 ). In this English volume the Corbin paper is entitled, `The Realism and Symbolism of Colours in Shi`ite Cosmology' , According the "Book of the Red Hyacinth" by Shaykh Muḥammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī (d. 1870).

As indicated this paper, put out in translation by the Institute of Isma'ili Studies (London) is 54 pp long in the English translation of a work of the 3rd Kirmānī Shaykhī leader. The original Arabic [+Persian] treatise of Karīm Khān Kirmānī was entitled [Kitāb] Yāqūtih aḥmar (lit. "The [Book of] the Red Ruby"). It deals with the phenomenon of colour in general which also pertains in subtle ways in suprasensible, spiritual worlds (Pt.I) then with the colour red (aḥmar) in particular (Pt. II) The 1060 verse Arabic original has once been published in the series Majmu`a al-rasā'il vol. 71 (Kirmānī, Fihrist, no. 484, p. 421)

ADD SCAN...

It might also be noted here that the volume, `Color Symbolism, Six Excerpts from the Eranos Yearbook 1972' (Dallas, Texas: Spring Publications Inc. 1974+1977) does not contain the Corbin paper.

Daulay, Saleh Partaonan

Philosophic arguments for bodily resurrection : reconsidering Mulla Sadra's and Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsai's eschatological investigation Dissertation: Thesis (M.A.)--Colorado State University, 2009. vi, 103 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm.

Elwell-Sutton, Laurence Paul (1912–1984). Professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh (Scotland, UK).

"Shaykhism," in A Bibliographical Guide to lran, ed. L. P. Elwell-Sutton. Brighton and Totowa, 1983.

Eschraqhi, Armin

"Die frühen Schriften des Sayyid ´Alí-Muhammad Shírází „Báb“ (1819-1850) vor dem Hintergrund der Shaikhiyya im schi´itischen Islam. Das Beispiel der Risála fí Ithbát an-Nubuwwa al-Khássa. Einleitung, Edition und Erläuterungen“ Die Dissertation wird Ende 2004 bei Brill (Leiden) veröffentlicht.
`KĀẒEM RAŠTI' in EIr. : http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/kazem-rasti-sayyed

Hamid, Idris Samawi,

The Metaphysics and Cosmology of Process According to Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī, Critical Edition, Translation and Analysis of Observations in Wisdom. A Dissertation submitted to the Dept. of Philosophy of State University of New York at Buffalo in partial requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Copyright UMI 1998. UMI Number 9833596 pp.xviii + Critical edition pp. 419-520 + Appendix, A- The Autograph Manuscript of the al-Fawā'id al-Ḥikmiyya ("Observations in Wisdom"), pp. 506-536; Appendix B Glossary [of technical terms] 537-563+ Bibliography, 564-71.
PDf. below :
http://walayah.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Hamid-phd_dissertation-Sha...
The Abstract of this thesis reads as follows: ADD
`A Foundation for Shī`ī Metaphysics: Šaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī and the meaning of `الحكمة' in International Journal for Shī`ī Studies Vol.1. No. 1 (2003), 64-124. See,
http://gsp-online.org/journals/shi.htm and
http://gsp-online.org/journals/journaldocs/shi/vol1no1.pdf.

2002. `The Polarity of Existence and Essence according to Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʾī'

"This paper was originally published in 2002, as a book chapter in

The Passions of the Soul in the Metamorphosis of Becoming (Islamic Philosophy and Occidental Phenomenology in Dialogue), edited by Anna-Teresa Tymienicka. Kluwer Academic Publishers; pp. 199-215.

There are many things the author would change if he were to rewrite this. For example, the meta-linguistic context of "process philosophy" would be changed to "dialectical philosophy". Even at the time of publication the author fully recognized that the framework of "dialectic" would be crucial to an accurate reflection of the philosophy of Shaykh Aḥmad in general and of the existence essence distinction in particular. Work on the dialectical framework had not progressed far enough to warrant bringing it up in print at that time..." (Idris Samawi Hamid).

2003. `Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʾī and the Meaning of ‘الحكمة’: A Foundation for Shīʿī Metaphysics'

"This long article was published in 2003 in Volume 1, Issue 1, of International Journal of Shīʿī Studies. Its theme is the aim, object, methodology, and ultimately definition of 'metaphysics’ according to Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsāʾī (d. 1826).

As well as this original article perhaps accomplished that task, there are numerous things its author would change now. Some matters in the writing of the Shaykh which were not clear at the time are much clearer now. Further, the philosophical maturity of the author has made significant progress since this article was published.

One crucial issue in need of explicit exposition is the *dialectical* nature of the metaphysics of the Shaykh, in contrast to the *ontological* approach of the followers of Mulla Sadra in particular, and Classical Islamic Philosophy and Illuminationism in general.

Another matter in need of work is the *prehensology* of the Shaykh (مشعر ج. مشاعر); we may contrast prehensology with *psychology*. The foundations are in this article, but much has been discovered since its publication" (Idris Samawi Hamid).

Hermann, Denis; Sabrina Mervin.

Shi'i trends and dynamics in modern times (XVIIIth-XXth centuries) = Courants et dynamiques chiites à l'époque moderne (XVIIIe-XXe siècles). Beirut : Orient-Institut ; Würzburg : Ergon Verlag, 2010, ©2010. In series: Beiruter Texte und Studien, Bd. 115.; Bibliothèque iranienne, no 72. 180 pages ; 24 cm.

"Contents: List of Contributors - Introduction --
Diversity and Change in Philosophy and Mystic. Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī and the World of Images / Todd Lawson ; The quṭb as Special Representative of the Hidden Imam : The Conflation of Shiʻi and Sufi Vilāyat in the Ni'matullāhī Order / Oliver Scharbrodt ; Ḥikma Muta'āliya in Qajar Iran : Ḥājj Mullā Hādī Sabzavārī and the School of Mullā Ṣadrā / Sajjad H. Rizvi ; Continuity and Originality in Shiʻi Thought : the Relationship between the Akhbāriyya and the Maktab-i Tafkīk / Robert Gleave -- Shiʻi Jurisprudence. La quête du savoir à Najaf. Les études religieuses chez les chiites imamates de la fin du 19e siècle à 1960 / Sabrina Mervin ; Fiqh et soufisme à la période qajare : quelques notes sur l'oeuvre juridique des maîtres ni'matullāhī gunābādī / Shahram Pazouki -- Doctrinal Debates and Political Theories. Sunni Ulama's Discourses on Shiʻism in Northern India during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries : An Overview / Sajida Sultana Alvi ; Système parlementaire et consultation selon Thiqat al-Islām-i Tabrīzī : légitimation religieuse et justification historique / Denis Hermann ; Remarques sur la pensée politique de l'ayatollah Lārī durant le mouvement constitutionnel / Mohammad Baqer Vosuqi." (W-Cat.).
Philosophic arguments for bodily resurrection : reconsidering Mulla Sadra's and Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsai's eschatological investigation

Hermann, Denis.

Kirmānī Shaykhism and the ijtihād : a study of Abū al-Qāsim Khān Ibrāhimī's Ijtihād wa taqlīd. (Series:
Bibliotheca academica., Reihe Orientalistik ;, Band 24. ) Würzburg : Ergon Verlag, [2015]. 50pp.

Le Shaykhisme a La Periode Qajare: Histoire Sociale Et Doctrinale D Une Ecole Chiite (Miroir de L'Orient Musulman) (French) Series: Miroir de L'Orient Musulman (Book 3), Brepols Publishers (December 31), 2017. 402pp. ISBN-10: 2503531512 / ISBN-13: 978-2503531519.
Article `Shaykhism' (ŠAYḴIYA), a school of Twelver Shiʿism whose founding is attributed to Shaikh Aḥmad Aḥsāʾi (d. 1241/1826)... in Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition, 2017, available at http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/shaykhism (accessed on 30 November 2017).

Ibrāhīmī, Ḥajjī Abul-Qasim Khān Kirmānī (d. 1389/1969).

= ابراهيمى، ابو القاسم خان = ابو القاسم بن زين العابدين بن كريم

The Fihrist (Index) of Abū al-Qāsim Khān Ibrāhīmī..

فهرست كتب شيخ اجل اوحد مرحوم شيخ احمد احسائى و ساير مشايخ عظام و خلاصه شرح احوال ايشان
Fihrist-i kutub-i shaykh-i ajall-i awhad-i marḥūm Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʼī va sāyir mashāyikh-i `iẓām va khulāsah-i sharḥ-i aḥvāl-i īshān.
Fihrist-i kutub-i shaykh-i ajall-i awhad-i marḥūm Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsāʼī va sāyir mashāyikh-i `iẓām va khulāsah-i sharḥ-i aḥvāl-i īshān. 3rd ed., Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, 1974.
Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī va sā`ir mashāyik-i `izām. 3rd ed. Kirman: : Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, 1977. 653pp (+3pp of errata).
Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī va sā`ir mashāyik-i `uzām. 3rd ed. Kirman: : Chāpkhānah-i Saʻādat, / 1977. 653pp (+3pp of errata).

Partial Annotated Translations

Moojan Momen trans. in BSBM1 = Pt. 1 Shaykh Aḥmad, Fihrist, pp. 220-288, listing 132 items;
Stephen Lambden trans. Pt. II Sayyid Kāẓim, Fihrist, pp. 288-359 listing nos.133-304 (= 171 items) (ongoing; forthcoming). See here at

Ḥasan al-Ḥāʼirī al-Iḥqāqī - حسن ,حائري الاحقاقي

= Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ḥāʼirī al-Iḥqāqī (b. Karbala 1896 d. Add 2000). (b. Karbala [Iraq] 2nd Muḥarram 1314 / 13th June 1896- d. 14th Ramadan 1421, 11th December 2000).

al-Iḥqāqī, [al-Uskū'ī], Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan ibn al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Mūsā ibn al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Salīm al-Uskū'ī al-Ḥā`iri [ al-Iḥqāqī, al-Uskū'ī].

A prodigiously clever child Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ihqāqī, al-Uskū'ī was studying the Qur'an and Arabic grammar aged six and reading the Persian Gulistan of Sa`di and more besides, at age seven. He early visited al-Aḥsā (in Eastern Saudi `Arabia) with his brother Mīrzā Ḥasan `Alī who also took him (when aged 16) to Najaf (Iraq) where they both resided. At the age of thirty Shaykh Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Iḥqāqī obtained ijtihād, he became a twelver Shi`i mujtahid like his father, grandfather and brother. In 1348/1930 he traveled to Uskū (S. of Tabriz, in Persian Adhirbayjān, NW Persia) where his grandfather had resided and where he lived for roughly six years. Around the time of WWII he lived for five years in Mashad (Iran) after which he returned to Tabriz where he taught and, among other things, renovated the Mosque of his grandfather Hujjat al-Islam Mamaqani (=? Mīrzā Muhammad Baqir ibn Muhammad Salim al-Uskū'ī al-Ḥā`iri, Tabrizi ? d. 1303/1885?).

It was on his brother Mīrzā Ḥasan `Alī 's death in Kuwait in Ramadan 1384 / January 1965 that Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Iḥqāqī was begged to remain in this country by devoted Shi`i followers. This he did in the light of the internationalism of this country and from there he guided a vast number of Shi`i Muslims (in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi `Arabia [al-Ahsa, etc] India, Pakistan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Turkey as well as parts of Africa, America and Australia, etc) and engaged in various educational and charitable activities. ADD (see al-Taliqani, al-Shaykhiyya, 20002; Letter from the Shi`ites, 7ff ADD).

Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan Iḥqāqī authored many books in Arabic and Persian one of which has been translated into English, his Persian Nāmih-Shi`ayan which was compiled in Mashad in 1363/1942 and first published there in 1366/1945 (2nd printing in 1369/1948 and 3rd in 1397/1976). The English translation was entitled `Letter From the Shi`ites' San Rafael (California, USA): The Islamic Foundation, 1983. ISBN 0-9610614-0-5. Hbk. 221pp. This work contains a few biographical notices. ADD.......

For some further details see Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa al-awḥad, pp. 33-40 where a 13 of his works are listed.

Jalali, Aflaton.

The Shaykhīya of Ḥājjī Muhammad Karīm Khān Kirmānī.

A thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Arts, Dept. of Near Eastern Studies, 1982. vi pp.+260 pp+ pp. 261-75 [list of sources]. A thesis In seven chapters. The granting of this doctorate was rescinded after complaints of plagiarism from the thesis of Denis MacEoin....

Lambden, Stephen N.,

Within various chapters of his unpublished doctoral thesis. See URL. Shaykhi materials are discussed and registered at some points. Chapter 6 is entitled `The Bible and Isrā'īliyyāt in Early Shaykhism'... See also the translations to be posted on this Website including ongoing translations from the works of Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim Rashti, etc .There is also the unpulished 1991 paper:

`A Note on the background and Bābī-Bahā'ī exegesis of the Name (Ar.) Mūsā (= Moses) with reference to the Sharḥ al-qaṣīda al-lāmiyya of Sayyid Kāzim Rashtī (d. 1260/1844)'. Bi-Annual Bahā'ī-Religious Studies Seminar [Newcastle upon Tyne] 1990.

A small, unrevised portion of a longer monograph on Biblical and Abrahamic cosmology and its influenceas upon Shi`i-Shaykhi gnosis entitled:

`The Hebrew, Judaic roots of the Ishrāqī-Shaykhī term ورقليا hawarqalyā / hūrqalyā'... Based on a monograph in progress. A revised version of a portion of the above monograph on the etymology of ورقليا hawarqalyā / hūrqalyā [sic,] is about to be published. It will now be entitled :
`From Cosmic Firmament to Celestial Interworld: Some notes on the Biblical Hebrew, Aramaic-Syriac or Mandaic roots and Shī`ī-Shaykhī developments of the realm commonly designated هورقليا Hūrqalyā.'

Lawson, B. Todd.

"Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Twelver Shi'ism: Ahmad al-Ahsa'l Fayd Kashani (the Risalat al-'Ilmiyya)," in Religion and Society in Qajar Iran ed, Robert Gleave, London & New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2005, pp. 127-54.
`Ahmad al-Ahsa'i on Fayḍ Kashani (the Risalat `Ilmiyya)' Ch.7 (pp. 137-154) in Robert Gleave ed. Religion and Society in Qajar Iran, 2005.
`Abū l-Qāsim Khān Kirmānī Ibrāhīmī'. Brill

MacEoin, Denis, M.

From Shaykhism to Babism: A Study in Charismatic Renewal in Shí'i Islam. Ph.D. Thesis Cambridge, 1979. pp.vii+230+bib. pp. 230-240.

A doctoral thesis submitted by MacEoin (Faculty of Oriental Studies King's College, University of Cambridge), in July 1979. This thesis contains (after the Preface, Acknowledgements, List of Abbreviations and Introduction) six chapters: (1) The Religious Background, 6-49 (2) Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī, 50-94 (3) Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī, 96-124 (4) From Shaykhism to Babism, 126-155 (5) Some Aspects of Early Babi Doctrine, 156-183 and (6)The Babi Da`wa among the Shaykhis and the Break with Shaykhism, 185-229. This doctorl thesis has recently been published as part I of the compilation of MacEoin's literary output entitled `The Messiah of Shiraz' (see below).

"Early Shaykhí Reactions to the Báb and His Claims," in Moojan Momen (ed.), Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í History, (Los Angeles: Kalimat Press, 1982) volume 1 pp. 1-47.
`Shaykhism' in L.P. Elwell-Sutton (ed), A Bibliographical Guide to Iran. Brighton & Totowa, 1983, pp. ADD
"Changes in Charismatic Authority in Qajar Shi ism", in l\. Bosworth and C. Hillenbrand (edd.), Qajar Iran: Political, Social and Cultural Change, Edinburgh, EUP, 1983, pp. 148-76.

`Orthodoxy and Heterodoxy in Nineteenth-Century Shi`ism: The Cases of Shaykhism and Babism' in JAOS 110/ No.2 April-June, 1990, pp. 323-329. The synoptic heading preceding the article reads as follows:

`Discussions of orthodoxy and heterodoxy presuppose a dichotomy of major proportions. In reality, things are never so simple: relations between opposing viewpoints are characterized by dynamism rather than static confrontation. In a sense, heterodox movements may often be no more than extreme expressions of orthodox values.

In the case of Islam, the most extreme expression of an "orthodox" verses "heterodox" antagonism is provided by the emergence of Baha'ism as a distinct religion from an originally orthodox Shi`i matrix. An examination of the antecedents of Baha'ism in the nineteenth century -- Shaykhism and Bābism-- shows the way in which heterodoxy was, in a sense, a development of orthodox belief, rather then an aberration.' (p.323).

`Changes in charasmatic Authority in Qajar Shi`ism' in Qajar Iran: Political, Social and Cultural Change, 1800-1925. Ed. E. Bosworth and C. Hillenbrand (Edinburgh: ADD, 1983), pp.148-176.
'Hierarchy, Authority and Eschatology in Early Babi Thought', in P. Smith (ed.), In Iran, Los Angeles, Kalimat Press, 1986, pp. 95-155.
The Sources for Early Babi Doctrine and History. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1992.
Ritual in Babism and Baha'ism, Pembroke Papers, Pembroke College, Cambridge) published I. B. Tauris, London, 1994.
"The Trial of the Bāb: Shi'ite orthodoxy confronts its mirror image", in Carole Hillenbrand (ed.) Studies in Honour of Clifford Edmund Bosworth 2 The Sultan'» Turret (Brill, 2000), pp. 272-317.
"The Babi Concept of Holy War", Religion, 12 (1982): 93-129.
"Some Baha'i and Shaykhi Interpretations of 'The mystery of reversal' ", Baha'i Studies Bulletin 1:1 (1982), pp. 11-23.
"From Babism to Baha'ism: problems of militancy, quietism and conflation in the construction of a religion", Religion 13 (1983): 219-255.

The Messiah of Shiraz, Studies in Early and Middle Babism. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 2009. Essentisl for the study of Shaykhism and Babism this weighty tome includes most of MacEoin's writings relating to Shaykhism including his 1979 Ph.D thesis with some updating and most of his EI2 and EIr. articles.

MacEoin: Shaykhi and related articles in EI2, EI3 & EIr.

I shall include articles on the subject of the Bab, Babis and the Babi religion, etc., as these frequently contain materials and insights pertinent to Shaykhi studies. The Bab was a one time pupil (for 6-9 months ?) of Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d. 1259/1843) and was at times much influenced by the first two architects of Shaykhism

ʿAbd al-Riḍā Khān Ibrāhīmī, Ḥājj Sarkār Āqā' in EI³(Encyclopaedia of Islam Online). On the 5th head of the Kirmani Shaykhis.
al-Aḥsā'ī, Shaykh Aḥmad b. Zayn al-Dīn'. in Enc. Iranica vol. 1: 674-679.
`Balasari' Enc. Iranica vol. 3 pp. 583-585.
Cosmology vii - In Shaykhism', Enc. Iranica Vol. 6 : 326-328.
'Rashtī, Sayyid Kāẓim ' EI2 vol. VIII (Leiden: Brill, 1995) pp. 450-451.
'Shaykhiyya' EI2 vol. IX (Leiden: Brill, 1997) pp. 403-405.
Baraghānī, Molla Mohammad Taqī' EI2 vol. III (Leiden: Brill, 1995), 740.
"The Fate of Mullā 'Alî Bastāmī", Baha'i Studies Bulletin, 2:1 (1983), 77.
"Shaikh Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din Ahsā'ī", EIr X ADD.
"Bāb, Sayyed 'Alî Mohammad Shīrāzī", EIr X ADD..
"Babism: і The Bābī Movement', EIr X ADD..
"Babism: ii Bābī Executions and Uprisings', EIr X ADD..
"Azali Babism", EIr X ADD..
"Bayan", EIr X ADD..
"Baha'i and Bābī Schisms', EIr X ADD..
"Bālāsarī", EIr X ADD..
"Shaykhi Cosmology", EIr X ADD..
"Shaykhism", EI2 X: ADD., 1996, Leiden, Hrill, pp. 403-5.
"Kurrat al-'Ayn" (with L. P. Elwell Sutton), EI2 X: ADD..
"Abd al-Kezā Khan Ebrāhmii", EIr X ADD..
"Abū'l-Qāsem Khān Ebrāhīmī', EIr X ADD..
"Mollā 'All Bestāmī", EIr X ADD..
"Bāb" (general term), EIr X ADD.. .
"Badi Calendar", EIr X ADD..
"Mollā Mohammad 'Alî Qoddus Bārforūshī", EIr X ADD..
"Mollā Mohammad Hosayn Boshru'i". EIr X ADD..
"Mollā Mohammad Taqi Baraghānī", EIr X ADD..
"Mazhar", EI2 X: ADD..
"Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsā'ī", in J.R. Hinnells (ed.) Who's Who of Religions, Mac- Millan, London, 1991.
"Ali Muhammad Shirazi the Bāb', in J.R. Hinnells (ed.) Who's Who of Religions, MacMillan, London, 1991. . "Qurrat al-'Ayn", in J.R. Hinnells (ed.) Who's Who of Religions, MacMillan, London, 1991.
"Şubh-i Azal", in J.R. Hinnells (ed.) Who's Who of Religions, MacMillan, London, 1991.
"Muhammad Husayn Bushrū'ī", in EI2 X: ADD..
"Muhammad 'Alī Bārfurūshī", in EI2 X: ADD..
"Muhammad 'Ali Zanjānī", in EI2 X: ADD..
"Nuktat al-kaf", in EI2 X: ADD..
"Sābikūn", in EI2 X: ADD..
"Qurrat al-'Ayn", in The Encyclopaedia of Censorship (2001).
"Babis", in Jack Goldstone (ed.), The Encyclopedia of Political Revolutions, Washington D.C., 1998.
"Questions of Sayyid Muhammad Shīrāzī, Uncle of the Bāb."Translations of Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Texts vol. 1, no. 2 (June, 1997). Available online at: www.h-net .org/~bahai/trans/iqanques.htm.
"The Persian Bayan of Sayyid 'Alî Muhammad Shīrāzī, the Bāb." [A partial transla tion.] Translations of Shaykhi, Babi and Baha'i Texts vol. 1, no. 4 (July, 1997). Available online at:www.h-net.org/~bahai/trans/bayan/bayan.htm.
"The Identity of the Bāb's "Lawh-i hurufat'", Baha'i Studies Bulletin, 2:1 (1983), 78-79.
"Aspects of Militancy and Quietism in Shi'i Islam", British Society for Middle East Studies Bulletin, 11:1 (1984), 18-27.
"Nineteenth-Century Babi Talismans", Studia Iranica 14:1 (1985), 77-98.
"Divisions and Authority Claims in the Babi Community, 1850-1866", Studia Iranica, 18 (1989): 93-129.

Matthiesen, Toby.

`Mysticism, Migration and Clerical Networks: Ahmad al-Ahsaʾi and the Shaykhis of al-Ahsa, Kuwait and Basra' in Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Volume 34, Issue 4, 2014, pp. 386-409.

"Ahmad al-Ahsaʾi (1753–1826), the spiritual father of the mystical strand of Twelver Shiism, known as the Shaykhiyya, became an important religious figure in Iraq and Iran. But the Shaykhiyya also spread in his birthplace in Eastern Arabia and among migrants from al-Ahsa in Kuwait and Basra. The quietist and apolitical teachings of al-Ahsaʾi suited the Shia in Eastern Arabia, who periodically suffered from political insecurity and religious persecution. Several scholars from al-Ahsa studied with al-Ahsaʾi and with his successor as leader of the Shaykhiyya, Kazim al-Rashti. Thereafter, they returned to al-Ahsa or moved to Kuwait and Basra and set up hawzas to spread Shaykhi teachings. In the early twentieth century, the Shaykhis of al-Ahsa developed closer ties with the al-Uskuʾi, a family of marajiʿ of the Tabrizi School of the Shaykhiyya. The al-Uskuʾi also resided in al-Ahsa and Kuwait throughout the twentieth century. The Shaykhis of Basra, on the other hand, became followers of the rival Kermani School. In both Basra and Kuwait, migrants from al-Ahsa retained strong group identities because their common geographical origin was coupled with the Shaykhiyya." ( Toby Matthiesen).

Momen, Moojan, (Independent scholar, momen@northill.demon.co.uk )

Momen includes a brief account of the Shaykhī school in his An Introduction to Shí'í Islam, (Oxford: George Ronald, 1985) pp. 225-31.

A Bibliography of Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī based upon the Fihrist-i kutub-i mashāyik-i `izām. (3rd ed. Kirman: Chapkhanih Sa`adat, [1977]) of `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān al-Kirmānī. Bahā'ī Studies Bulletin Monograph No.1 (ed. Stephen Lambden. 1st published, Hurqalya Publications: Newcastle upon Tyne,1983) xxx pp. ADD. An on-line slightly updated version will appear on this website by 2015.
`Usuali, Akhabri, Shaykhi, Babi: The Tribulations of a Qazvin Family' in `The Journal for the Society for Iranian Studies', Iranian Studies vol. 36/3 (Sept. 2003) 317-337.

An examination of the checkered religious stance of the Baraghani family of Qazvīn from which the Shaykhi then Bābī scholar, writer and poetess Ṭāhirih, Qurrat al-`Ayn (d. 1852) emerged.

Nicolas, Louise, Alphonse, Daniel (A. L. M.) (b. Rasht [Persia] 1864- d. Paris 1937). The son of Louis Jean Baptiste Nicolas (1814-1875) of the French consular service. See http://library.bahai.org/sc/nic2.html

Perhaps the earliest western bibliographical listing of Sayyid Kāẓim's Arabic and Persian writings was that of the French scholar of Babism and Shaykhism, A. L. M. Nicolas (d.1937) in vol. 2 of his now quite rare 4 volume Essai sur le Shaykhism... Nicolas evidently utilized the Fīhrist-i Sayyid (see above) for his list of the works of Shaykh Aḥmad in the Essai sur le Cheikhisme, I. Cheikh Ahmed Lahçahi, (Paris, 1910), 63-72 is virtually identical to the SOAS ms. listing of Shaykh Ahmad's works. Nicolas' list of the works of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti in his Essai sur le Cheikhisme, II SÉYYED KAZEM RECHTI, is likewise virtually identical to the Sayyid Kazim's own list of his works.

Written under the designation Consul de France a Tauris, Nicholas' 4 vols. on Shaykhism are as follows:

Essai sur le ChÉikhisme. I. CheÏkh Ahmed LAHÇAHI. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1910. Preface xix+1pp. +72pp. In 5 chapters. PDf. Nicolas-CheÏkh Ahmed 1 .pdf
Ch. 5 pp. 63-72 is a bibliography of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. PDf.
Essai sur le ChÉikhisme. II Séyyèd Kazem Rechti. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1914. pp. 62+1 Table of Contents. In 4 chapters. PDf. Nicolas-SÉYYED KAZEM RECHTI II .pdf
Ch. I. Luttes entre les Bala séri et les Chéikhi Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp. 5-31. PDf. See above
Ch. II Œuvrea de Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp. 32-36. PDf. See above.
Ch. III Les prédictiones Chéikhies, pp. 37-55. PDf. See above.
Ch. IV. Quelques extraites des œuvres de Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp. 56-62. PDf. See above

Essai sur le ChÉikhisme. III La Doctrine. [Revue de la Monde Musulman] Paris: Ernest Leroux Édituer, 1911. 1-69 pp. in six sections. PDf. Nicolas III.pdf

Essai sur le ChÉikhisme. 1V. LE SCIENCE DE DIEU. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1911. Preface 1-LI+1 Table of contents, +97pp. In 8 chapters. PDf. Nicolas IV.pdf

Rafati, Vahid.

The Development of Shaykhi Thought in Shi'i Islam. Ph.D. diss. Univ. Calif. at Los Angeles, 1979. xxx pp.

Scarcia, G.

`Kerman 1905: La`guerra tra Šeiḫī e Bālāsarī' ' in Annali del Instituto Universatario Orientale de Napoli. N.S. 13 1966 pp.195-238.
Add

Sabine Schmidtke with Mohammed-Ali Amir Moezzi.

“Twelver-Shīʿite Resources in Europe. The Shīʿite Collection at the Oriental Department of the University at Cologne, the Fonds Henry Corbin and the Fonds Shaykhī at the Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (EPHE), Paris. With a catalogue of the Fonds Shaykhī”.

"L'intérêt grandissant que suscite l'islam shi'ite en général et le shi'isme duodécimain ou imamite en particulier ainsi que la difficulté d'accès de plus en plus grande aux bibliothèques dans les centres intellectuels traditionnels du shi'isme (en l'occurence en Iran et en Irak) sont les principales raisons de ce travail bibliographique à savoir la présentation des principaux fonds imamites de l'Europe: la collection shi'ite du Département Oriental de l'Université de Cologne, le Fonds Henry Corbin et le Fonds Shaykhī de la Section des Sciences Religieuses de l'École Pratique des Hautes Études de Paris. Etant donnée l'importance de la littérature Shaykhī dans l'histoire de la pensée imamite moderne et le fait qu'elle est restée quasiment inexplorée, le catalogue complet du Fonds Shaykhī est également présenté. Enfin, un appendice est consacré au problème de la censure dans certaines éditions récentes, faites en pays shi'ites, des sources anciennes et la nécessité du recours aux vieilles éditions ou aux manuscrits dont un grand nombre se trouve dans les collections européennes mentionnées.

The growing interest for shi'ite islam in general and for twelver shi'ism in particular, as well as the growing difficulty of access to libraries in the traditional intellectual centers of shi'ism (namely in Iran and Irak) are the main reasons of the present bibliographical work. The latter consists in the presentation of the main imamite collections in Europe: the shi?ite collection of the Oriental Department of the University of Cologne, as well as the Henry Corbin and Shaykhī collections in the Religious Sciences Section of the École Pratique des Hautes Études in Paris. Considering the importance of the Shaykhī literature in the history of modern imamite thought and keeping in mind that it is almost unexplored, the complete catalogue of the Shaykhī collection is also presented. Lastly, an appendix deals with the problem of censorship of older sources in some recent editions, prepared in two shi'ite countries, and with the necessity of resorting to older editions or to manuscripts which, to a large extent, are preserved in the above-mentioned European collections

More Info: co-authored with Mohammed-Ali Amir Moezzi Journal Asiatique 285 i (1997), pp. 73-122 Abbreviated Persian translation in Dialogue between Religions. Collected Papers Presented at the Commemoration Ceremony held for Professor Abd al Javad Falaturi, Isfahan University December 1996. Compiled by M. Haj Hoseini and M. Nouri. With an article on his Academic life by M. Mohaghegh. Tehran 2007, pp. 43-51

Scholl, Steve.

`SHAYKHĪYAH' in Mircea Eliade et al. ed. The Encyclopedia of Religion Vol. 13 pp. 230-233.

Zarandī, Muhammad, Nabil-i A`ẓam. (d. Acre 1892).

The bulky Persian Tarikh-i Zarandī in a partial edition and Eng. trans. by Shoghi Effendi (d.1957), with the title The Dawn-Breakers, Nabil's Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation (1st ed. 1932), is a recreation of early Shaykhī and Babi history by the Guardian of the Baha'i religion based upon the ms. notes of Zarandī. It opens with a Chapter 1 `The Mission of Shaykh Aḥmad-i Ahsā'ī (pp.1-18) and continues at Chapter 2 `The Mission of Sayyid Kāẓim-i Rashtī (pp.19-46). Here the twin founders of Shaykhism are pictured as forerunners of the Bāb as the expected messianic Qā'im and of Bahā'-Allāh as the eschatological Qayyūm ("Deity Self-Subsisting"). For On-line versions of Chapters 1 and 2 see

Shaykhism II : Western Sources and Materials

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