The Isra'-Mi`raj in the writings of select Imami Shi`i theologians , philosophers and mystics.
Stephen Lambden UCMerced.
In progress :
Last corrected and uploaded, 18-11-2015.
Some traditions ascribed to the twelver Imams.
Traditions ascribed to the sixth Imam, Ja`far al-Sadiq (d.(c. 148/765).
The Imam
Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (d. 1111/1699-1700).
Content Heading from the Bihar al-anwar (2nd ed. vol.18:282).
The stunningly erudite and encyclopedic Persian cleric, Muhammad Baqir Majlisi (d. 1111/1699-1700), an important Safavid era maintainer of Imami Shi`i orthodoxy, compiled much and wrote a good deal about the Isra' and Mi`raj and associated themes and motifs (e.g. al-Buraq) in several books within his massive literary output. In volume eighteen (2nd ed.) of his gargantuan and encyclopeadic, Bihar al-anwar (The Oceans of Lights), for example, he devotes in excess of 150 pages to a consideration of select Sunni and many Shi`i traditions which bear upon this subject. The night journey and ascent through the seven heavens is found in the 2nd ed. of the Bihar from volume eighteen page 282 until the end of this volume on page 423 mostly under the heading (see title heading above), `The [traditions expressing the] establishment of the Mi`raj and its [various] circumstances and modes of depiction'. After his massive compilation often varying inconsistent traditions and other materials, Majlisi writes :
And I [Muhammad Baqir Majlisi] say, `Know then that his [Muhammad's] ascension [al-mi`raj] unto the sanctified house [Jerusalem] then unto heaven [the heavens] took place within a single night when he was in his noble body (bi-jasadihi) as is established by the [qur'anic] verses and the [Imami] traditions (al-akhbar) be they specific or general ... whoso denies the various [orthodox] dimensions (amthal, `similitudes') of this matter or [argues for] its ta`wil (inner sense) as a spiritual mi`raj (night journey] or relative to his [Muhammad's] being in [a state of] sleep...
The Persian of Ḥayāt al qulūb (The Life of Hearts) of Muhammad Baqir Majlisi.
Select Bibliography
Muhammad Bāqir Majlisī (d. 1111/1699-1700).
- Biḥār al-anwār, 1st ed. in 25 vols. Tehran, 1887-1898.
- Bihar 2 = Biḥār al-anwār (2nd ed.) 110 vols. Beirut: Dār al-Iḥyā al-Turāth al-`Arabī, 1376-94/1956-74 and 1403/1983.
- Hayat = Ḥayāt al-qulūb. 5 vols.ed. Sayyid `Alī Imamiyān. Intishārāt Surūr, 1375-6 Sh/ 1997-8.