Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī

upon whose foundational writings the Shaykhī school of Shī`ī Islam is based.

(d.1241/1826)

A SELECT, ANNOTATED LISTING OF SOURCES

FOR THE STUDY OF THE VARIOUS BRANCHES OF THE SHAYKHĪ SCHOOL OF SHĪ`Ī ISLAM

IN PROGRESS AND REVISION  2007-8

Stephen N. Lambden (Ohio University)

    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 eschatologically charged early 19th century.

    The foundational writings of Shaykh Aḥmad (see the Fihrist of Kirmani, 220-288, listing 132 items; + Momen trans. ) and Sayyid Kāẓim  (see Kirmani Fihrist, 288-359 listing nos.133-304 [= 171 items] + Lambden's trans. ) will not be listed here though studies of their thought, writings, milieu and biographical details pertaining to them will. The writings of post-Sayyid Kāẓim (1259/1843) claimants to Shaykhī leadership will be detailed here -- though not the Bāb who early on also claimed to succeed Sayyid Kazim) -- as will lists of the writings and their followers, antagonists and biographers. A few URLs and JPEG pictures (click on the thumbnail to increase size) will be included with these bibliographical notes pertaining to al-Shaykhiyya. 

        Persons will be included below who have written about Shaykhism  in either European or Middle Eastern (e.g. Arabic, Persian, Turkish) languages. As time goes on many additions and corrections will be made and the format will be changed to take account of the various branches or  interrelated "schools" of Shaykhism. It must, however, be borne in mind today, that many Shaykhis have never differentiated themselves from mainstream (Twelver) Shī`ī Islam.  In time  details surrounding western attempts to study and understand the learned and fascinating Shī`ī phenomenon that is al-Shaykhiyya will also be separately listed. At this stage I would be especially grateful to receive  notice of suitable additions and / or notification of errors. 

 

`Abd-Allāh al-Aḥsā'ī, Shaykh.

  • Sharḥ-i ḥālāt-i Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī.   Bombay 1309/1892-3.

A very influential short Persian treatise upon the life of Shaykh Aḥmad by one of his sons.

 

 

 

 

Shaykh`Alī Naqī ibn Shaykh Ahmad al-Aḥsā'ī, (d. 23 Dhu'l-Ḥijjah 1246/4th June 1831).

  • Minhāj al-Sālikīn. 2nd ed. Kuwait : Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq. [Hajji Mirza `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā'iri al-Ihqāqī]. 514pp. [Index]. Has 5 sections with subsections and a conclusion. Part 1 is about al-`aql (the intellect) and `uqalā ("intellectuals") as well as `ilm (knowledge) and the `ulamā' (clerics, divines..) 

This sizeable work of a son of Shaykh Aḥmad was completed 27th Dhu`l-Hijja 1244 AH = 30th June 1829,  a few years before the passing of its author.  For some further details see Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa  al-awḥad,  p. 221ff. where a further 9-10 of his works are listed.

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'.

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.

Anvari, Muhammad Javad.

  • `al-Aḥsā'ī, Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Din ibn Ibrahim' in Dā'irat al-ma`ārif buzurg-i islāmī  (`The Great Islamic Encyclopedia', in Persian and Arabic editions), ed. Kāẓim Musavī  Bujnurdī, vol.6, Tehran: Markiz Dā'irat al-ma`ārif buzurg-i islāmī ...   1373/1995), pp. 662-668.

     A substantial  article in a major, ongoing Persian [+Arabic] encyclopedia. 

 A BARAGHANI FAMILY  AND ṬĀHIRA, QURRAT AL-`AYN

  • Baraghan is a village between Qazvīn and Tehran

  • A SHI`I-SHAYKHĪ BARAGHĀNĪ-QAZVĪNĪ FAMILY:

  • Partly based on Momen, 2003:317ff who draws on  sections within Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī, Mawsū`a al-Baraghānī fi fiqh al-shi`a (n. p. 1985).

  • Shaykh Muhammad Kāẓim Taliqanī (d. 1094/1683), a student of Bahā al-Dīn al-`Āmilī (d.`1031/1622) and Mir Damad (d.1041 /1631), the "progenitor of the  Baraghānī family" .

  • Shaykh Muhammad Ja`far Firishtah  (d. 1XXX/1XXX), son of the above.

  • Shaykh Muhammad Taqī  (d. 1161/1748).

  • Shaykh Muhammad  Mala'ikah Baraghānī (d. 1200/1785) married Fāṭima who were the parents of the three sons listed below:

  • [1] Mullā Muhammad Taqī [Baraghānī] al-Qazvīnī (c. 1167 [?83] -1263 AH = c. 1753 ??-1847 CE),  al-Shahīd al-Thālīth (The Third Martyr), anti-Shaykhi-Babi uncle  of Fāṭima Baraghani = Ṭāhira, Qurrat al-`Ayn (d.1852 CE).  He married a daughter of Fath `Ali Shah who bore him three sons. He was "the first cleric to declare takfīr or (loosely) "excommunication"(ca. 1238/1822) against Shaykh Aḥmad Ahsā'ī and subsequently became the leading opponent of Shaikhism in Iran. He studied in Iran and Iraq, and accompanied his teacher, Moḥammad-`Alī Ṭabāṭābā'ī on the 1242/1826 jihad against Russia. After a disagreement in Tehran with Fatḥ-`Alī  Shah, he returned to Qazvīn, where he acquired a reputation as one of the best preachers of his day.." (MacEoin, EIr.  ADD). He was an uncle of Fāṭima Baraghani = Ṭāhira and became one of the leading, pioneer Usuli Shi`i clerics of Qazvin.

  • See further Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (c. 1234-1302 AH =1819-1884 CE), Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. 1st ed. [Tehran] n.p. n.d. [1887-8]  No. 2 = Hajji Mulla Muhammad Taqī  ibn Muhammad Baraghānī  al-Qazvīnī  +  recent 2004 editin = Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran: Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.) On No. 2 in this edition see  pp. 22-76 which contains useful information about Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and his takfir ("excommunication")  as well as other issues within Shaykhi history.

  • [2] Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī  / Qazvīnī  (c. 1167-1271 AH [?] = c.1761-1854 CE) the father of Fāṭima Baraghānī  entitled Ṭāhira (d.1852 CE). He founded an important Madrasa in Qazvin known as the Ṣāliḥiyya at which several sons of  Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī (d.1241/1826) were instructed for a while (noted Momen, 2003).  On him and his writings see  Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān, Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran: Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.) He is  No. 5 in this edition see  pp. 108-109 which contains useful information about  Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ Baraghānī, Qazvīnī  and his Arabic and Persian writings.

  • [3] Mullā Muhammad `Alī  Baraghānī / Qazvīnī  (c. 1175-1272 A H= c.1761-1854 CE) an uncle of Fāṭima Baraghānī = Ṭāhira. He was a mystically oriented teacher at the Ṣāliḥiyya of his brother and obtained an ijāza from Shaykh Aḥmad al-Ahsā'ī (d.1241/1826). He subsequently became an enthusiastic Shaykhi  and seems to have sympathized with the religion of the Bāb.

  • Fāṭima Baraghānī entitled Ṭāhira (The Pure One), Qurrat al-`Ayn ("Solace of the Eyes") and  Zarrin Taj (Crown of Gold) the eldest daughter of (the above [2])  Mullā Muhammad Ṣāliḥ al-Baraghānī [al-Qazvini]  and Amina  (1202-1268 AH= 1787-1851). She was a Shi`i, Shaykhi and ultimately Bābī apologist and martyr (d. 1852 CE ).

Fāṭima Baraghānī,  - Qurrat al-`Ayn -  Ṭāhirih  (c. 1817-1852)

She today best known as Tahirih (the "Pure One") and as a revolutionary Babi believer. Before coming to faith in the Bab (1819-1850) in 1260/1844 she (like other members of her family) was a very learned and accomplished adherent of the Shaykhi school whose founding master Shaykh Ahmad and leader, Sayyid Kazim Rashti, she greatly admired.  She came to be known by several titles, including Zarrin Tāj (Crown of Gold) and  Qurrat al-`Ayn (Solace of the Eyes). There exist perhaps forty to fifty or more books and papers about Tahirih a few several of which recently been published. 

    This dynamic,  charismatic and extraordinarily learned Persian woman was enraptured by the person and teachings of the first two Shaykhī leaders. In 1260/1844 she, along with her  cousin and a number of other Shaykhis, were numbered among the first disciples of Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bāb, the Hurūfāt al-Ḥayy (the 18 "Letters of the Living"). Ṭāhira remained a devoted and revolutionary Bābī, (follower of the  the Bab), from the  very beginning of his messianic career until she was brutally executed in 1852. 

For biographical details see : URL :

For useful biographical and family details see Moojan Momen,

`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.

The vast majority of her Arabic and Persian writings of Tahira (aside from a portion of her Persian and Arabic poetry which has not been wholly collected) have not been critically edited, collected or translated.  Baha'i generated books about Ṭāhira include:

Mulla Muhammad Nabil-i Zarandi (d.1892 CE) [Shoghi Effendi ed. and trans.]

  • The Dawn-Breakers: Nabils Narrative of the Early Days of the Baha'i Revelation. See index.

Fāḍil-i Māzandaranī,

  • Kitab-i Zuhur al-Haqq. Vol. 3 (n.p. [Tehran] n.d  [c. 194?]),pp. 311-369.

Hussam Nuqaba'i

Nusratu'llah Muhammad Husayni,

  • Hadarat-i  Ṭāhira . Dundas, Ontario: 2000.

Abu'l-Qasim Afnan (d. XXXX)

Martha L. Root,

  • Tahirih The Pure, 1st ed. Karachi, 1938.

  • Rep.   Kalimat Press Los Angeles, ADD...
    "Martha Root became fascinated by Táhirih's story and traveled to Iran in an effort to learn more about this remarkable woman. This book is the result of her research. .."

Though most of Tahirih's theological and apologetic Shaykhi and Babi writings and the bulk of her poems remain unpublished, several volumes have recently been published about Tahirih and her poetry including:

Amin Banani (edited and translated)

Tahirih, A Portrait in Poetry-- Selected Poems of Qurratu'l-`Ayn (= Studies in the Babi and Baha' religion vol. 17). Kalimat Press Los Angeles, 2004. ISBN 1-890688-36-3 HBk. vi+145 pp. Contains an opening essay entitled ' A Woman for Our Time' (pp.1-30) followed by another by Jascha Kessler, `On Translating a Persian Mystical Poet' (pp.31-38) and an Editor's (Tony Lee's) Note (pp. 39-43). A selection of Tahirih's poems in the original Persian (+Arabic) with English translation by Banani (and Kessler) occupy pages 45-105. Notes by Banani briefly supplement and clarify aspects these texts. See further, URL:

http://www.kalimat.com/Tah-Poetry.html

TAHIRIH IN HISTORY: Perspectives on Qurratu'l-'Ayn from East and West Edited by Sabir Afaqi The volume brings together most of what we know about Tahirih Qurratu'l-'Ayn. Included is history from: 'Abdu'l-Baha and Shoghi Effendi; the work of scholars in India and Pakistan; and essays by Western scholars, such as E. G. Browne, A.-L.-M. Nicolas (translated from French), Abbas Amanat, Farzaneh Milani, and others. Kalimat Press Los Angeles, ADD...

Bayat, Mangol, 

  • Mysticism and Dissent, Socioreligious Thought in Qajar Iran. Syracuse University Press, 1982. ISBN 0-8156-2260-0. 195pp. + Notes and Bibliography pp.197-222 + Index 223-228.

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  consist 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.  ADD URL

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

Brunner, Rainer  and Werner Ende (eds.),

        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. 

Chahārdihī.  M. Mudarresī,
  • Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī.  Tehran: ADD   1334 Sh./ 1955.
  • Shaykhīgarī  Bābīgarī.  2nd Ed. Tehran: ADD  1351/1972.

            MacEoin refers to these two vols.  as confused and unreliable.

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

  • `Individualism and the Spiritual Path in Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i' (forthcoming).

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).

URL- BIBLIOGRAPHY AND  NOTES  AND URL

  • 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...

 

  • 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 Shī`ite Iran. 3rd ed. London: I.B. Tauris & Co. Ltd. 1990.

Ch. IX = `The Shaykhī School: Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (d.1241/1826).

  • 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.

               ____________________________

  • 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.

 Dehkhodā, Alī Akbar Qazvīnī, (1879-1956)

Born. Tehran c. 1297/1879 d.  Tehran 7th Esfand 1334 Sh. / 26th February 1956.

His Persian [Shī`ī] Encyclopedic Dictionary, the  Lughat-Nāmih contains some useful entries covering Shaykhī subjects, including;

ADD

Gawhar al-Shahīr, Shaykh / Mīrzā Ḥasan ibn `Alī  .. al-Dāghī al-Tabrīzī  (d. 1266/ 1849). 

 

Sharh ḥayāt al-arwāḥ

("Commentary upon the Life of the Spirits")

3rd edition (printing) Dawlat al-Kuwait : (`Abd al-Rasūl al-Iḥqāqī) Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq, 1423/2002. 881pp. + Index pp. 883-4. Hbk. Beautifully printed in Kuwait. this volume by the Adhirbayjani  born anti-Babi Shaykhi with the laqab Jawhar or Gawhar deals with the centrally important Shi`i doctrines : Sect. 1 On Tawḥīd (the Divine Unity) pp.27-112 in 5 sub-sections; Sect.2 on `Adl (the Divine Justice) pp.115 -208  in 24 subsections; Sect. 3 on Nubuwwa (Prophethood ) pp. 213-302 in 5 (+1) subsections; Sect. 4 on the Imāma (the Imamate), pp.351-678 with 5 sub-sections; Sect. 5 On  al-Ma`ad al-jismānī (On the [Eschatological] Bodily Return pp. 679-880 in  5 subsections.  This  very bulky volume... ADD details.... 

For biographical notes in Taliqani, al-Shaykhiyya, pp.183-6. ADD..

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. 

The Abstract of this thesis reads as follows: ADD

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Isbir. Muhammad Alī,

  • 1993    al-`Allāmah al-jalīl  Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā'ī fī Dairat al-Daw. 2 vols. in 1  Beirut: Dar al-Aṣālah

___________________

 

Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Iḥqāqī

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].

(b. Karbala [Iraq] 2nd Muḥarram 1314 / 13th June  1896-- d. 14th Ramadan 1421, 11th December 2000).  see pp. 33-40.

A prodigiously clever child  Mīrzā Ḥasan  al-Ihqāqī, al-Uskū'ī was studying the Qur'an and Arabic grammar aged 6 and  reading the Persian Gulistan of Sa`di and more besides,  at age 7. 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 30 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 6 years. Around the time of WWII he lived for 5 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.

 al-Ḥajji Mīrzā Mūsā al-Iḥqāqī  al-Ḥā`irī al-Uskū'ī,

(b. Karbala 25th Shawwal 1279/ 15th April, 1863-- d.  ADD 5th Ramadan 1364/ 14th August 1945) 

 

Ihqāq al-ḥaqq

("The Verification of the Real Truth")

Ed./ Pub. Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī

 4th ed [printing], Kuwait: Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq, 1421/2000. HBk. pp.643+ (index) pp.645-661. (1st printed in Najaf in 1343/1924-5).

A massive Arabic defense and exposition of early Shaykhī doctrinal and theological perspectives, including al-Ma`ād (Eschatology) and the nature of the Mi`rāj of the prophet Muhammad... General Index pp.1-14, prolegomenon to the 2nd ed. with an Arabic account of the life of the author by his son Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Ali b. Mūsā  al-Ḥā`irī with a list of 16 his mostly Arabic (and Persian) writings, pp. 15-28 (+ picture, p.17 see above) which include a translation from into Arabic of Sayyid Kāẓim Rashti's Persian Uṣūl al-aqā'id ("Doctrinal Fundamentals",  see p.22).  This writer was the son of   Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā Mūsā  Khallaf  Āyāt-Allāh Ākhund Mīrzā Bāqir al-Uskū'ī  (d. 1301/1883-4...)...  ADD and check details...

See further al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa,  pp. 76 (see above =photo) - 83. On page 78 of this latter Arabic work fifteen of his works are listed. 

 

al-Ihqāqī,  Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`irī,

(1348/1929 -1424/2003)

Demise of Mirza Abdul Rasul al Ihqaqi (QS)

al-Ihqāqī,  Āyāt-Allāh al-Ḥajji Mīrzā `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`iri  (b. Kuwait  1927 d. 2 Shawwal 1424/ 26 November 2003), son of Āyāt-Allāh, al-Shaykh al-Mīrzā Ḥasan al-Ihqāqī, [al-Uskū'ī] (see above).

This learned Shi`i-Shaykhī lived in Ādhirbayjān for many years before he, along with his father and uncle, became a leading figure in the Kuwaiti centered branch of Shi`i / Shaykhis. He became an expert  Arabic writer, editor (and publisher)  of several Shaykhi books including new editions of Arabic works of Shaykh Ahmad al-Ahsa'i and Sayyid Kazim Rashti. In  a few publications his photograph appears alongside  these two foundational  figures (see above).  For notice and some details of these publications of writings of the first two founders of Shaykhism see the bibliographical URLs to  on this site ................

A short  Arabic (10 or so page) life of `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī by Tawfiq Nāṣir al- ADD-Albu `Ali (?), can be found at the Kuwaiti Shaykhī URL (zip downloadable) : http://www.alahsai.net/lib/   (4th item listed).

`Abd al-Rasūl al-Ḥā`irī al-Ihqāqī

 

al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa  al-awḥad (Pt. 1)

("The Verified realization of the most singular [Shaykhī] Madrasa [School]")

Dawlat al-Kuwait: Jāmi` al-Imam al-Muhammadādiq, 2nd ed. Pbk. 1424/2003.

284pp.+285-293 (= sources and index). A very useful (and b&w picture-rich) synopsis of many of the key Shi`i-Shaykhī individuals prominent in the (Adhirbayjan, NW Iran) origination and Tabrizi

 

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 as follows:

The granting of this doctorate  was rescinded after complaints of plagiarism from the thesis of Denis MacEoin. 

 

 

The Kirmani Shaykhī leaders and their writings

 

See further:  http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SHAYKHISM/KKK-Bibliography.htm

 

[3] Kirmānī, Ḥajji Mirza Muhammad Karīm Khān , (1225-1288 /1810- 1871)

 Karīm Khān Kirmānī   was the son of Ibrāhīm Khān Ẓahīr al-Dawla (d. 1240/1824-5), a cousin and son-in-law of Fatḥ `Ali Shāh (1771-1834), the second Qajar Shah who ruled from 1797 until 1834.  Kirmani's father was at one time the governor of Khurasan and later, for the last 21 years of his life, was governor of Kirmān and Baluchistan (Raḍawī, Tadhkirat al-awlīyā,  56 ref.  MacEoin, 1982). He apparently had forty wives and something like 20 sons and 21 daughters. The mother of Kirmani, who gave birth to him on 18 Muḥarram 1225/ 23rd February 1810 was the daughter of Mīrzā Raḥīm the mustawfi  of Tiflis (ibid, 8+refs.).... ADD  

Karīm Khān Kirmānī  clalmed leadership of the Shaykhī school after the passing of Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d.1259[60]/ 1843[4]) its second leader. He very early on rejected the messianic and related claims of the Sayyid `Ali Muhammad (1819-1850) the Bāb  in his  رساله ازهاق الباطل فى رد البابيه     Risāla izhāq al-bāṭil fī radd al-bābiyya   ("The Crushing of Falsehood in Refutation of Bābism") and produced a dozen or more anti-Babi-Baha'i tracts and works, for some details see URL ADD

His Kirmani based descendants and successors headed the Persian Kirmani Shaykhi branch (see URL above below).

 

IV .  Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khan Kirmānī (1263-1324 = 1846-1906),  The (4th) Kirmānī Shaykhī leader. 

 Kirmānī, Hājj Muhammad Khan (d.1324/1906).

Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khan Kirmani (d. 1263-1324/1846-1906).

  • ADD

  • ADD

     

V. Āqā Ḥajjī Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān Kirmānī (1276-1360/1859-1942), The (5th) Kirmānī Shaykhī leader. 



 

Āqā Ḥajjī Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān Kirmānī (d. 1360/1942)

The Fihrist (Index)

  • Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī va sā`ir mashāyik-i `izām. 3rd ed. Kirman: Chapkhanih Sa`adat, / 1977. 653pp (+3pp of errata).
  • ADD
  • ADD

Note Momen trans. in BSBM1 = Pt. 1 Shaykh Aḥmad, Fihrist, pp. 220-288, listing 132 items;

Lambden trans. Pt. II Sayyid Kāẓim, Fihrist, pp. 288-359 listing nos.133-304 (= 171 items) (forthcoming).

Also included in this volume are bibliographies of the third to sixth Kirmānī Shaykhī leaders who were all Ibrahīmī Khāns and fairly prolific writers. The third Shaykh of the Kirmānī Shaykhī leaders, Hajjī Mirza Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmānī (1225-1288 /1810-1871) = Pt. III spanning pages 360-487 listing bibliographical items nos. 305-582 (=277 items). This is followed by the bibliography of the fourth Shaykh, Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khan Kirmānī (d. 1263-1324/1846-1906), the son of the third Shaykh Karim Khān Kirmānī. Under his name (Pt. IV) are listed bibliographical items nos. 583-786 (= 203 items). Part V lists the works of the 5th Shaykhi leader Āqā Ḥajjī Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān Kirmānī (1276-1360/1859-1942), bibliographical items nos. 787-940 (= 153 items). Part VI consists of a list of the works of the 6th Kirmānī Shaykhi leader and author of this Fihrist, Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān, (1314-1389/1896-1969). nos. 941-963 (= 22 items).

  • Risālih sharḥ aḥwāl.. Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā'ī

(= pp.1-51 dated Muḥarram 1387/ April-May, 1967 ) 2nd ed. Kirmān: Chapkhānih: Sa`adat n.d.

Persian work in six sections beginning with a few pages on the reason for the authorship of the book....

Section

Section 5 is in clarification of the number of wives and children of Shaykh Ahmad .

Section 6 (pp. 42-51) has 9 subdivisions and lists the writings of Shaykh Ahmad after their different categories.

  • Risālih tadhkirat al-awliyā' about Karīm Khān Kirmānī (= pp. 52-176 apparently written 1312/1894-5). 2nd ed. Kirmān: Chapkhānih: Sa`adat n.d. This Persian work is in six sections with various subdivisions. It is printed with the work about Shaykh Ahmad listed above.

 

VI.  Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim ibn Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān, (d.1389/1969) 6th Kirmani Shaykhi leader.

 

[6] Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān, (1314-1389/1896-1969)

  • Rasā'il thalatha, (Three treatises bound together) :  [1] Risalah tanziyya al-anbiyā' (= 130 pp. ), 2nd ed. Shawwal, 1384/ Feb-March 1965; [2] Risalah tamiyyiz al-awṣiyā' (= 61 pp.) 2nd ed.  1341/ 1922-3; [3] Su'alāt akbarī. in reply to the queations of Hajji Mirza `Ali Akbar Aqa Jurabji. (= -243pp. ) 2nd ed. Kirmān: Chap-Khanah al-Sa`āda Dhu'l-Qa'dah 1339/ July-August 1921. *

 

  • Fihrist-i kutub-i Shaykh Aḥmad Aḥsā'ī  va sā`ir  mashāyik-i `izām.  3rd ed. Kirman: Chapkhanih Sa`adat,   / 1977.  653pp (+3pp of errata).

ADD DETAILS OF INDEXES ETC...

Note Momen trans. in BSBM1 = Pt. 1 Shaykh Aḥmad, Fihrist,  pp. 220-288, listing 132 items;

Lambden trans. Pt. II Sayyid Kāẓim, Fihrist,  pp. 288-359 listing nos.133-304 (= 171 items) (forthcoming).

Also included in this volume are bibliographies of the third to sixth Kirmānī Shaykhī leaders who were all Ibrahīmī Khāns and fairly prolific writers.  The third Shaykh of the Kirmānī Shaykhī leaders, Hajjī Mirza Muhammad Karim Khān Kirmānī (1225-1288 /1810-1871) = Pt. III spanning pages 360-487 listing bibliographical items nos. 305-582 (=277 items). This is followed by the bibliography of the fourth Shaykh, Āqā Ḥajjī Muhammad Khan Kirmani (d. 1263-1324/1846-1906), the son of the third Shaykh Karim Khān Kirmānī. Under his name (Pt. IV) are listed bibliographical items nos. 583-786  (=  203 items). Part V lists the works of the 5th Shaykhi leader Āqā Ḥajjī Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān Kirmānī (1276-1360/1859-1942), bibliographical items nos. 787-940 (= 153 items). Part VI consists of a list of the works of the 6th Kirmani Shaykhi leader  and author of this Fihrist,  Āqā Ḥajjī `Abu'l-Qāsim b. Zayn al-`Ābidīn Khān, (1314-1389/1896-1969). nos. 941-963 (= 22 items). 

  • Risālih sharḥ aḥwāl.. Shaykh Aḥmad ibn Zayn al-Dīn al-Aḥsā'ī  
  • (= pp.1-51 dated Muḥarram 1387/ April-May, 1967 )  2nd ed. Kirmān: Chapkhānih: Sa`adat n.d.
  • Persian work in six sections beginning with a few pages on the reason for the authorship of the book.... ADD DETAILS
  • Section
  • Section 5 is in clarification of the number of wives and children of SA.
  • Section 6 (pp. 42-51) has 9 subdivisions and lists the writings of SA after their different categories.  
  •   
  •  Risālih tadhkirat al-awliyā'  about  Karīm Khān Kirmānī (= pp. 52-176 apparently written 1312/1894-5). 2nd ed. Kirmān: Chapkhānih: Sa`adat n.d.  This Persian work is in six sections with various subdivisions. It is printed with the work about Shaykh Ahmad listed above.
  • ADD
  • ADD
  • ADD

 

 

_______________________________________________________

 

Kashmīrī, Mullā Muhammad `Alī.

  • Nujūm al-samā'.  Lucknow: ADD,  1303/1885-6.  pp. 367-74 on Shaykh Ahmad.

 

al-Khwānsārī, Mīrzā Muhammad Bāqir al-Mūsawī (1811-1895).

Born Khwānsār, 27 Safar  1226/ 23rd March 1811. Died 8th Jamadī I 1313 / 27 October 1895.

al-Khwānsārī moved in late 1253/ 1838 to Najaf.   He wrote around 20 (largely Arabic and a few Persian) works mostly relating to Shī`ī  doctrine, ethics and legalism ( aqā'id, adab, fiqh uṣūl al-fiqh...). His frequently printed   8 volume rijāl  work contains an important section on Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. Only a few editions can be mentioned here:

  • Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt.  Tehran: xxx. 1304/1887.
  • Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt.  8 vols. Tehran: xxx. 1390-2/1970-2.
  • Rawḍāt al-jannat fī aḥwāl al-`ulamā' wa'l-sādāt.  8 vols. Beirut: Dar al-Islamiyya. 1411/1991.  In this recent Beirut edition the section on `...Shaykh  Aḥmad ibn Shaykh Zayn al-Dīn ibn Shaykh Ibrāhīm al-Aḥsā'ī'  is in vol.1 section 22, spanning pp. 97-103.  

  

Lambden, Stephen N.,

Within various chapters of his unpublished doctoral thesis  http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/abstracts/PHD-ABST.HTM   Shaykhi materials are discussed and registered. Chapter 6 is entitled `The Bible and Isrā'īliyyāt in Early Shaykhism'...  See also the translations on this Website and the 1991 unpublished  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.

Also on this website  are ongoing translation from the works of  Shaykh Ahmad and Sayyid Kazim ... ADD

Lawson, B. Todd.

  • `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.

MacEoin, Denis, M.

  • From Shaykhism to Babism: A Study in Charismatic Renewal in Shí'i Islam. Ph.D. Thesis Cambridge, 1979. (Unpublished), 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.

  • "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

  • `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.  

  • '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) p. 740.

 

Maḥūẓ. Ḥusayn `Alī (ed.)

1376/1957  Muhammadirat al-shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī. Baghdad: Maṭba'at al-ma'ārif. (pp.24).

Copy in Univ. Toronto - call number = BP80 A4677 M3. 

This Arabic work consists of 2 short autobiographical pieces by Shaykh Aḥmad himself. They can also be found printed in the Kirmani, Fihrist.

 

The Shaykhis of Tabrīz.

See Mirza Hasan Gawhar... Māmaqānī,

Shaykh Muhammad [Ḥujjat al-Islam]  ibn Ḥusayn ibn  Zayn al-Ābidīn ibn `Alī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Māmaqānī (d.1269/1852)

   

 Māmaqānī , Mīrzā Muhammad Ḥusayn [Ḥujjat al-Islam], (d. 1303/1885).

  • ADD
  •  

 Shaykh Muhammad Taqī, Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī

(b. Tabriz 1248/1832 -- d.  ADD 11th Ramadan 1312/ 8th March 1895),

Pages scanned from `Abd al-Rasūl al-Ihqāqī, al-Taḥqīq fī madrasa.. (Pt.1) 60-61

 

Māmaqānī,  Shaykh Ismā'īl  Muhammad [Ḥujjat al-Islam],  (d.1317/1899)

  • ADD
  •  

Māmaqānī, Mīrzā Abu'l-Qāsim [Ḥujjat al-Islam] Māmaqānī (d.1362/1943)

  • ADD

 

Mu`īn, Muhammad.

  • "Havaqalya" in Majallih-i Dānishkada-i Adabiyyāt. vol. 1/3 (1333 Sh./ 1954). pp.78-105. 

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 (1st published, Hurqalya Publications: Newcastle upon Tyne,1983)   xxx pp. ADD. An on-line slightly updated version will shortly appear on this website. 

  • `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 Bābī poetess Ṭāhirih  emerged.

 Naqvi, Syed Hussain Arif.

  • `The Controversy about the Shaikhiyya Tendency among Shia `ulamā' in Pakistan' pp. 135-149 in Brunner & Ende, The Twelver Shia -- see below.

  • Also of central interest 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. 

Louise, Alphonse,  Daniel  (A. L. M.) Nicholas

son of Louis Jean Baptiste Nicholas (1814-1875) of the French consular service.

http://library.bahai.org/sc/nic2.html

(b. Rasht [Persia] 1864- d. Paris 1937)   

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. Nicholas (d.1937) in vol.2 of his also 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 mss. listing of Shaykh Ahmad's works.   Sayyid Kāẓim's list of his own works is likewise virtually identical (? CHECK) to those listed by Nicholas in his  Essai sur le Cheikhisme, II SÉYYED KAZEM RECHTI,  See

 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;

Ch.1 ADD

Ch. 5 pp. 63-72 is a bibliography of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī

Essai sur le ChÉikhisme. II  Séyyèd Kazem Rechti. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1914. pp. 62+1 Table of Contents.  In 4 chapters.

Ch. I. Luttes entre les Bala séri et les Chéikhi Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp.5-31.

Ch. II Œuvrea de Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp. 32-36.  http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SHAYKHISM/Nicholas%20ChII.htm

Ch. III Les prédictiones Chéikhies, pp. 37-55.

Ch. IV. Quelques extraites des œuvres de Séyyèd Kazem Rechti, pp. 56-62.

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

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.  ADD

Rafati, Vahid.

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

 Aḥmad Şadr, + Kamran Fānī + Bahā' al-Dīn Khurramshāhī (eds.),

  • Dā'irat al-mu`ārifiyyīn tashayu` ["Encyclopedia of the Shi`a" ]  Vol.1 = [Entries] Āb-Iḥyā.  Tehran: Charity and Cultural Foundation, 1369 Sh. /1991.

This Persian Encyclopedia contains the entry  `al-Ahsā'ī,  Shaykh Aḥmad (1166-1241)' pp. 500-501.

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

Scholl, Steve.

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

al-Ṭāliqānī  [al-Najafi].

  • Sayyid Muhammad Ḥasan ibn `Abd al-Rasūl ibn Mashkūr al-Ḥusaynī, al-Ṭāliqānī, al-Najafī.       (b. Najaf, 1350/1931  d.               )

 

al-Shaykhiyya, nasha'āthā wa taṭawwūrhā wa maṣādir dirāsathā nishāti-hā 

("Shaykism, its origins, its evolution and the sources for  its study") Beirut: al-Ṭaba`at al-Alwaī, 1420/1999. 409pp. Index pp. 406-409. 

This work was apparently completed by the author in 1394/1974 and the ms. placed on one of the shelves of his library....    ADD

CONTENTS:

  • Prolegomenon and preliminaries including a few pages on the Akhbārī and Uṣūlī  Shi`i factions and the Bābī and Bahā'ī religions...  pp.7-29.

  • Pt. 1 The development of thought within Shī`īsm in the 13th cent. AH....  pp.31-52

  • Pt. II Shaykh  Aḥmad-i Ahsā'ī  pp. 53-113.

  • Pt. III Sayyid Kazim Rashti pp.117-173.

  • Pt. IV [Post al-Ahsā'ī] Shaykhī factions and the proliferation of leadership claimants is discussed on pp.175-221. Included are details regarding Shaykh Ḥasan G[J]awhar and about the Shaykhis of Tabrīz, including the role of Shaykh Muhammad Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī, or  Shaykh Muhammad  ibn Ḥusayn ibn  Zayn al-Ābidīn ibn `Alī ibn Ibrāhīm al-Māmaqānī (d.1269/1852) as well as  Mīrzā Muhammad Ḥusayn Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d. 1303/1885), Shaykh Muhammad Taqī Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (1248-1312/1832-1895), Shaykh Ismā'īl  Muhammad Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d.1317/1899) and Mīrzā Abu'l-Qāsim Ḥujjat al-Islam Māmaqānī (d.1362/1943)... Details are also set out regarding the Kirmani Shaykhi leaders from Hajji Mirza Muhammad Karim Khan Kirmani (No. III) until Abu'l-Qāsim Khān Ibrāhīmi  (d.1389/1969) and Hajji `Abd al-Riḍā Khān Ibrahami and the Iraqi Shaykhi leader Sayyid `Abd-Allah al-Mūsawī (b. 1314/1899-----)..

  • Pt. V  deals with the designations and doctrinal idiosyncrasies of the Shaykhī school including bodily return (at the eschaton), 239f; the nature of the Mi`raj of the Prophet Muhammad 273f; the alleged ghuluww ("extremist") opinions, p.281ff and the issue of the `speaking Imam' and the rukn al-rabi` (Fourth Pillar/Support). 298ff.

  • Following the author's conclusion (pp. 333-350) there is a lengthy bibliography (pp.351-405) divided up into Arabic works (355 items) and then Persian writings (61 items) many of which have a direct or indirect bearing upon Shaykhi history and doctrine. There follows another two useful alphabetical bibliographies of Shaykh Aḥmad al-Aḥsā'ī (pp. 375-389) and (another for)  Sayyid Kāẓim Rashtī(pp.391-405).

  • __________

Tehranī, Shaykh Muhammad Muḥsin, (1876-1970), known as Āqā Buzurg ("Grandfather")

Born. Tehran, 11th Rabi I 1293/ 6 April 1876.  Died.  13th Dhu'l-Ḥijja  1380 /   20th February 1970 and buried in his private library in Najaf.

Travelled to study at Najaf (Iraq) in 1315/1897 with leading Shī`ī authorities.  In  1329/ 1911 he moved to Kāẓimayn then Sāmarrā (both in Iraq) where he began work on his massive 26 volume (+ vol. 9 in 4 parts) bibliography al-Dharī`a  which has some 42, 440 entries and includes some valuable notices upon Shaykhī and Babi-Baha'i mss and publications.  Āqā Buzurg returned to Najaf in  1353/ 1935 and remained there for most of the rest of his life.

The first volume of al-Dharī`a` appeared in 1355/1937  and the rest  throughout Āqā  Buzurg's lifetime, the last volume being published posthumously by his pupil Sayyid Ahmad Ashkevari.  Eight or more vols. have been published which supplement al-Dharī`a, including al-Mustadarak al-Dharī`a (Supplement to the Dharī`a) by Sayyid `Aziz-Allah Ṭabāṭabā'ī (Qumm: Ahl al-Bayt, ADD) which adds 10,000 entries.

Printed fascicles of al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a.  began to appear in Najaf [Tehran] from 1335/  1936 onwards.

al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a. 

al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a. 

3rd printing al-Dharī`a ilā taṣānīf al-shi`a.  26 (+) vols. Beirut: Dar al-aḍwā'   1983/1403.

Āqā Buzurg Tehrani also wrote his rijal  volume, the Ṭabaqāt a`lām al-shi`a  ("Generations of the Learned among the Shi`a"). This bibliography was due to span the 4th cent. AH/ 12th cent. CE until the mid. 20th cent. CE though only 6 vols. dealing with the learned of the 13th and 14th centuries AH were published.  ADD

On Āqā Buzurg Tehrani see, for example,  Hamid Algar,  Āqā Bozorg Tehrānī, EIr. 2:169-170; Sayyid `Alī Shahbāz, Islamic Personalities (3) `Shaykh Aqa Buzurg Tehrani', in Thaqalayn 4:3-4 Autumn & Winter, 1419/ 1998-9, pp. 87-102.....

Tunukabūnī, Mirza Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān (c. 1234-1302 AH =1819-1884 CE).

  • Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. 1st ed.  [Tehran] n.p. n.d. [1887-8]. On Shaykh Ahmad see pp. 

  • Kitāb Qiṣaṣ al-'ulamā'.  Tehran: Kitab-Furūshī-i `Ilmiyya-yi Islāmiyya . n. d. [1887-8?] (465 pp.) 
  • Qiṣas al‑`ulamā.  Tehran:  Islamiyya,  1364/1944??
  • Qiṣas al‑`ulamā. ed. Muhammad Rida' Barzgar Khaliqi and Uffat Karbasi. Tehran:  Intisharat `Ilmi va Farhang, 1383Sh/2004 (xxxiv+777+1 pp.)
  • On Shaykh Ahmad in this 2004 edition see No. XX pp. ADD. See also pp.  

This important Persian Shi`i  rijāl  book includes a lengthy treatment of Shaykh Aḥmad and his doctrinal position by one sympathetic to his person and teachings.

Numerous sometimes bowdlerized editions and Arabic translations of his Qiṣaṣ al-`ulamā'   exist.  

including,  ADD            Tehran 1319/1901. 

Ar. trans.  Qiṣaṣ al-`ulamā' . trans by Shaykh   ADD  Beirut: Dar al-Hujjat al-Bayḍā',

1992/1413. pp. 9-490 + index (491-6).

 

 

Zarandī, Muhammad, Nabil-i A`ẓam. (d. 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 mss. 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 see

 

 

SEEN ALSO THE URLs FOR SHAYKHI STUDIES AND SOURCES

LISTED ON THIS WEBSITE:

http://www.hurqalya.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/SHAYKHISM/SHAYKHISM-URLs.htm