Two Early Ismaili Treatises: Haft Babi Baba Sayyidna and Matlubu'l mu'muminin

By Tusi. Persian Text. An introductory note by W. Ivanow. Humphrey Milford, Oxford University Press. Pages 8 + 64

This little book, No 2 in the series of the Islamic Research Association, contains two treatises in Persian, together with an introduction in English.

The first treatise adds nothing substantial to the account of Ismai'ili doctrine already available in the Kalami Pir. But as "the earliest known genuine work belonging to the Alamuti School," it sheds light on the religious life of the period in Persia. It was compiled about 1200 A.D. and cannot, therefore, have been written by as-Sabbah who is usually meant by the term Sayyidna. Its frequent reference to the Ismaili literature of the Alamut period affords some information concerning the extent and nature of that literature, although it has probably been lost.

The second treatise, "The Aim of the Faithful" "was probably intended as a school book for elementary religious instruction." It is from the thirteenth century A.D. and is fairly common among the Ismailis of the upper Oxus provinces. It gives in brief the basic Ismaili doctrines; sets forth the moral virtues of the true Ismaili; deals with zahir and batin; and explains in the usual way the "seven pillars" of the Islamic shariat.

JOHN N. HOLLISTER.