saying, "Why not see him, when his hands are in yours?" and then he disappeared.

As for Miqdâd-i-Fâdil, the author of the commentary, I have been unable to learn anything of the story of his life from the biographies which I have consulted. He is not so well known as 'Allâma, but for our purpose his commentary is of more value than is the matn of 'Allâma, which is frequently too condensed to be wholly intelligible.

AL-BÂBU 'L-HÂDÎ ‘ASHAR

INTRODUCTION

1. ALLAH the Most High did not create the world in vain, in which case He would be only a trifler, but with purpose and wisdom which can be ascertained by those who consider. And He specified that purpose expressly when He said, "I have not created Jinn and men, but that they should worship me (Koran 51:56). Hence it is incumbent upon everyone who belongs to the company of rational beings to respond to the Lord of the Worlds. And since that is impossible without a certain knowledge (maʼrifa) of Him, it is incumbent upon every responsible person who knows Allâh to arouse the slothful and guide the erring by writing out and explaining the introductory treatises of men of understanding. And among these introductions is the one called al-Babu 'l-Hâdî 'Ashar ("The Eleventh Chapter "), one of the compositions of our Shaykh and Imâm, and the Imâm of the world, the most knowing, the most excellent, and the most perfect, the Sulțân of the masters of investigation, the preceptor of those who search and examine, the writer on subjects for intellectual investigation, the arranger of legal reasons, the sign of Allâh in the worlds, the heir of the wisdom of the prophets and apostles, the perfection of the People and the Religion, Abû Manşûr al-Hasan b. Yûsuf b. 'Alî b. al-Muṭahhar al-Ḥillî (‘Allâma-i-Ḥillî)—may Allâh sanctify his spirit and illumine his tomb.

2. And in spite of the conciseness of its expression this treatise abounds in knowledge, and in spite of the abbreviation of its style it abounds in wealth. And in time past I had had the desire to write something as an aid to the understanding of it by composing the reason and proofs, in response to the request of some of the brethren. Then hindering events and

the rebuffs of treacherous fortune held me back from finishing it, for these things cut a man off from accomplishing his will and attaining his purpose, and stand between him and his desire. Then there occurred gatherings and discussions on several journeys, along with the piling up of business and the disturbance of my thoughts. And some of the great besought me to go back to the consideration and thought of what I had first written and to return to what I had collected. So I agreed to their request, for Allâh the Most High made it incumbent upon me to respond to it, in spite of the lack of worldly goods and the excessive number of engagements which hindered me from doing it. And I begin it seeking aid from Allâh the Most High for it, and drawing near to Him by means of it, and I called it al-Nâfi'u li-Yaumi l-Hashr in explanation of al-Babu 'l-Hâdî 'Ashar. And there is no success except through Allâh, in whom I trust and to whom I shall return.

AL-BABU 'L-ḤÂDÎ ‘ASHAR

(THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER)

3. CONCERNING WHAT IS INCUMBENT (Wâjib)

UPON ALL

MUKALLAFS REGARDING THE KNOWLEDGE (ma'rifa) OF THE FOUNDATIONS OF RELIGION (dîn).

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It is called the Eleventh Chapter because the writer made an abbreviation of the "Mişbâḥu'l-Mutahajjid" which Shaykh Tûsî wrote concerning worship and prayer, and arranged it in ten chapters and gave to this abbreviation of the “ Miṣbâḥ the title of "Minhâju's-Salâḥ." And since that book was concerned with the science of conduct ('amal) and worship and prayer, these things required a knowledge (maʼrifa) of the Object of worship and of Him to whom prayer is offered. So he added this eleventh chapter.

4. BEING INCUMBENT (wujûb) as a word means established and fallen, as in Allâh's word, "And when they are fallen (wajabat) over on their sides " (Koran 22: 37). And in usage wajib is that the neglect of which involves blame under certain circumstances. And it is of two kinds: (1) that which is incumbent in itself, that is, that which no one can perform for another; and (2) that which is incumbent by sufficiency (kifâyatan), and it is the opposite of the first. Knowledge (ma'rifa) is of the first kind, and for that reason he said, "it is incumbent upon all mukallafs."

5. And a MUKALLAF is a human being, alive, adult (males over fifteen and females over nine years of age), and rational. So dead persons, children, and insane persons are not mukallafs. 6. And FOUNDATIONS (ușûl) is the plural of așl, and is that upon which something else is built.

7. And RELIGION (dîn) as a word means requital, as said the Prophet," As thou treatest men (tadînu) so shalt thou be treated." And in usage it means way (ṭarîqa) and law (sharî ́a), and that is the meaning here. And this science is called

"foundations" because the other religious sciences, tradition and jurisprudence and exegesis, are built upon it. And it depends on the veracity of the Messenger. And the veracity of the Messenger depends on the veracity of the Sender and His qualities and His justice and the impossibility of there being evil in Him. And the science of "foundations" is that in which the unity of Allâh the Most High and His qualities and His justice and the prophecy of the prophets and the acknowledgement of that which the Prophet brought and the imâmate of the Imâms and the return (ma‘âd) are investigated.

8. AND THE DOCTORS HAVE ALL AGREED IN CONSIDERING INCUMBENT THE KNOWLEDGE (maʼrifa) OF ALLÂH THE MOST HIGH AND OF HIS POSITIVE AND PRIVATIVE QUALITIES AND OF WHAT IS PROPER FOR HIM AND OF WHAT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HIM AND OF PROPHECY AND OF THE IMÂMATE AND OF THE RETURN.

9. Those of the people of Muḥammad who have the power to loose and bind (that is, the mullás, cf. Matt. 16: 19) have agreed in saying that a knowledge of these things is incumbent, and their agreement is a convincing proof for all-for us Shi'ites, because of the presence among them of the One Immune to Sin (al-ma'sum, that is, the Imâm whose authority alone is sufficient for the Shî'ites); and for the rest (the Sunnites) because of the Prophet's word, "My people will not agree in an error."

10. And in addition to agreement, the proof that knowledge is incumbent is of two kinds, rational ('aqlî) and traditional (sam'î). (1) Now the rational proofs are two: (a) The first is that knowledge guards against the fear which results from differences. And guarding against fear is incumbent, for fear is pain to the soul. Now guarding against pain is possible. Therefore reason pronounces incumbent the guarding against fear, hence guarding against it is incumbent.

[From the presence of religious differences among men it is evident that many men do not know God, and that therefore they will go to hell. This results in fear, from which only the knowledge of God can save us.]