Mishkāt al-Anwār

Mishkāt al-anwār fī ghurar al-akhbār

Many of the verses of the Quran and the concepts of Islam can be understood better using authentic traditions. The book “The Lamp Niche for the Best Traditions” is an English translation of the book Mishkāt al-anwār fī ghurar al-akhbār. It is organized into several chapters and sections and contains almost all aspects of life and religion introduced through the maxims of the Prophets and Imams ‘alayhimus salām.

Shaykh Abu al-Fadl Ali al-Hasan b. Fadl b.al-Hasan al-Tabarsī was a Shī‘ī Islamic scholar and theologian of repute of the twelfth century C.E. His father Shaykh Abu Nasr Hasan b. Fadl b. Hasan al-Tabarsī was a great Shiī‘ī scholar who authored the famous book Makārim al-Akhlāq. His grandfather Abū Ali Fadl b. Hasan b. Fadl al-Tabarsī was a great theologian and the author of the great commentary on the Quran known as Majma‘ al-Bayān. In the beginning, his father started writing Miskāt al-anwār after he completed Makārim al-Akhlāq in order to complement it. He made a great effort and collected many traditions, but he did not live long enough to finish it. Then a group of interested people asked his son to follow suit and the completion of this work was left for the son to carry out.

Most of the traditions Mishkāt al-anwār are cited from Al-Mahāsin of Abū Ja‘far Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Khalid al-Barqī. It seems that the author had an authentic copy of this book which is no longer available in that form today. Other main references are Rawzat al-Wā’izīn by Al-Nayshapurī, ‘Uyūn al-akhbār al-Ridhā of Shaykh as-Sadūq, and Majma‘ al-bayan fī tafsīr al-Quran by his grandfather.