There are a number of books in English about the life and times of al-Sayyida Fatimah al-Zahra (‘a), almost all of which are translations from either Arabic or Persian. Upon examination, one finds that certain issues have not been addressed or have been inadequately addressed in the available works. Of course, a single volume would not suffice to discuss every aspect of this great lady’s life. Nevertheless, the most significant occurrences and events in her life should not be shied away from and must be discussed, albeit in a scholarly fashion. The author of this book has attempted to do just that.

The author has himself noted that there is a lot of information about al-Sayyida al-Zahra (‘a) but because he wanted to keep this book simple, he selected only what he felt was most important in giving readers an overview of her life. Despite its conciseness, this work is still considered one of the best monographs on the life of this great lady. This is why it was felt that it would be a welcome addition to the list of translated works by contemporary authors. It should be noted that this book has been reprinted many times and for the purpose of this translation, we have used the most recent edition (printed in 1993/1414 A.H.).

Translators who accept the challenge of taking on classical texts are always faced with the daunting task of trying to decipher the language used in medieval Arabia, and although this work is written by a contemporary author, it is replete with narrations and traditions, all of which require an understanding of classical Arabic. Here, early lexicons become invaluable assets, as do other early texts that could give one an idea of the contexts and underlying subtexts So, as to be able to better understand the meanings of the actual text itself.

Every attempt has been made to present a translation that is easy to read yet true to the original work. Though the original Arabic monograph did not have a bibliography, we have included one to make it easier for researchers to access the primary sources. In some cases where we could not find the earlier editions of the sources that the author had used, we changed the references to the newer, updated editions.

The Arabic text of the traditions has been included in the appendix for the bilingual readers who might want to see the original text of the narrations. We decided not to put all the Arabic within the translation because the sheer number of traditions and sayings would have made the work difficult to read. However, we have included the Arabic poetry, sermons, and supplications within the text. The footnote/endnote combination is easy to navigate with footnotes referring to the source texts and endnotes pointing to the Arabic text found in the appendix.

We have transliterated all the names of people, books, and cities in their Arabic forms (not Persian) but have not transliterated names of countries. Wherever Arabic words, like ‘masjid’, have become part of the English language due to common usage, and can be found in English dictionaries, we have opted to use them instead of the more commonly used English translations. On the other hand, we have translated certain words and phrases like ‘Insha’Allah’ to ‘God-willing’.

For the author’s biography, we interviewed the late author’s son, Sayyid Muhammad Ali al-Qazwini. In the couple of sittings, we had with him, he shared with us many details about his father’s life. This was important because we got a first-hand account for much of what we have mentioned in the author’s biography. This is because his son was present with him in many of his travels and was there when So, much of what has been mentioned happened. One of the things we needed to verify was the report about his incorrupt body, which had been exhumed and transported to Iraq for reburial. This had been reported by various websites and media outlets. The Sayyid’s son confirmed these reports and gave us details about it.

In closing, we wish to express our gratitude to Allah, first and foremost, for granting us success in this endeavour. Next, we thank all those who assisted us in one way or another, and who are too many to mention. May the Almighty bless them all for their support and may they attain felicity in this world and the next – Amen. Success is only from Allah, and we are solely to blame for any fault in this translation. Praise be to Him, Lord of the worlds.

Tahir Ridha Jaffer

Qum,

2015/1436 A.H.