A Review of Uyun al-Hikam wa’l-Mawaiz (Qum: Dar al-Hadith, 566 pp, 1999)

Muhammad-Kazim Mahmudi

The book Uyun al-Hikam wa’l-Mawaiz, written by Ali b. Muhammad al-Laythi al Wasiti (6th c. AH), is one of Shiite hadith sources. It consists of over 10,000 short quotations from Imam Ali, compiled alphabetically in twenty-nine chapters. There is a chapter specially for the hadiths beginning with the negative article ‘La’ The last chapter, viz. the thirtieth chapter which contained 30,000 miscelleneous hadiths and khutbas, was no longer in existence since the 11th AH. The writer of the article raises some objections concerning the book under review, among them, quoting from Ghurar al-Hikam, weak scholarship, confusing Imam Ali’s hadiths with those of others, imbalanced length of hadiths, and so forth. The book was edited by Husayn Hasani-Birjandi.

Key Words: Uyun al-Hikam wa’l-Mawaiz, Ali b. Muhammad al-Laythi al Wasiti, Hadith Sources.

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