The Evolution of the Traditions on the Fāṭimid Genealogy as Reflected in Two Different Versions of at-Tarātīb as-sabʿa

The treatise known by the title at-Tarātīb as-sabʿa, which may have originally been part of a longer work, was – to the best of our knowledge – written in Syrian Ismāʿīlī circles, describing the history of the Ismāʿīlī hidden Imāms, the ancestors of the later Fāṭimid imām-caliphs. Its author was probably Muḥammad ibn al-Faḍl ibn ʿAlī al-Bazāʿī, a nearly unknown individual of the Ismāʿīlī mission (daʿwa). It provides a brief yet remarkable insight into the early period of the Ismāʿīlī movement, in particular into the history of the hidden Imāms. There is a complete version of at-Tarātīb as-sabʿa among the writings of Abū Firās al-Maynaqī (d. 937/1530), a Syrian chief missionary of the post-Alamūt period. Published by ʿĀrif Tāmir, this text includes a passage on the history of the hidden Imāms, which is quite significant for our study, given that its contents almost completely correspond to the statements al-Bazāʿī made almost six centuries earlier.

Comparing the text to the narrative attributed to al-Bazāʿī reveals a considerable degree of correspondence. Nevertheless, one may also note differences and alterations in the text of al-Maynaqī on the ancestors of the Fāṭimid imām-caliphs, some details that are worthy of comparison with the earlier account and other sources on the subject, and of examination in the context of the Fāṭimid genealogical traditions. This may help refine our knowledge of the subject, and perhaps alter our assessment of the events of the relevant historical period, and also change our views on the underlying motives of the tradition in question.