On the History of the Ismāʽīlī “Hidden Imāms” as Reflected in the Kitāb at-tarātīb as-sabʽa

The short treatise that forms the subject of our study, the full title of which is Kitāb at-tarātīb as-sabʿa (‘The Book of Seven Succession’), originates in Ismāʿīlī circles. Its author is thought to have been Muḥammad b. Faḍl b. ʿAlī al-Bazāʿī, an otherwise unknown personage within the Ismāʿīlī daʿwa, and a contemporary chronicler of the establishment of the Fāṭimid state (297/909). This work offers information on the early period of the movement, the internal affairs of the Ismāʿīliyya, and especially the forerunners of the self-declared leaders of the movement, as will help modify, nuance, and perhaps alter our perceptions of the events of the relevant historical era.