27. Suleman bin Hasan (d. 1005/1597)

28. Jafar bin Suleman (d. 1050/1640)

29. Ali bin Suleman (d. 1088/1677)

30. Ibrahim bin Mohammad (d. 1094/1683)

31. Mohammad bin Ismail (d. 1109/1697)

32. Hibatullah bin Ibrahim (d. 1160/1747)

33. Ismail bin Hibatullah (d. 1184/1770)

34. Hasan bin Hibatullah (d. 1189/1775)

35. Abdul Ali bin Hasan (d. 1195/1781)

36. Abdullah bin Ali (d. 1225/1810)

37. Yusuf bin Ali (d. 1234/1819)

"He was born in Cairo on 16th Jamada II, 420/July 2, 1029, who eight months afterwards was declared to succeed his father. His name was Ma'd Abu Tamim, surnamed al-Mustansir billah (Imploring the help of God). He ascended on 15th Shaban, 427/June 13, 1036 at the age of 7 years. During the early years, the state affairs were administered by his mother. His period of Caliphate lasted for 60 years, the longest of all the caliphs, either in Egypt or elsewhere in Islamic states.

"Ali Shah, surnamed Mustansir billah, also known as Jalaluddin was born in Kahek. He seems to have known as Shah Qalandar among the Iranian mystics. He too resided in Kahek and sometimes in Shahr-i Babak.

"The word muta is derived from mata, meaning merchandise or goods. In case of a marriage it means "that which gives benefits, but for a short while" or enjoyment or pleasure. In Iran, this practice is called sigha (lit. form or type) and it is sometimes called nikah al-muwaqqat or izdivaj-i muvaqqat, both mean temporary marriage.

"The word nabi is derived from naba, meaning an announcement of great utility imparting knowledge of a thing. One lexicologist explains the word nabi as meaning an ambassador between God and rational beings from among His creatures. According to another, a nabi is the man who gives information about God. In Persia and Turkey, the word paighambar, or he who bears a message is used. As an abstract noun, the word nubuwwa (prophethood) occurs 5 times in the Koran.

The word na'd means sound, voice or calling, and Na'de Ali means calling upon Ali. It is a sacred invocation uttered in the time of troubles and adversities. Imam Jafar Sadik said, "One who recites Na'de Ali with pure heart, his desires will be accomplished."

"The word nafs (pl. anfus, nufus) is derived from the verb nafusa meaning to be precious or valuable. As is said naffasa (to cheer up, reassure or relieve) and tanaffasa (to breathe, inhale or pause for a rest). The Taj al-Arus (4:260) lists 15 meanings of nafs and adds two other from Lisan al-Arab (8:119). The word nafs is used in no less than 10 connotations in the Koran.

"The term khariji (pl. khawarij) has been held to mean seceder or deserter. They are those who have ""gone out against"" (kharaja ‘ala) Ali, or ""went out"" and ""made a secession"" from the camp of Ali in the sense of rebelling against him. Ali’s decision to submit the fate of the battle of Siffin to arbitration did not meet with the approval of his Iraqian soldiers, and about 12,000 of whom deserted and rebelled against him on the march back to Kufa, known as the Kharijis.

The word nahj means road and balagah is derived from baligh means to convey. The Nahj al-Balagah means the way of eloquence or way of rhetoric. It is the collection of 238 sermons (khutba), 79 letters and 478 short sayings of Ali bin Abu Talib, the first Imam. It was compiled by Sharif ar-Radi (d. 406/1015) and his brother al-Murtada Ali bin Tahir (d. 436/1044).

(vide Diwan, Beirut, 1309 A.H., p. 972).

Ibn Tiqtaqa also quoted the above poem in his al-Fakhri (comp. 699/1302). Abul Fida (2:309) writes, "Sharif ar-Radi had composed a poem in praise of the Fatimids in which he admitted the legitimate descent of the Fatimids from Ali bin Abu Talib."

The terms used in the Koran and hadith for what is meant by the word "salvation" are najat (redemption), fawz (success), falah (prosperity), and sa'ada (happiness). The first term, together with its different derivatives, is frequently used for both kinds of salvation (28:25, 17:67, 11:58, 21:76, 19:72, 61:10, 40:41). Fawz and its derivatives, however, often refer to salvation in the hereafter only (3:185, 4:73, 23:111, 59:20, 78:31, 3:188).

Names in Arabic generally consist of five elements: First, the personal name (ism), such as Muhammad, Ali or Hussain, or two names, like Muhammad Ali or Hussain Ali. Second is the formal name, kunya, which denotes a personal relationship of the bearer of name to another person, for example, Abu Muhammad (the father of Muhammad) or Umm Ahmad (the mother of Ahmad). It is a surname in addition to the ism.

A'FAQ Horizon

A'MIR Civilized

A'QIB Following

A'ZAM Greatest

ABBAS Gloomy

ABDULLAH Servant of God

ABID Devoted

ABUZAR Father of Particle

ADIB Scholar

ADIL Just

ADNAN N.Arabian

AFROZ Dazzling

ABIDA Adoress

AFROZA Enlightening

AFSAN Fascinating

AFSHEEN Spreading Widely

AINI Generous

ALMAS Diamond

AMINA Trustworthy

ANAR Pomegranate

AMBAR Ambergris

AMBREEN Ambergris

ANISA Affectionate

"The giving of the name to the newly born child by the Imam is an Islamic practice in Ismailism. While going back to the early history of Islam, it appears that the tradition was common in the period of the Prophet. The ancient Arabs excelled in inventing nasty names for their enemies, but the Koran (49:11) forbade them not to use pejorative sobriquets: "Do not scoff at each other or give each other derisory nicknames" (wala talmizu anfusakum wala tanabazu bi

The word nandi is corrupt form of nadi, whose original form is na'd in Arabic, meaning to call. The word nida means auction. The word na'd is used 29 times in the Koran. Another view suggests that the nandi is a Hindi word meaning blessing. It is a form of mehmani, and entertainment to the Imam. Nandi is an Islamic practice to offer food etc. to the Imam. It is an oblation presented in Ismailism.

The public crier was a well-known institution among the Arabs. Among the tribes and in the towns, criers made important proclamations, invitations or announcements to general assemblies. "This crier" according to Sirat al-Halabia (2:170), "was called munadi or mu'adhdhin." Thus, official proclamations were regularly made mu'adhdhin in the time of the Prophet (Tabari, 3:2131).

"Abu Hatim ar-Razi was followed by Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad an-Nasafi and Abu Yaqub as-Sijistani staying at Ray. An-Nasafi operated the mission mostly in Khorasan and Bukhara, and gained great success in converting the Sunni ruler, Nasr bin Ahmad, who had given allegiance to Imam al-Mahdi and paid him an annual tribute of 119 thousand dinars. Nasr bin Ahmad also entered into correspondence with Imam al-Qaim in Maghrib.

"His full name as cited in his works, was Abu Mu'in Nasir bin Khusaro bin al-Harith al-Marwazi al-Qubadiyani. He was born in 394/1003 in Qubadiyan, a district of Balkh in Khorasan. He belonged to a family of government officials and his brother was a vizir. He, too, entered the government service in the capacity of a finance controller and in time was a successful courtier in the local Ghaznavid court. He was full of ambition, mentally alert and gifted in writing poetry.

"Nasiruddin Tusi was born in Tus, Khorasan in 597/1202. In his youth, about in 624/1227, he entered the service of Nasiruddin Abdu Rahman bin Abu Mansur (d. 655/1257), the Ismaili governor in Kohistan. During his long stay at Qain and other strongholds in Kohistan, Nasiruddin Tusi procured his close friendship with the Ismaili governor, to whom he also dedicated in 633/1235 his famous work on ethics, entitled Akhlaq-i Nasiri. He went to Alamut and espoused Ismaili faith.

"The important task before the Prophet after migration was to determine and clarify the relations between the various tribes and the Muslims in Medina. The Jews were a considerable power in Medina. It appears that they were Arabs by descent, but formed a distinct unit by reason of their adoption of Judaism. They were subdivided into three clans, the Banu Qainuqa, Banu Nazir and Banu Quraiza. The other inhabitants of the town were the Aws and Khazraj, always at war with each other.

The word mizan (pl. mawazin) is derived from the root wazn meaning the knowing of the measure of a thing. It is true that the measure of material things is judged by a pair of scales or by some other implement, but the deeds of man need no scales for their measurement.

"Muhammad bin Ali, surnamed al-Mohtadi is reported to have born in 500/1106. He was the first Ismaili Nizari Imam to be born in Iran. He is also called Muhtab and Muhammad I.

"Al-Muayyad fid-din ash-Shirazi was born in 390/1000 in Shiraz. He was an outstanding da'i, orator, prolific writer, poet and politician. His father, tracing his link from a Daylami Ismaili family was also a da'i with some influence in the Buwahid orbits of Fars. In one of poems he narrates in his Diwan al-Muayyad (poem no. 4) that, "I wish I should get a chance to offer my life as a sacrifice for you, O my Lord.

The word khutba (pl. khutub) means public address, speech, lecture, discourse, oration or sermon. In past, the khatib (preacher) traditionally invoked the name of the recognized caliph after the Friday prayer at a congregational mosque (jam'ah masjid), and during pilgrimage and at the time of special festivities.

"The word kiya means lord or ruler. Buzrug Ummid or Kiya Buzrug Ummid was the second hujjat and ruler after Hasan bin Sabbah in Alamut, who most probably was born in 455/1062 in the peasant family of Rudhbar. He passed most of his childhood in Rudhbar in cultivation of his father's land. Kiya Buzrug Ummid had been a handsome young page, whom Hasan bin Sabbah had converted before almost 480/1087. He played a leading role during the possession of Alamut in 483/1090.

"The word koran is derived from the Syriac, keryana, meaning scripture reading or lesson. The average authorities however hold that the term is simply the verbal noun from kara'a means he read or recited. Its other forms are yakra'o (he recites), akra'o (I recite), nakra'o (we recite), etc. The verb kara'a occurs 17 times, and koran 70 times in the Koran.

The Persian word karsazi means religious dues, which was collected by the authorized persons from each region in India. During the post-Alamut period, the musafir was the tithe-collector in the time of Pir Shams. In Sind, the tithe-collector was called khiyto, in Gujrat the bawa and the vakil in Kutchh. In the time of Pir Taj al-Din, two eminent brothers had embraced Ismailism, viz. Shah Kapur and Shah Nizamuddin.

"The word kursi in Arabic means throne. The Aramaic word kurseya and the Hebrew kisse, both also mean throne. Among the Arabs there is an idiom of calling the learned men or savants, karasi. The word kursi occurs twice in the Koran (2:255 and 38:34)

"Shamsul Mulk, the daughter of Mirza Ali Muhammad Nizam ad-Dawla, the grandson of Muhammad Hussain Khan Ispahani, the Prime Minister of Shah Fateh Ali Qajar (d. 1250/1834) of Iran; was born in Ispahan. Khurshid Kulah, the mother of Shamsul Mulk was the daughter of Shah Fateh Ali through one of his queens, Tajudawla Ispahani by name. Lady Aly Shah was thus related to the Iranian royal family through her mother.

"The battle of Siffin between Ali bin Abu Talib and Muawiya broke out on 8th Safar, 36/July 26, 657. A fierce battle was fought between them on the whole day, and it even continued in the darkness of that night, which is known as lail at-harir (the night of clangour). William Muir writes in The Caliphate, its Rise and Fall (London, 1924, p. 261) that, "Both armies drawn out in entire array, fought till the shades of evening fell, neither having got the better.

One of the last ten nights of the month of Ramzan is called lail at-Qadr. The word lail or laila means night and qadr means originally measuring. Thus, lail at-qadr is translated as meaning the night of grandeur or night of majesty. In the Koran, it is spoken of in two places. In chapter 97, it is mentioned thrice as lail at-qadr: “Surely, We revealed it on lail at-qadr. And what will make thee comprehend what lail at-qadr is? Lail at-qadr is better than a thousand months.

The word hilal means slim crescent, while the word badr means full moon. The word appears only once in its plural form, ahilla in the Koran (2:189). The general term in the Koran for moon however occurs 27 times, usually paired with the sun. The Hebrew word hodesh also means new moon. The term lail at-qamar means the night of the crescent. The method of calculation of the new moon was firstly introduced by the Fatimids in 331/942 in North Africa, then in 359/970 at Cairo.

Sir Isaac Newton's theory of gravity speaks that every particle attracts every other particle with a force that depends on their masses and the distance between them. The moon constantly attracts the earth behaves like a loose garment that can be pulled out from the body to fall back again. It implies that every day, when the moon is directly overhead, the water of the earth flows out towards the moon, and causes high tide.

"In 489/1095, Hasan bin Sabbah had sent Kiya Buzrug Ummid with a troop to conquer the fortress of Lamasar in 489/1095. He defeated a certain Rasmasuj and took possession of Lamasar, also known as Rudhbar-i Alamut. According to Jamiut Tawarikh (pp. 27-8), "The fort of Lamasar was situated on a rotten hill, with a few decayed houses on it, with no vegetation nearby. The climate of the place was very hot.

(la'n or la'nah means cursing, normally consists of an expression of disapproval or displeasure and an invocation of malediction upon the object of the curse. Curses are often uttered by calling the curse and wrath of God upon someone, or by an invocation in the passive voice where the agent is not always specified, for example: may God's curse be upon him; may he be cursed.

The word lauh means plank, as in Koran (54:13), and also a tablet for writing, and mahfuz means that which is guarded. The expression lauh mahfuz (guarded tablet) occurs but once in the Koran: "Nay, it is a glorious Koran in a guarded tablet" (85:21-22). The word lauh in its plural form alwah is used in connection with the books of Moses: "And We ordained for him in the tablets (alwah) admonition of every kind and clear explanation of all things" (7:145).

"Examining a critical and analytical approach of the sources, it is almost possible to clarify that the fortress of Alamut was situated in rocky and infertile region, and its physical condition during occupation was very much rough and coarse. It was embosomed with swamps and muddy tracts, accounting unhealthy atmosphere.

Life (hay) in the sense of living out one's corporeal existence is, however, paradoxically fraught with danger, illusion and deception. The Koran exhibits an almost platonic rejection of the life of this world (al-hayat al-dunya), characterizing it as nothing but "play and amusement (la'ib wa-lahw) and contrasting it with the reward of the righteous in the hereafter (6:32).

"The name maghrib (the land of sunset) was given by the Arabs to that virgin part of Africa, which European have called Barbery or Africa Minor, (the French Afrique du Nord), and then North Africa. In north it is bordered by the Mediterranean, and in the south by the Sahara desert. In the west it is extended as far as the Atlantic Ocean, and in the east it extends as far as the borders of Egypt.

The word mahiz means menstruation or the menses, also called hayz – a monthly flow of blood from the uterus. The woman in this condition is called ha’iz or ha’izah. It is a natural monthly discharge of the lining of the uterus. The discharge consists of blood, degenerated cells of the lining, mucus and some bacteria. The menstruation flow normally lasts from four to six days with a variation of two to eight days. A period lasting more than eight days is abnormal.

Maimundiz was the famous Ismaili stronghold, located to the north of presently village of Shams Kilaya and westward from Alamut. Because of the great altitude, the cold was so extreme as to make it impossible for beasts to find a home or live in that location from the beginning of autumn until the middle of spring. According to Jamiut Tawarikh (p. 122), the construction of the fortress of Maimundiz began in 490/1097, but Kashani (d.

The Abbasids took notice of the rapid conversion of the Ismailis in Khorasan, notably Nasr bin Ahmad, and insinuated Nuh bin Nasr (331-343/943-954), the son of Nasr bin Ahmad; against his father and the Ismailis. Nuh bin Nasr dethroned his father and conducted a barbarous massacre of the Ismailis in 331/942, known in the Ismaili history as al-mainat al-uzama (great calamity) in Khorasan and Transoxania.

The word maisir is derived from different roots, such as yasara means to become gentle, to draw lots by arrows, or yasar means affluence because gambling bring about profit, or yusr means convenience, because gambling is a means of earning without toil, or yasr means dividing a thing into a number of shares. Zamakhshari (d.

The word majalis is derived from the verb jalasa, meaning to sit down or to hold a session, and majalis therefore means meeting or assembly. (Koran: 68:11-12)

In pre-Islamic period, the majalis designated an assembly or council of the tribe's notables. In various states of the Middle Ages, an elaborate governmental structure contained a series of majalis, such as majalis al-baladiyya (municipal council), majalis al-wuzura (council of ministers), etc.

"The Arabic word for angel is malak (pl. mala'ika), which is derived from alk or alaka, meaning the bearing of messages. Another view traces its root from malk or milk, meaning power. It is also stated that it is derived from uluqatun, means messenger. In Arabic the person whom the message is assigned to convey is also called uluqat. The word malak and mala'ika occur 68 times in the Koran. In Persian, the firishta is used for the angel, which is derived from firishtadan, meaning to send.

"He was born in 302/914 in Kairwan, the first Fatimid Imam to be born in Maghrib. His name was Ismail and kunya was Abu Tahir, surnamed al-Mansur bi-Amrillah (Victorious by the command of God). He acceded the throne on 334/945 during the time when Abu Yazid had laid a siege over Susa.