A Bibliographical Study of the Hadith in Tarikh-al-Wassaf

Tajziyah-al-Amsar Va Tazjiyah-al-A’sar, known as Tarikh-al-Wassaf, is considered to be one of the prominent instances of Persian figurative prose. This work is authored by Sharaf-al-Din (also remembered as Shahab-al-Din) Shirazi (ca. 730) who is known as Wassaf-al-Hizrah. This book has observed the unwritten but prevalent principle of the authors and historians of the twelfth century, and therefore, referred and alluded to verses from the Holy Quran, the Hadith, and Arabic poems and proverbs. This book’s allusions, references and utilizations to the Hadith for supporting its arguments are unique. Due to these allusions and references, readers of this work – and in general those who study figurative prose – need to have a fairly good knowledge of the Hadith so that they can acknowledge the work’s verity in utilizing these references and allusions. The present study will distinguish authentic instances of the Hadith from the inauthentic and the fabricated in its bibliographic analysis of the work, and by doing this, give readers of Tarikh-al-Wassaf a better comprehension of the text. The study’s results indicate that while most instances of the Hadith in this work have solid roots in authentic Shia and Sunni religious sources, there are instances which do not have proper bibliographic support despite the author’s vehement insistence on their authenticity