Al-Bahrani's Typologyin Compiling Hadiths in Awalimu al-Ulum With a Special Focus on Volume Twenty-Two

Al-Bahrani, the author of Awalim al-Ulumwa al-Maarifwa al-Ahwal men al-Ayatwa al-Akhbarwa al-Agwal, is one of Shiite hadithscholars and was a contemporaryof AllamehMajlisi. This book is a supplementary to Beharal-Anvarand is huge hadith collection including one hundred volumes. The 22ndvolume of this book deals with the biography of Imam Reza (a.s.). Following a discussion on the general style and the advantages of this book, the current paper seeks to discuss al-Bahrani’sapproach in explaining hadiths and finally it examines narrations related to the original hadiths. The findings of this research work reveals thatthe hadithshave been presented along with sound proofs and chain of transmitters. To make the narrations related to the verses of the Quran more understandable, al-Bahranihas utilized vocabulary descriptions, allusions and, in some cases, historical and literary quotes.