A Comparative Study of the Selected Sources about the Virtues of Imams

An investigation of the narratives of the renowned historians (Ibn Sa''d in Tabaqat al-Kubra¡ Al-Baladhuri in Genealogies of the Nobles¡ Ya''qubi in Tarikh al-Yaqubi¡ Al-Tabari in History of the Prophets and Kings and Al-Masudi in The Meadows of Gold) reveals that they were selective in reporting about the lives of Imams and they tried to have some influences on the minds of the audience. The virtues of the Imams are not exceptions. This article tries to examine the reflection and the composition of the virtues of Imams as indicated in these sources. Moreover¡ it tries to investigate the special approach of each individual source in inducing a particular mentality in the minds of people. The common point in all the resources is mentioning about the virtues of the very first Imams and inattending to other Imams (AS). Apparently virtue has a close hidden relationship with the time affinity with the Messenger of Allah and as the distance increases¡ the virtues of Imams (AS) become more invisible. Each of the five sources adopts a different approach in reflecting the virtues of Imams.