Documentary and Content Study of the Letter of Imām Riẓā (A.S.) to the Ruler of Tabas

Like the biography of many descendants of the Imams of Shi'a, the biography of Ḥusain ibn Mūsā al-Kazim, the brother of the eighth Imam (A.S.) is somewhat obscure. There are several views about his burial place. According to the famous report, he was buried in the city of Ṭabas. The views on this subject are based on documents that one of which is a letter attributed to Imām Riẓā (A.S.). This letter was addressed to the governor of Ṭabas. It seems that the letter was written about Ḥusain ibn Mūsā. The letter reads, “A twelve years old youth from the family of the prophet, named Husain, wanted to go to Ṭabas and settle in the city”. The writer of the letter wanted the Ruler to help find the young boy. The letter asks the Ruler to inform the Imam as soon as he finds the boy. This paper examines the validity of such a letter from the Imam. Using descriptive-analytic method, the letter's document and its content are reviewed. The results revealed some errors in this letter: a) The unity of the report; b) quoted text of the letter in a later resource; c) the unknown identity of Āmir ibn Zurwāmihr; d) the inconsistency of the age of Husain with some historical reports; and e) the literary issues and some spelling problems in the text of the letter.