Tazkirāt Al-A’ima; Features and bibliographic challenges around it

Disagreement exists among historical biographers in attributing the authorship of Tazkira al-A’ima to either Allāma Muhammad Bāqir Bin Muhammad Taqii Majlesi or his contemporary scholar of the same name, Muhamad Bāqir Bin Muhammad Taqi Lāhiji. The remaining manuscripts of this book have also been attributed to both writers. The similarity of their first names as well as their fathers’ names on the one hand and their contemporaneity on the other, has paved the way for this ambiguity. The present study tries to find the original author of the book through following 3 steps: 1) by Analyzing the in-textual evidence. 2) By analyzing the extracted evidence from the remaining manuscripts of this treatise. 3) By reviewing the reports of the historical biographers. This study suggests that the remaining manuscripts of this treatise fall into two categories: Those which contain the original text of Tazkira al-A’ima and those that cover its abridged form. The original version of the treatise is the work of Allāma Majlesi. Even though there is no direct mention of Lāhiji within the remaining manuscripts, a number of biographical books have remarked on it.