A critical analysis of narrator authentication by Sheikh Abbas Qomi in Safineh al-Bahar

One of the valuable works of Sheikh Abbas Qomi is the book Safineh al-Baharin eight volumes with quotations and narratives alphabetically ordered in them. This book, written within twenty years, was originally intended as a summarized list of the materials in Allameh Majlesi’s voluminous book Bahar ol-Anwar. The present study seeks to extract and analyze the authentications that Sheikh Abbas Qomi has conducted of Hadith narrators in Safineh al-Bahar. The study is done through library work and a descriptive-analytical method. Considering Sheikh Abbas’s expertise and interest in translation and referential inquiries, the materials in his book mostly consist of biographical notes about scholars and eminent figures. The author has also evaluated the credibility of Hadiths and their narrators based on certain criteria such as Imams’ statements, collective opinions, and companionship with Imams as well as being their representative or agent. Sheikh Abbas Qomi has derived his notes on narrators’ authenticity from biographies and memoirs, though he often does not make references to those works.