Translation Notes

Conventions Used in this English Translation

In the Arabic, Imam Ahmed al-Hasan, peace be upon him, has written after the names of prophets, messengers, vicegerents, successors, and the Imams from the progeny of Muhammad, “peace be upon him” or “peace be upon them”, and after the names of Fatima, daughter of Muhammad, and Mary, mother of Jesus, “peace be upon her”, and after the name of the Messenger of God Muhammad, “peace be upon him and his progeny”. As the English-speaking audience might be unaccustomed to this practice and as the frequency of these phrases might break the train of thought and impede understanding of these difficult subjects, the symbol (℗) is often used instead. ﴾ ﴿ indicate verses of the Holy Quran, [ ] indicate passages from the Torah, Gospels, Old and New Testaments, and ﴾ ﴿ indicate narrations of the infallible Imams from the progeny of Muhammad℗ or hadiths (collections of the traditions of Prophet Muhammad℗). { } indicate extensive quoted material not to be confused with the words of Imam Ahmed al-Hasan℗. [.lit] indicates the literal translation of an Arabic word in which the transliteration is in common usage. [-Trans.] are notes added by the English Translation Committee not present in the original Arabic text. All Bible passages are quoted from the English Standard Version with only rare and minor changes. Passages from the Gospel of Judah are taken from the English translation released by the National Geographic Society with the only change being the spelling of Judah/Judas to indicate the one being referred to.