The Shaykh was born near al-'~sa', in the region of al-Qa~if, in northern Arabian peninsula. As a child he was contemplative and given to solitude. In 1186/1772, at the age of 20, he proceeded to the holy cities of Iraq for further studies. There at the age of 43 (in 1209/1794), he acquired ijiizahs for narrating hadith from such illustrious scholars of the time as Sayyid Mahdi Bahr al-Ulum (d.1212/1797), Shaykh Ja'far Kashif al-Ghita' (d. 1227/1812) and Sayyid 'Ali Tabataba'i (123111815).
The ijiizahs (cited in the book) commend his piety, learning and intelligence. Following the outbreak of plague in Iraq, he returned home, staying in Bahrayn for 4 years. Thereafter he went for pilgrimage to the holy cities of Iraq and returned to live at Basrah and its neighboring villages and towns from 1213/1798 to 122111806. Thereafter, during a journey to Mashhad, he received a warm welcome at Yazd, where he decided to settle down. While at Yazd he was wooed by the Qachar king, Fath 'Ali Shah, who invited him to Tehran. The book records some of their correspondence as well as an account of his days at Tehran. On his way to Iraq, he stayed for 2 years at Kermanshah, urged by the patronizing crown prince, Muhammad 'Ali Mirza, to whom he is said to have given a written guarantee to paradise in return for a thousand tumans, with which the Shaykh paid off his debts. In 1232/1817 he went to Makkah and returned by the way of Najaf and Karbala' to Kerrnanshah in 1234/1818. It was in 1236/1820 that while stopping at Qazwin, on his way to Mashhad, the Shaykh was first denounced as a heretic by Mulla Muhammad Taqi. This led to his disrepute in the theological circles of Najaf, Karbala', Qumm, Mashhad and Isfahan, As a result, during this journey the Shaykh did not see any of the former reception at Tehran, Yazd or Isfahan. He returned to Kermanshah, and when after a year he went to Iraq he was faced with the bitter opposition of the 'ulama' for his unconventional doctrines. In 1241/1825, the Shaykh's remarks in his Sharl; al-Ziyarat al-jiimi'ah ; offensive to Sunnis, gave the Ottoman governor of Iraq, Dawud Pasha, the pretext to despatch a force, which attacked Karbala' pillaging and massacring its people. The Shaykh, who was in Iraq at the time, fled to Makkah, dying on the way near Madinah, where he was buried.
His other works include a Sharl; on the Masha'ir of Mulla Sadra (1230), 'Ismah wa raj'ah (1231), Shari; on Mulla Sadra's 'Arshiyyah (1236), Risiileh-ye Rashtiyyah, Risalat l].ayiU al-nafs, Jauiiimi' al-kalim, Risalat Mulla Muhammad ra.hir, Sharl; ol-Fauia'id; Kashkitl, Risiilah musta'mal, and other treatises on fiqh, kalam, divination and numerology. .
His other works include a Sharl; on the Masha'ir of Mulla Sadra (1230), 'Ismah wa raj'ah (1231), Shari; on Mulla Sadra's 'Arshiyyah (1236), Risiileh-ye Rashtiyyah, Risalat l].ayiU al-nafs, Jauiiimi' al-kalim, Risalat Mulla Muhammad ra.hir, Sharl; ol-Fauia'id; Kashkitl, Risiilah musta'mal, and other treatises on fiqh, kalam, divination and numerology. .
The background, if not the seeds of al-Ahsa'i's doctrines, lies in Akhbarism, of which he was a foll~r in fiqh, despite the fact that Akhbarism was on decline after WatIid Behbahanl (d. 1206/1791) in the theological schools of Iraq and Iran. Akhbarism, with its rejection of rationalism and its unscrupulous reliance on hadith, opens the way for the doctrinal incursions by cja5f (weak) traditions and the narrations of the ghuliit, The susceptibility to ghali doctrines is shown by the belief of the Shaykh and his followers that the Imams (A) were manifestations of Divinity imazhar ilahi) and possessed Divine attributes. Another factor was Ahsa'I's strong disposition towards Isma'Ili and Sufi teachings, which is evident in the formulations of the Shaykh and his disciples.
Absa'i also seems to have assimilated some ideas of the Sabaeans during his residence at Basrah and its vicinity. His term, if not the conception, of harqitliyah - a term hitherto unfamiliar in Islamic philosophy and mysticism - for a quasi-immaterial sphere, carne from the Sabaeans. It was in the world of harqitliyah, according to Ahsa'l, that the Twelfth Imam (A) dwelt, not in the physical world. al-Ahsa'i conceives of man as possessing a 'harquliyan' body in addition to his physical frame. While the physical body decays irretrievably at death, the harqiiliyan body survives, and it is with it that the soul shall arise on the Day of Resurrection. Ahsa'i, accordingly, denied physical resurrection and it was on this count that he was condemned as heretical by the Shi'i theologians of Iraq and Iran. The Shaykh also denied that the Prophet (S) undertook his celestial nightly journey (mi'raj) bodily; the ascent was spiritual, according to him.
The Shaykh rejected the criteria developed by Islamic scholars for ascertaining the reliability of traditions, claiming that he was capable of "smelling out" the verity of ahadlth. He claimed to meet the Imams (A) regularly in his dreams, and from them he claimed to receive instruction as well as frequent clarification to his doubts, According to Mirza Muhammad Tunekabunl, the author of Qi~~ al- 'ulamii' and a junior contemporary of AJ;tsa'i, the Shaykh used to say, "The very (content of the) hadith by itself makes me certain that it is the utterance of the Imam. I have no need of (the study of) rijal." He would say, "I owe my certitude to the Imam. If my statements are free of error, it is to the extent that whatever I have established in my books is owed to their teachings. They are themselves free of error, lapse and forgetfulness, and everyone who learns from them is certain of being free from error."? Such statements amounted to an implicit claim of infallibility for himself and his doctrines on Ahsa'i's part.
Alhsa'i claimed to have direct contact with the Imams (A), and he would say,"I have heard from al-Imam al-Sadiq (A) .... " Such claims brought him cheap and easily-earned popularity and fame.
Absa'i also seems to have assimilated some ideas of the Sabaeans during his residence at Basrah and its vicinity. His term, if not the conception, of harqitliyah - a term hitherto unfamiliar in Islamic philosophy and mysticism - for a quasi-immaterial sphere, carne from the Sabaeans. It was in the world of harqitliyah, according to Ahsa'l, that the Twelfth Imam (A) dwelt, not in the physical world. al-Ahsa'i conceives of man as possessing a 'harquliyan' body in addition to his physical frame. While the physical body decays irretrievably at death, the harqiiliyan body survives, and it is with it that the soul shall arise on the Day of Resurrection. Ahsa'i, accordingly, denied physical resurrection and it was on this count that he was condemned as heretical by the Shi'i theologians of Iraq and Iran. The Shaykh also denied that the Prophet (S) undertook his celestial nightly journey (mi'raj) bodily; the ascent was spiritual, according to him.
The Shaykh rejected the criteria developed by Islamic scholars for ascertaining the reliability of traditions, claiming that he was capable of "smelling out" the verity of ahadlth. He claimed to meet the Imams (A) regularly in his dreams, and from them he claimed to receive instruction as well as frequent clarification to his doubts, According to Mirza Muhammad Tunekabunl, the author of Qi~~ al- 'ulamii' and a junior contemporary of AJ;tsa'i, the Shaykh used to say, "The very (content of the) hadith by itself makes me certain that it is the utterance of the Imam. I have no need of (the study of) rijal." He would say, "I owe my certitude to the Imam. If my statements are free of error, it is to the extent that whatever I have established in my books is owed to their teachings. They are themselves free of error, lapse and forgetfulness, and everyone who learns from them is certain of being free from error."? Such statements amounted to an implicit claim of infallibility for himself and his doctrines on Ahsa'i's part.
Alhsa'i claimed to have direct contact with the Imams (A), and he would say,"I have heard from al-Imam al-Sadiq (A) .... " Such claims brought him cheap and easily-earned popularity and fame.
Such claims to certitude, authority and infallibility certainly deeply impressed many of his Arab and Persian pupils and disciples, but they also deepened the suspicions of the Shaykh's opponents who, beginning to see an impostor in him, had neither any respect from the Shaykh's
philosophical learning' nor any patience for his theological and meta-physical ideas, to say nothing of the horqiiliyah, The Shaykh's pre-tensions amounted to an implicit claim to being a mediator (na 'ib) between the Hidden Imam (A) and the community. That he perceived it as a continuing office and a going concern is affirmed by his designation of Sayyid K~im Rashti, one of his relatively junior pupils, as his successor. Such designation of a successor, although common among Sufis and Isma'llis, is unknown among Shi'i theologians and fuqaha'.
Moreover, the Shaykhi doctrine of al-rukn al-riibi' also points towards the claims of AJ;tsa'i and Rashti to a special religious authority." Despite his wide disrepute, he continued to be regarded highly by his disciples after his death.
philosophical learning' nor any patience for his theological and meta-physical ideas, to say nothing of the horqiiliyah, The Shaykh's pre-tensions amounted to an implicit claim to being a mediator (na 'ib) between the Hidden Imam (A) and the community. That he perceived it as a continuing office and a going concern is affirmed by his designation of Sayyid K~im Rashti, one of his relatively junior pupils, as his successor. Such designation of a successor, although common among Sufis and Isma'llis, is unknown among Shi'i theologians and fuqaha'.
Moreover, the Shaykhi doctrine of al-rukn al-riibi' also points towards the claims of AJ;tsa'i and Rashti to a special religious authority." Despite his wide disrepute, he continued to be regarded highly by his disciples after his death.
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