An Ismaili Heresiography

Presents the "Chapter on Satan"(Bāb al-shayṭān) from a long unrecognized Ismaili work called the Kitāb al-shajara by the 4th/10th century Khurāsānī dā'ī, Abū Tammām.

The satans of Abū Tammām's "Chapter" are the founders and instigators of the seventy-two heretical sects of Islam. Each sect has been accorded a relatively lengthy description as perceived from a generally Shī'ī and Mu'tazilī point of view. Most entries offer new information about these sects and, in several cases, the account given is for a sect almost completely unknown in the existing Islamic heresiographical literature.

The volume contains both a critical edition of the "Bāb al-shayṭān", and a complete English translation of it.