خلاصه ماشینی:
propounded in the works of Qadi Nu'rnan, was perfected in the reign of Al-Mu'izz li-dini'Ilah, the fourth Fa. timid Khalifah and the four• teenth ( or according to others, the thirteenth) Imam of the Isma'Ilts (died A.
The works of Qadi Nu'man being in Arabic, were preserved by the * Also "Eastern Isma'tlis ", represented in India by the community known as KMjas.
In fact, if Isms'tlt tradition is to be believed,-and there is no reason why it should not be-it was not Qadi Nu'man alone who composed the standard books, but he wrote in close consultation with Imam Mu'izz himself, and the two are like the Platonic twins, Socrates and Plato, the one completely submerged in the other ; the work of Nu'msn being supposed to be a miracle of Imam Mu'izz and the Imam finding a mouthpiece in his great Qadi and hujjat, Nu'man.
The Isma'Ilis assert that as the Founder of their svstem is Imam Mu'izz himself, who through the instrumentality of his Qadi laid down the law clearly, following in the foot• steps of his illustrious ancestor, Imam Ja 'far as-Sadiq, no such discussion need arise at all.
As a brief account of the life of Nu'man follows, it is needless to go into the subject here, but perhaps the story of the composition of Da'a'imu'l-lslam {the Pillars of Islam)', the masterpiece of Nu'man, and the text-book and Code of laws throughout the Fa. timid Empire, may not be uninteresting.