Translator’s Introduction — Hadith 1

of access to a wellspring of ethical teachings that have reached us from the Infallible guides. This saves us from the need to refer to fallible scholars and philosophers who refer to their own intuition and understanding to decipher ethical dilemmas. The present work comprises two hundred and ninety narrations on ethical subjects, compiled by a trustworthy individual who was himself a companion of the Imams (a). That on its own makes it a highly valuable text. Most, if not all, of the teachings found herein transcend time in terms of their relevance and importance, and offer practical advice to believers that would go a long way in improving their lives in both this world and the next. On the question of the authenticity and soundness of the traditions, it is noteworthy that while the chains of transmission of most of the traditions in this work have been adduced, not all are complete or sound. However, this is not the only gauge of soundness, especially with traditions about etiquette and ethics. Rather, other corroborating evidence from the Qurʾān and established traditions would be sufficient to verify the soundness of the narrations. For this, each tradition needs to be examined individually, and that is something for experts of ḥadīth to embark upon. Suffice it to say that most of the traditions found in this work are indeed generally accepted by scholars and have been related in other later ḥadīth compilations as well.