The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Translator's Word

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This is a translator's preface and editorial apparatus for an English translation of an Arabic Shiite religious text authored by Abdul-Sâhib Al-'âmeli, a work described as valuable to Shiite scholarship. The translator, Taher Al-Shemaly of Kuwait, explains his methodology and limitations, noting that Arabic's complexity made exact translation difficult and that some passages were left untranslated where meaning was unclear. The bulk of the preface provides background on core Shiite doctrine — specifically the belief in a continuous line of divinely-appointed viceroys (imams) succeeding each prophet, contrasted with Sunni belief in consultative succession — and lists all twelve imams of Twelver Shiism from Ali ibn Abi Talib through the "awaited" Mahdi. A notable clarifying point the translator makes is that Shiite identity is a religious creed, not an ethnic or national category, pushing back against the common conflation of Shiism with Iranian nationality. The preface also defines abbreviations and transliteration conventions used throughout the translation. It functions primarily as a reader's orientation guide rather than substantive religious argument itself.

The Prophets, Their Lives and Their Stories: Translator's Word

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