the state of the esoteric Ismā'īlīs arose—those who built al-Qāhira al-Mu'izziyya in one of the years 353–359 AH. Around that time, these epistles were composed because this doctrine had emerged. Outwardly, it was Rāfidism, but inwardly, it was sheer disbelief. They professed adherence to the Sharia while claiming that it possessed an esoteric meaning contrary to its outward sense. The inner reality of their doctrine was the doctrine of the philosophers. It was on this [basis] (1) that these epistles were composed (2), by a group of well-known adherents of philosophy. Within them, they mentioned the territories of the Levant that the Christians had seized. The first (3) of these conquests occurred more than three hundred years after the Prophet’s Hijra, at the beginning of the fourth century AH (4).

[The Rāfidi’s remarks concerning Mūsā ibn Ja'far and the response to him]

(Chapter).

As for the one who came after Ja'far, it was Mūsā ibn Ja'far. Abū Hātim al-Rāzī (5) said of him: “Trustworthy (6), eminently truthful, an imam (7) among the imams of the Muslims.”

I say: Mūsā was born in Medina in the year