Peshawar Nights

The present work is based on the transcript of a dialogue between several Sunni divines and a 31year old Shi’ite scholar, al-`Abd al-Fani Muhammad al-Musawi Sultanu’l-Wa?adhim, of Shiraz, Iran, held over a period of ten nights in Peshawar, India, beginning on 27 January 1927. The dialogues were a model of mutual respect, and in spite of the seriousness of the subject and the presence of an audience of some 200, there was no breach of decorum. The author refers to himself throughout the book as “Da’i,” that is, one who prays for or invokes a blessing upon someone, translated here as “Well-Wisher.” His success is indicated by the fact that at the end of the dialogue one of his Sunni opponents and five other dignitaries in the audience publicly acknowledged their conversion to the Shi?as sect.