About this translation

Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi writes in Arabic. The English pages of this website are translations of his Arabic texts, offered to make them accessible to English readers. Where any doubt arises, the Arabic original is the authoritative text — every translated page links to it.

Books themselves (the PDF files), audio lectures and videos remain in Arabic; their titles, descriptions and tables of contents are translated.

Each text is translated from the Arabic exactly as it is published on the site, following a detailed style guide written for these religious texts. Nothing is added and nothing is omitted: every sentence, qualifier, example, list item, date and name appears in the same order. Rulings and their degrees of caution keep their exact force — for example, “by obligatory precaution” is never turned into “it is obligatory”.

Every translation is then checked independently by a second reviewer against the Arabic, paragraph by paragraph, before it is published. Items that have not yet completed this review are not presented as translated: their English page shows the Arabic original with a notice, and they are left out of the English lists until their translation is ready.

If the Arabic original of an item is revised after it was translated, its English page says so until the translation is updated.

Verses of the Holy Qurʾan are quoted in the translation of Ali Quli Qarai, word for word and without alteration, from the text published by Tanzil.net. Each quotation is followed by its reference, for example (Qurʾan 2:255). Square brackets inside a verse are Qarai’s own.

Supplications, narrations, visitation texts and poetry are translated directly from the Arabic quoted in the text.

Where the Arabic text contains an honorific formula, the translation gives it in a short form:

(s)

ṣallā Allāhu ʿalayhi wa-ālih — “Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family”

Used after the name of the Prophet Muhammad.

(a)

ʿalayhi / ʿalayhā / ʿalayhim al-salām — “peace be upon him / her / them”

Used after the names of the prophets, the Imams of the Ahl al-Bayt and Lady Fatimah al-Zahraʾ.

(aj)

ʿajjala Allāhu farajah — “may Allah hasten his reappearance”

Used after the name of Imam al-Mahdi.

(r)

raḍiya Allāhu ʿanhu / ʿanhā — “may Allah be pleased with him / her”

Used after the names of righteous companions and believers.

(q)

quddisa sirruh — “may his soul be sanctified”

Used after the names of eminent deceased scholars.

(rh)

raḥimahu Allāh — “may Allah have mercy on him”

Used after the names of deceased believers and scholars.

Expressions such as “the Exalted” or “Glorified is He” after the name of Allah are translated as they appear.

Arabic names and terms are transliterated in a simple form: ʿ marks the letter ʿayn and ʾ marks the hamza (as in ʿAli, Qurʾan, al-Zahraʾ). Long vowels and emphatic letters (ā, ī, ū, ḥ, ṣ, ḍ, ṭ, ẓ) are shown only where a technical term is first explained, for example ziyārah (visitation) or taqlīd (following a jurist).

The author’s name is written Sayed Mahmoud Al-Mosawi. Dates follow the Arabic: Hijri years are marked AH, and the Gregorian date is given where the original gives it.

If you notice an error or an unclear passage in a translation, please write to smamood@gmail.com and mention the page link. You can always compare with the English home page and the Arabic website.