Volume 1: The author of this book (Sheikh Sadooq) - May God have Mercy upon him - is the highly esteemed, noble Abi Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Al-Hussein ibn Musa ibn Babooyeh al-Qummi known as Sheikh Sadooq. He has such a high rank in knowledge, understanding, realization of the true meaning of traditions, jurisprudence, honesty in speech and extensive highly valuable writings that no one can write about and fully express these. All the knowledgeable people who have either written his biography or used his highly valuable books have tried to praise his works and declare his Divine Leadership and honesty. They have called him Sheikh that is normally the title of native scholars trained in the traditional sciences such as clerical dignitaries, members of a religious order, or professors of spiritual institutions of higher learning - that is master of an order. He has also been called honest and a forerunner.We can say that he has been one of the signs of God. He passed away in the year 381 A.H. (990 A.D.) when he was more than seventy years old. His publications - that were more than 300 in number - were like brilliant stars guiding those who sought to follow the Divine Path. Unfortunately, the tragic occurrences in history resulted in the loss of the majority of his works. We can clearly state that not even one tenth of his writings have remained up until today