Al-Mu’ayyad fi’l-Din al-Shirazi was an Ismaili scholar of Persian origin, excelling as a missionary, statesman, poet and theologian. Towards the end of his long and eventful life, al-Mu’ayyad became head of the Ismaili mission (da‘wa) in the time of the Fatimid caliph-imam al-Mustansir in Cairo.
Among al-Mu’ayyad’s writings, his Sira is of particular historical significance, enriching the incomplete and fragmentary information provided by the historiographers of later Fatimid, Ayyubid and Mamluk times. Written in a masterful Arabic literary style and rhetoric, the memoirs describe in detail al-Mu’ayyad’s daring attempt to win over the Buyid rulers of western Iran to the Fatimid cause; his flight to Cairo where his ambitions to be near the imam are initially frustrated by powerful court officials; and finally, his expedition to Syria and Iraq as a Fatimid plenipotentiary to forge an alliance of local rulers against the Saljuq Turks invading the central Islamic lands from the East.
Through a close analysis of this work, Verena Klemm demonstrates that, in addition to being a personal account of a highly dedicated Fatimid da‘i, the Sira is a rich source for the organisation and function of the Ismaili da‘wa. It is also a valuable window to 5th/11th century Muslim world, providing an insight into the struggle of the FatimidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Ismaili caliphs in North Africa (from 909) and later in Egypt (973–1171) More, ‘AbbasidsMajor Muslim dynasty of Sunni caliphs that ruled in Baghdad (750-1258)., Buyids and Saljuqs for the leadership of the Muslim umma. In this way, al-Mu’ayyad’s writings serve as a unique magnifying glass concentrating the international political dynamics of the age in the narrative of one life and destiny.
