Featuring over 250 key thinkers both major and less well-known, and spanning three centuries, this is a comprehensive survey of early Shi'ite literature, and the first of its kind. For each figure, the author offers a summary of their life and achievements, before outlining their literary and scholarly contributions to the canon, and documenting all sources for their writings, even those long-since vanished. Each entry includes information on further reading for the figure in question, in addition to detailed footnotes and a full bibliography.

"Modarressi has put to use his vast learning and unparalleled mastery of the sources in order to place before the reader the first truly comprehensive survey of early Shi'ite literature. This book is a milestone in Shi'ite studies." —Etan Kohlberg