The literary-religious tradition among 7th/13th century Yemeni Zaydis: The formation of the Imam al-Mahdi li-Din Allah Ahmad b. al-Husayn b. al-Qasim (d. 656/1258)

The rich sira literature relating to the careers of imams is a genre characteristic for the Zaydi communities in Yemen and in Iran. These documents were composed by close companions, secretaries or other personnel in their vicinity, often inspired in structure and terminology by the sira of the Prophet Muhammad. Their primary function was to legitimize the imams, and describing their merits therefore formed an important element of such documents. The sira of the Imam al-Mahdi li-Din Allah Abu Tayr Ahmad b. al-Husayn (d. 656/1258) was composed by Sharaf al-Din Yahya b. al-Qasim al-Hamzi (d. 677/1278-9). The primary significance of the section of the sira that is devoted to Ah.mad b. al-Husayn's formation, which is edited and analysed in the article, is that it provides a detailed picture of the intellectual scene in Yemen during the 7th/13th century and informs us about the characteristics of the formation of scholars during this period. Moreover, the document informs us about the works that were part of the transfer of knowledge from Iran to Yemen that began with the unification of the Caspian Zaydiyya and the Zaydis in Yemen during the imamate of Abu Talib al-akhir (d. 520/1126) and gradually increased throughout the 6th/12th century until the death of the Imam al-Mansur bi-llah in 614/1217.