This book is a study and edition of the Manhaj al-?ilm wa l-bayan wa-nuzhat al-sam? wa l-?iyan (The Path of Knowledge and Clarification and the Bliss of Hearing and Seeing). The Manhaj is a Nusayri doctrinal treatise composed by ?I?mat al-Dawla during the fifth/eleventh century. This edition makes this important source available to scholars for the first time.

The Manhaj is a comprehensive compendium of knowledge for followers of the faith. It is also an autobiographic account detailing the author's conversion and the teachings of his teacher, Abu l-Fat? al-Baghdadi. The Manhaj thus provides a personal, vivid account of the networks through which esoteric knowledge was sought and shared