Some have claimed that the final curses (laʿns) in the well-known Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ were not originally part of this pilgrimage prayer and were later added to Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, authored by Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Ṭūsī (d. 460/1067), during or after the Safavid period, thus resulting in the distortion of Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ. The main arguments of those making this claim of distortion are two: first, the text of the oldest manuscript of Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid, known as the al-Naqqāsh al-Rāzī manuscript; second, the text of Kāmil al-ziyārāt. In this article,through analysis of various pieces of evidence, we will demonstrate that the very important factor that caused the final passage of Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ in Miṣbāḥ al-mutahajjid (the al-Naqqāsh al-Rāzī manuscript) and Kāmil al-ziyārāt not to be transmitted according to the well-known version, is that Shīʾī scribes and scholars, especially before the Safavid rule, practiced dissimulation (taqiyya) in transmitting those expressions. Further, the final passage of Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ has been written according to the well-known version in numerous manuscripts including Mukhtaṣar al-Miṣbāḥ fī ʿamal al-sana in the handwriting of Ibn Sakūn al-Ḥillī (d. 600/1203) and some other ancient sources.

KEYWORDS: Ziyārat ʿĀshūrāʾ, dissimulation (taqiyya), curse (laʿn), disassociation (tabarrī), scholars’ dissimulation, scribes’ dissimulation, manuscript studies, authenticity of Shīʾī ḥadīth heritage.