The full name of the book, Biḥār al-ʾAnwār al-Jāmiʿah li-Durar ʾAkhbār al-ʾAʾimmah al-Aṭhār (Arabic: بِحَار ٱلْأَنْوَار ٱلْجَامِعَة لِدُرَر أَخْبَار ٱلَأَئِمَّة ٱلْأَطْهَار) (lit.

On 1687, he was appointed as Sheikh ul-Islam by Sultan Husayn in Isfahan, the capital city of the Persian Empire.

[5] Majlisi has acknowledged this issue in the preface of Bihar al-Anwar, emphasizing that the traditions collected were not included without being subjected to scrutiny, a task in itself that was a major undertaking.

Majlisi says, "Then I chose to examine the traditions of the infallible, righteous Imams, started exploring them and investigated them as was their right and I acquired its skill as was its due."

[2][1] He used about 400 sources which were written by Sunni and Shia scholars such as, Shaykh al-Saduq, Shaykh Tusi, Al-Shaykh Al-Mufid, Sharif al-Murtaza, Muhammad Jamaluddin al-Makki al-Amili, Sayyed Ibn Tawus, Al-Hilli, Zayn al-Din al-Juba'i al'Amili.