[1][2] In his introduction to the book the author explains the circumstances of its composition and the reason for its title.

When he was at Ilaq near Balkh, he met Sharif al-Din Abu 'Abd Allah known as Ni'mah.

He, then, asked him to compile a book on Fiqh (Islamic Jurisprudence), The Halal and the Haram (the permitted and prohibited) and al-shara-i' wa-'l-ahkam (revealed law and ordinary laws) which would draw on all the works which the Shaikh earlier had composed on the subject.

This book would be called Man la yahduruh al-faqih and would function as a work of reference.

I did not have the usual intention of compilers (of books of traditions) to put forward everything which they (could) narrate but my intention was to put forward those things by which I gave legal opinions and which I judged to be correct [8] Shia Muslims regards this book as among the most reliable Hadith collections.