<DIV>This is an annotated English translation of Qadi al-Nu'man's <i>Iftitah</i> <i>al-de' wa.</i> This book is the most important primary source for the emergence of the Fatimid state in the early years of the tenth century. Its author, Qadi al-Nu'man, was an official historian of the Fatimids and an eminent exponent of Ismaili jurisprudence--as well being perhaps the most distinguished and creative of all the Fatimid thinkers. The <i>Iftitah</i> is al-Nu'man's major historical work, and records in detail the background to the establishment of the Fatimid state, first in Yemen and then in north Africa. It is based on official archival and biographical documents that were accessible to the author at the time, and which have not survived.<br></DIV>