The Dhahabiyya is one of the three main Shīʿī Ṣūfī orders in Iran (the others are the Khāksār and three autonomous branches in the Niʿmatallāhiyya line). Its name referred initially to several distinct groups (Zarrīnkūb, 183) and is usually, but problematically, connected with the word dhahab (gold) (see Algar, who indicates, for instance, that reference to the order as silsilat al-dhahab , in reflection of the first eight Shīʿī Imāms in their spiritual genealogy, does not distinguish the Dhahabiyya from other orders, including Sunnī Ṣūfī orders). Its silsila ("chain" of