Al-Amali, The Dictations of Shaykh al-Mufid

Thirty Eighth Assembly

Met on Saturday, when six nights were left of the month of Ramadhan in 410 Hijrah. The grand Sheikh al-Mufid Abu Abdillah Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Nu’man, may Allah prolong his life, narrated:

1. Three important obligations

He said: Al-Shareef al-Swaleh Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Hamza al-Alawi, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Ahmad ibn Abdullah, from his grandfather Ahmad ibn Abu Abdillah al-Barqi, from his father, from Yaqoob ibn Yazid, from Ibn Abi Umair, from Hisham ibn Salim, from Abu Ubaidah al-Hazzá, that:

Abu Abdillah Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: "Should I not guide you to the most important obligations Allah has placed upon His creatures? To be fair and just with people in their dealings; to be comforting to the brothers in faith; to remember Allah in every situation. And when he faces a matter of obedience to Allah, he acts accordingly and when he comes across any sin, he shuns it."

2. The most helpless man

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Umar al-Ji’abi reported to me from Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Swaleh al-Qadhi, who reported from Masrooq ibn al-Marzban, who reported from Hafs, from Asim, from Abu Uthman, from Abu Huraira, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "The most helpless person is the one who renders himself unable to supplicate (to Allah), and the most niggardly is the one who is miserly with greeting in salaam."

3. The Prophet prayed for ‘Ali (as) at Khaybar

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Umar al-Ji’abi reported to me from al-Hasan ibn Hammad ibn Hamza Abu ‘Ali from his book, reporting from al-Hasan ibn Abdul Rehman Ibn Abi Leila, who reported from Muhammad ibn Sulaiman ibn Abdillah al-Ishfahani, from Abd al-Rahman al-Ishfahani, from Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Laila, from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, sent for me while I had an eyesore. He spat into my eyes, and tied a tight turban around my head, and then said: "O Allah, relieve him of heat and cold." Thereafter I was never afflicted with heat or cold.

4. Purity of Ahlul Bayt

He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Umar al-Ji’abi, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Ahmad ibn Isa ibn Abu Musa in Kufa, from Abdus ibn Muhammad al-Hadhrami, who reported from Muhammad ibn Furat, from Abu Ishaq, from al-Harith, from ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him, who said:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, used to come to us every early morning saying: "Time for prayers! May Allah have mercy on you. Verily! Allah intends to remove all abominations from you, O Ahlul Bayt, and to purify you absolutely."

5. Asma Bint Aqil laments Al-Husayn

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Ahmad ibn Muhammad, who reported from al-Hasan ibn Ulail al-Anzi, who reported from Abdul Karim Ibn Muhammad, who reported from ‘Ali ibn Salemah, from Abu Aslam Muhammad ibn Fakhar, from Abu Hayyaj Abdullah ibn Amir, who said:

When the sad news of al-Husayn's, peace be upon him, martyrdom reached Madinah, Asma bint Aqil ibn Abi Talib came out with a group of her ladies and came to the grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, and clinging to it, sobbed bitterly. Then, addressing the Muhajireen and the Ansar, she said:

"What will you say when the Prophet says to you
on the Day of Judgement, and the truth will indeed be heard.
'You deserted my family members, or were you absent,'
and the truth will be brought together before the master.

'You had forsaken them at the hands of the oppressors,
so you have no one to intercede on your behalf before Allah.'
There was no one (of you) at Kerbala on the day
When death crept to them, and none was there to defend them!"
He said: "We never saw as many wailing men and women on any other day."

6. Ummu Salemah and Martyrdom of Al-Husayn

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Marzbani reported to me from Ahmed ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari, who reported from al-Hasan ibnUlail al-Anzi, from Abdul Karim ibn Muhammad, who reported from Hamza ibn al-Qasim al-Alawi, who reported from Abdul Azeem ibn Abdillah al-Alawi, from al-Hasan ibn al-Husayn al-Arani, from Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim, that:

Al-Sadiq Ja'far ibn Muhammad, peace be upon him, said: Ummu Salemah, may Allah bless her with mercy, once woke up weeping. She was asked: "What makes you cry?" She said: "My son al-Husayn has been killed last night. And that is because I have never seen the Prophet in the dream till last night. I saw him pale and in profound grief." So I asked: "How come I see you in this state of grief, O messenger of Allah!" He said: "I have been digging the graves of al-Husayn and his companions tonight."

7. The Jinns and Al-Husayn

He said: Abu Hafs Umar ibn Muhammad reported to me from ‘Ali ibn al-Abbas, who reported from Abdul Karim ibn Muhammad, who reported from Sulaiman ibn Muqbil al-Harith, who reported from Mahfooz ibn al-Munzar, who reported from an elder of Banu Tameem, who lived at al-Rabiya.

He said: I heard my father say that they did not know of al-Husayn's martyrdom till evening of Ashura. He said: I was sitting at al-Rabiya with some people from that district, and we heard a voice saying:

"By Allah, I have not come to you till I had seen at Kerbala,
the head cut off, with two dusty cheeks!
And around him, young men whose throats spurt out blood,
and like lamps spreading light in the darkness.

I prodded my camel (to run) so that I could meet them
before the reticent ones go to meet the Houris.
But the destiny prevented me, and Allah would fulfil it,
And the command of Allah was a determined fate.
Al-Husayn was a lamp from which light was obtained.

Allah knows that I have never lied,
May Allah bless the body, which has been contained
by al-Husayn's grave, as a good companion.

In the neighbourhood of the Prophet in the chambers,
and of ‘Ali and al-Tayyar, pleased and satisfied."

So we said: "May Allah bless you with mercy, who are you?" He said: "My father and I are Jinn of Nasibayn. We intended to help al-Husayn, peace be upon him, and assist him with our lives. So we proceeded from Haj, but reached him when they had been killed.

8. Zainab bint ‘Ali's address at Kufa

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported from Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Jawhari, who reported from Muhammad ibn Mahran, who reported from Musa ibn Abdul Rehman al-Masrooq, from Umar ibn Abdul Wahid, from Ismail ibn Rashid who reported from Hazlam ibn Sateer, who said:

I arrived at Kufa in Muharram of 61 Hijrah as ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn was departing with the ladies from Kerbala, surrounded by the troops. People gathered to have a sight of them. When he approached with the ladies sitting on unsaddled camels, the women of Kufa began weeping and wailing. I heard ‘Ali ibn al-Husayn say with a feeble voice as he was exhausted by ailment, and around his neck was a neckband, and his hands were tied to the neck.

He said: "Beware, (if) these women are indeed weeping - then who killed us?" He said: And I saw Zainab bint ‘Ali, peace be upon them, and I had never seen a lady with all her modesty being so eloquent. It seemed that she spoke in Amirul Mu’mineen's voice." He said: She raised her hand towards the people to silence them, so the breathing slowed and the noises were silenced. Then she said:

"All praise be to Allah; and His blessing on my father, the messenger of Allah. Know you O people of Kufa, O people of chicanery and betrayal. May your tears never dry, and may your wailing never quieten. Your example is of 'the one who unravels her yarn after it is firmly spun. You take your oaths merely to deceive one another.' (16:98).

O people! Are there any among you except those suffering from vainglory, blemished by disgrace, and with bosoms full of hatred? Cowards when confronted, helpless before the enemies, violators of oath of allegiance, wasting the responsibilities? Miserable is what you have forwarded, that has incurred the wrath of Allah upon you. And you will be in chastisement forever.

So, you are crying? Yes, cry a lot, and laugh a little for you have earned its disgrace and its infamy; and you will never be able to wash off the filth stuck to you. You have forsaken and intrigued against the scion of the seal of the Prophet-hood, master of the youths of Paradise, refuge of your chosen ones, retreat for the calamities befalling you, landmark to your destination, the highway of your Proof.

How evil is the burden you bear? Wretched be you and reversed be your plans! The effort has failed, and hands are full of nothing but dust, and the bargain has sustained a loss. You are laden with the wrath of Allah, and humiliation and abasement has been stamped upon you.

Woe unto you! Do you know which liver of Muhammad have you torn apart, and which blood have you spilled? And which nobility have you struck?

'Indeed you have come up with a thing abominable and shocking. From which, the heavens are about to be rent asunder, the earth split and the mountains fallen to pieces.' (19:89,90).

What you have committed is foolishness and degradation enough to fill the heavens and the earth! Are you then surprised if the heavens rain blood?

'And the chastisement of the hereafter is even more degrading.' (41:16).

So do not take these moments of respite lightly - for He is not prompted by haste nor is it feared that He will miss the reprised. No!

'Your Lord is ever observant.' (89:14)."

He said: Then she was silent. And I saw people bewildered, their hands on their mouths, and I saw an old man weeping till his beard was drenched and he said:

"Their elderly are the best among the elderly people
and their progeny, when any progeny is taken into account,
is never wrong, nor discredited."

9. The first elegy on Al-Husayn

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzabani reported to me from Muhammad ibn Ibrahim, who reported from Abdullah ibn Abu Saeed al-Warraq, who reported from Masood ibn Amru al-Jahdari, who reported from Ibrahim ibn Dahah, who said:

The first elegy recited for al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali, peace be upon him, was by Aqabah ibn Amru al-Sahmi, from the tribe of Banu Salim ibn Awf Ibn Ghalib:

"(After the tragedy of Kerbala) when the eye was content
(having seen enough) in this life, and (when) you fear in this
world, as its light has turned into darkness.
I passed by the grave of al-Husayn at Kerbala,

My tears rolled down copiously for him,
And I have since not stopped lamenting and weeping in sorrow,
my eyes are helped by its tears and the hearing by sigh.
And tears were shed, besides al-Husayn, on the group
whose graves surround him on both sides,

Salaams on the interred ones at Kerbala,
Yet, my salaams visiting them are too little for them,
Salaams to them in the evening and during the day,
conveyed by the wind blowing on it and by the dust it carries
And the groups of people continues to visit his grave,
whose musk and aroma exudes fragrance to them."

10. The famous poem by De'bal

He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad ibn Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Abdullah ibn Yahya al-Askari, who reported from Ahmad ibn Zayd ibn Ahmad, who reported from Muhammad ibn Yahya ibn Aktham Abu Abdillah, who reported from his father Yahya ibn Aktham al-Maruzi, who said: Ma'moon summoned Débal ibn ‘Ali Al-Khizai, may Allah bless him with mercy, and granted him safe conduct. When he arrived, I was sitting near al-Ma'moon. He said:

"(O Débal), recite to me your major poem." Débal felt restrained and at first, displayed his ignorance about it. Then Ma'moon told him: "You will be safe, the same way as you were granted safe conduct." So he recited:

"My wife regretted when she saw my indifference to women,
And considered my maturity a sin unpardonable!
She expected youthfulness after her own forelocks had turned hoary,
and though her racing horse had already run a round of old age.

O wife, my hoary head teaches me,
to remember the Resurrection, and to submit to destiny!
Had I been inclined towards the world and its décor,
then would I have wept over some of the people gone by.

The world has attacked my family members and ruined them,
causing a cleavage like the one hit with a stone.
Some stood against it, while some responded to
the call of death and the remaining are on the wake.

So those who have remained, I fear their departure,
of course, the return of those who have turned away is not awaited.
Now, it has so become that I am given the news about
my family and my children,
like a dreamer relating a dream after remembering it.

Had it not been that my eyes are preoccupied with
the (grief of) kinsfolk of the Prophet of Allah, who have gone,
I would not have stayed.

(And as you know) Your cheeks have an occupation
(of crying) in respect of your friends,
preventing it from sleeping because of the lost ones.

How many of their arms lie in Kerbala, cut off from the body,
and how many soiled cheeks lie on the dusty plain.
They go to where al-Husayn was slain, in the eve and at night
and they say: 'This is the master of all men.'

O ungrateful Ummah! You have not rewarded Ahmad
(peace be upon him and his progeny)
for his heroic struggle in the name of the revealed
verses and chapters (of the Qur'an).

When he left the world, you as survivors treated
his children, the way a wolf does to save Dhu Baqr."

Yahya said: Then al-Ma'moon ordered me to go out to complete his work, I rose. When I returned, Débal was completing his poem with following verses:

"There is no one remaining among the living who we know
from the tribes of Yaman, Bakr or Mudhar,
except that they have a hand in their blood.

As did the people of Aysar who participated in the massacre,
By killing, imprisoning, frightening and by plunder,
the way soldiers acted in the lands of Byzantine and Khazar;
I find the Umayyad excused if they killed,
but I do not see for Banu Abbas any justifiable excuse!

A band of people who they killed first in the name of Islam,
till when they seized power, then they allowed it
branding them as infidels; (they were)
The sons of Harb, Marwan and their families,

the sons of Muit, the rulers of rancour and spite;
Pause and see the grave of the pure one at Tus,
look at it if you have anything to do with faith!

Alas! Every one is mortgaged to which his
two hands do, so take what you wish or leave it."

He said: (Upon hearing this) al-Ma'moon threw his turban on the ground and said: "By Allah! O Débal, you have spoken the truth."

11. The Prophet's relation continues

He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far ibn Muhammad, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Mas'ood, from his father Abu al-Nadhr al-Ayyashi, who reported from Muhammad ibn Hatim, who reported from Muhammad ibn Muadh, who reported from Zakariyya ibn Adi, who reported from Ubaidullah Ibn Amru from Abdullah ibn Muhammad ibn Aqil, from Hamza ibn Suhaib, from Abu Saeed al-Khudari, from his father who said:

I heard the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, say from the pulpit: "What has happened to the people who say that blood relationship with me shall have no benefit on the Day of judgement. Yes, by Allah! My womb relation is linked here and hereafter. And surely, O people, I shall precede you onto the Pool. When you will arrive. Someone will say: 'O messenger of Allah, I am so and so, son of so and so.' Then I will answer: 'As for your lineage, I am aware (of it). But after I had gone, you took to the left side, you retracted your footsteps backwards, on your heels."

12. ‘Ali (as) divides people of the Paradise and of Hell

He said: Al-Mudhaffar ibn Muhammad al-Warraq reported to me from Abu ‘Ali Muhammad ibn Hammam, who reported from Abu Saeed al-Hasan ibn Zakariyya al-Basri, who reported from Umar ibn al-Mukhtar, who reported from Abu Muhammad al-Barsi, from al-Nadhr ibn Suwaid, from Abdullah ibn Maskan, from Abu Baseer, from Abu Ja'far Muhammad al-Baqir, from his forefathers, peace be upon them, that:

The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny said: "How will it be for you O ‘Ali, when you will stand on the brim of hellfire, and the bridge (Sirat) will be laid, and the people will be told: 'Cross the bridge.' And you will tell the hellfire: 'This is for me, and this is for you!' So ‘Ali said: "O messenger of Allah, who will be those with me?" He said: "They are your Shi’ahs, with you wherever you will be."
 
 

13. Benefit of meeting others

He said: Al-Shareef al-Swaleh Abu Muhammad al-Hasan ibn Hamza, may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from Abul Hasan ‘Ali ibn al-Fadhl, who reported from Abu Turab Ubaidullah ibn Musa, who reported from Abul Qasim Abdul Azim ibn Abdullah al-Hasani, may Allah bless him with mercy, who said:

I heard Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn Musa, peace be upon them, say: "Meeting with the brothers widens your intellect and fertilizes your wisdom, even if your meeting with them may be very few."
And may Allah bless upon our master Muhammad, the Prophet and his pure progeny.