Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2

Section Seventeen

The traditions that indicate he is the fifth descendant of the seventh Imam, Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him

Comprised of 115 traditions

  1. Al-Kāfī[^1]: `Alī b. Muḥammad, from al-Ḥasan b. `Īsā b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Ja`far, from his father, from his grandfather, from `Alī b. Ja`far, from his brother (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him, who said:

When the fifth from the descendants of the seventh disappears, fear Allah, fear Allah, concerning your religion. [Take care] that no one takes it away from you. O my son[^2]! Inevitably, the master of this affair will have an occultation to the extent that even those who believed in this affair will no longer believe in it. Indeed, it is a test from Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, by which He will test His creation. Had your fathers and ancestors known a religion more correct than this, they would have certainly followed it.

I asked, “Who is the fifth from the descendants of the seventh?” He replied, ‘O my son! Your intellects (uqūl) become small regarding this and you will not be able to bear it. But if you live [to see him], you will find him soon enough.”

  1. Kamāl al-dīn[^3]: Narrated to us al-Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad b. Idrīs, may Allah be satisfied with him, from his father, from Ayyūb b. Nūḥ, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Ṣafwān b. Mihrān, from (Imam) al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, who said: “He who believes in all the Imams but denies the Mahdī is like he who believes in all the prophets but denies the prophethood of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family.” He was asked, “O Son of the Messenger of Allah! Who is the Mahdī from your descendants?” He replied, “The fifth from the descendants of the seventh. His body will be hidden from you and will not have permission to say his name.”

He has recorded the same tradition from al-Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad in another chapter.

He has narrated the same from `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Daqqāq, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Sahl b. Ziyād al-Ādamī, from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from `Abd al-`Azīz al-`Abdī, from `Abd-Allah b. Abī Ya`fūr, from (Imam) al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, but with the difference: “‘Whoever acknowledges all the Imams from my forefathers and my descendants but denies the Mahdī from my descendants, is like the one who believes in all the prophets but denies the prophethood of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family.’ I asked, ‘My master! who is the Mahdī?’ . . . (to the end of the tradition).”

He has also recorded it from `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad through his chain of narrators from ibn Abī Ya`fūr.

  1. Kamāl al-dīn[^4]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from Ṣāliḥ b. al-Sindī, from Yūnus b. `Abd al-Raḥmān who narrates:

I went to Imam Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him, and asked, “O son of Allah’s Messenger! Are you the one who will rise with the truth (al-qā’im bi-lḥaq)?” He replied, “I am the riser with the truth (al-qā’im bi-lḥaq) but the Qā’im who will purify the earth from the enemies of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and fill it with justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness is the fifth from my descendants. He will have an occultation that will be prolonged because of fear for his life. During this period [of occultation], some people will apostate from religion while others will remain steadfast.”

He continued, “Salvation is for our followers; those who grasp our rope during the occultation of our Qā’im; those who are steadfast in loving us and dissociating from our enemies. They are from us and we are from them. They are satisfied with us as [their] Imams and we are satisfied with them as our Shias. Salvation is for them, salvation is for them. By Allah, they will be with us in our degree on the Day of Judgment.”

  1. Muqtaḍab al-athar[^5]: Muḥammad b. Ja`far al-Ādamī, from his own handwriting—and ibn Ghālib al-Ḥāfiẓ has praised him—from Aḥmad b. `Ubaid b. Nāṣiḥ, from al-Ḥusayn b. `Ulwān al-Kalbī, from Hammām b. al-Ḥarth, from Wahb b. Munabba, who said:

Moses—in the night of Divine Conversation (laylat al-khiṭāb)—looked at all the trees at Ṭūr, while each and every stone and plant was speaking about the Prophet Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, and the twelve heirs (waṣīs) after him. Moses said, “My Lord! I do not see any creature that you have created but that it is speaking about Prophet Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and his twelve heirs (waṣī). What is their position before You?”

He replied, “O son of `Imrān! I created them before the creation of the lights. I placed them in My Store of Sanctity (khazānat qudsī), whilst they enjoy the gardens of My Will (yarta`ūna fī riyaḍi mashī’atī) and inhale the fragrance of My Greatness (yatanassamūna rūḥ jabarūtī) and witness the realms of my kingdom, until I desired with My Will to implement My decree and destiny (qadā’ī wa qadarī). O son of `Imrān! . . . I have decorated My Heavens with them. O son of `Imrān! Fasten to their remembrance because surely, they are the store of My Knowledge, the chest of My Wisdom, and the mine of My Light.”

Al-Ḥusayn b. `Ulwān says, “I mentioned this (narration) to (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, who said, ‘It is the truth. They are twelve from the family of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family: `Alī, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, Muḥammad b. `Alī, and whoever Allah wills.’ I said, ‘May I be sacrificed for you! I am asking you so that you may make the truth clear for me.’ He replied, ‘[After them], myself, then followed by this son of mine—and he pointed towards his son Mūsā—the fifth from his descendants will be hidden and it will not be permitted to mention him by his name.’”

  1. Kamāl al-dīn[^6]: Narrated to us `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. `Imrān, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Mūsā b. `Imrān al-Nakha`ī, from his paternal uncle al-Ḥusayn b. Yazīd al-Naufalī, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza, from his father, from Abū Baṣīr, who heard [Imam] Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, say: “The customs of the prophets (sunan al-anbiyā) by which they went into occultation, will exactly occur for the Qā’im from us Ahl al-Bait.”

Abū Baṣīr says: “I asked, ‘O son Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Qā’im from you Ahl al-Bait?” He replied, ‘O Abū Baṣīr! He is the fifth from the descendant of my son Mūsā. He is the son of the Master of the Maids. He will have an occultation in which the people of falsehood will become skeptical. Then, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will make him appear and Allah will conquer by his hand the Easts and the Wests. The Spirit of Allah, Jesus son of Mary, will descend and pray behind him. The earth will be illuminated with the light of its Lord. There will not remain a single spot on earth where anyone other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, had been worshipped except that Allah will be worshipped there. The religion, in its entirety, will be only for Allah even if the polytheists detest it.’”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558–571, 608, 612, 786–807, 859, 973, 1216, and 1230.

[^1]: Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, chap. 138, p. 336, no. 2; Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 10, p. 154, no. 11; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 34, pp. 359–360, no. 1; `Ilal al-sharā’i`, pp. 166–167, no. 128; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 104, Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 35, pp. 268–269, no. 1; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 7, p. 150, no. 1; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 476, no. 164; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 1; Bishārat al-Islām, chap. 8, pp. 149–150, no. 1; Ithbāt al-waṣiyya, p. 205.

[^2]: Apparently, ‘son’ is used by the Imam to refer to all those people who were present there—Ed.

[^3]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 33, p. 333, no. 1; chap. 33, p. 338, no. 12; chap. 39, pp. 410–411,no. 4; and chap. 39, p. 411, no. 5; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 6, p. 145, no. 10; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, pp. 469–470, no. 138.

[^4]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 34, p. 361, no. 5; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 35, pp. 269–270, no. 2; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 7, p. 151, no. 6, with the difference that it says, “grasp our love” instead of “grasp our rope”; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 477, sect. 5, no. 168.

[^5]: Muqtaḍab al-athar, p. 41, no. 24; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 26, p. 149, no. 24; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, chap. 9, p. 712, sect. 18, no. 161. I say: We have not mentioned this tradition because Wahb has narrated it, rather, we have relied on it because it has been confirmed by Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him.

[^6]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 33, pp. 345–346, no. 31; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 6, p. 146, no. 14, with a slight difference; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 473, sect. 5, no. 152, with a slight difference.