Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam volume 2

Section Six

The traditions that mention he is from the descendants of Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him

Comprised of 225 traditions

510. Al-Fitan[^1]: Narrated to us Yaḥyā b. al-Yamān, from Sufyān, from Abī Isḥāq, from `Āṣim, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “He [i.e. the Mahdī] is a man from me.”

511. Farā’id al-simṭain[^2]: Through his chain of narrators from Thābit b. Dīnār, from Sa`īd b. Jubair, from ibn `Abbās, from The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

`Alī b. Abī Ṭālib is the leader (Imām) of my nation and my successor upon them after me. From his descendants is the Qā’im—the awaited one—through whom Allah will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. I swear by the One Who rightly sent me as a giver of good news! Surely those who will remain steadfast in believing in him during his occultation will be scarcer than red phosphorus (kibrīt al-aḥmar).

Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī stood up and said, “O Messenger of Allah! Will the Qā’im from your descendants have an occultation?” He answered:

Yes, by my Lord! Through him Allah will certainly sift (layumaḥḥiṣu) the believers and destroy the disbelievers. O Jābir! Surely, this is an affair from the affair of Allah and a secret from the secret[s] of Allah. Its knowledge is concealed from His servants. Have no doubt about him because indeed, having doubt about the affairs of Allah is disbelief (kufr).

512. Dalā’il al-imāma[^3]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah, from Muḥammad b. Hammām, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mālik al-Kūfī, from Sufyān b. al-Mahdī, from Abān, from Anas b. Mālik who said:

One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, came to see us and saw `Alī. He placed his hand on `Alī’s shoulder and said, “O `Alī! If nothing remains from the world but one day, Allah will prolong that day until a person from your descendants rules. He will be called Mahdī and will guide towards Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He. The Arabs will be guided by him just like you guided the unbelievers and the polytheists from deviation.” Then, he said, “It is written on both his palms: ‘Pledge allegiance to him because indeed, allegiance is for Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He.’”

513. Ghaybat al-Shaykh[^4]: From Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Muṣabbiḥ, from Abū `Abd al-Raḥmān, from whom he had heard from, from Wahb b. Munabba, from ibn `Abbās (in a lengthy narration) in which he said, “O Wahb! Thereafter, the Mahdī will appear.” I asked, “[Is he] from your descendants?” He replied, “No, by Allah! He is not from my descendants but from the descendants of `Alī, peace be on him. Salvation is for the one who lives in his era. Through him, Allah will grant relief to this umma until he fills it with fairness and justice . . . (to the end of the narration).

514. Ma`ānī l-akhbār[^5]: Narrated to us Abū l-`Abbās Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq al-Ṭāliqānī, may Allah have mercy on him, from `Abd al-Aziz b. Yaḥyā al-`Alawī in Basra, from al-Mughairat b. Muḥammad, from Rajā’ b. Salma, from `Amr b. Shimr, from Jābir al-Ju`fī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, delivered a sermon in Kūfa after returning from the Battle of Nahrawān because he had heard Mu`āwiya was abusing and cursing him and killing his companions. He stood up and said . . . (He then narrates the sermon in which `Alī, peace be on him, mentions the virtues bestowed by Allah upon his Prophet and himself . . . until he says) and from my descendants is the Mahdī of this nation.

515. Ghaybat al-Shaykh[^6]: Narrated to me a group from Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. Sufyān al-Bazaufarī, from Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba al-Naishābūrī, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Naṣr b. Muzāḥim, from Abū Lahī`a, from Abū Qubail, from `Abd-Allah b. `Amr b. al-`Āṣ, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said (in a lengthy tradition):

Then, the Mahdī will emerge who he is a man from his descendants. (Then the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, pointed towards `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib.) Through him, Allah will destroy falsehood and will conclude the era of hardships. Through him, Allah will remove the disgrace of slavery from your necks. I am the first of this nation, the Mahdī is its middle, and Jesus is its end and between these is a crooked old man.

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 80, 81, 113, 118, 120, 126, 127, 129, 149, 153, 158, 159, 160, 168, 170, 173, 176, 178, 181, 191, 193, 196, 205-308, 323, 325, 359, 382, 397, 411, 417, 428, 450, 458, 463, 464, 467, 469, 472, 492, 497–499, 502, 506, 516-543, 546–548, 550–572, 588, 589, 597, 600, 608, 612, 623–626, 641, 670, 685, 757, 761, 765, 770, 775, 786–807, 859, 918, 973, 1104, and 1230.

[^1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 197; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 189, p. 84.

[^2]: Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, pp. 335–336, no. 589; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 424, citing al-manāqib. The same has been narrated in the book Kashf al-yaqīn, pp. 191–192, from al-Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. `Alī al-Naṭanzī—known as Nādirat al-Falak—in his book from Abū l-Ḥasan Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Muqri’, from `Alī b. Shujā` b. `Alī al-Ṣaiqalī, from al-Sharīf Abū l-Qāsim `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī ibn al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. al-`Abbās b. `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, from al-Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Hishām, from Muḥammad b. Ja`far al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl al-Barmakī, from Muḥammad b. al-Furāt, from Thābit b. Dīnār, from Sa`īd b. Jubair, from ibn `Abbās. The same has been narrated by Al-Ṣadūq in Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, p. 287, no. 7, from Muḥammad b. Mūsā al-Mutawakkil, from Muḥammad b. Abī Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl al-Barmakī, from `Alī b. Uthmān, from Muḥammad b. al-Furāt, from Thābit b. Dīnār, from ibn Jubair, from ibn Abbās. Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs says: Whoever ponders over this great tradition which is a proof upon whoever it reaches—and also ponders on the many other narrations that we have mentioned in this book—will know that the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has left no place for any arguments for anybody concerning `Alī, peace be on him and his son Mahdī and his long-life, peace be on him. This is from the signs of Allah, Majestic be His Majesty, and from the proofs of Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. He has informed about the birth of the Mahdī’s forefathers, then he has informed about his long life before anybody knew what would be the condition of the Mahdī during his occultation. So, for Allah and His Messenger, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, is the clear proof for whomsoever he was sent to in this perishable world and on the Day of Rewarding and Punishing (yum al-jazā’)” (Kitāb al-yaqīn bi ikhtiṣāṣ `Alī bi-’imrat al-mu’minīn); Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 38, chap. 61, pp. 126–127, no. 76, citing Kashf al-yaqīn by al-Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Naṭanzī; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 618, no. 177.

[^3]: Dalā’il al-imāma, p. 250, no. 44; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 574, no. 716, which mentions the first part of the tradition.

[^4]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 187, no. 146; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51 chap. 1, , p. 76, no. 31; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 504, no. 302.

[^5]: Ma`ānī l-akhbār, chap. 27, pp. 58–60, no. 9; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, chap. 9, p. 488, no. 162.

[^6]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 185, no. 144; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 75, no. 29; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 503, no. 300.