The Last Luminary and Ways to Delve Into the Light

Responsibility 43: Grief and Sorrow Due to Separation Part 2

Another responsibility of the believers is to shed tears due to being separated from the Imam and because of the trials and tribulations which he has had to endure. If it is not possible for a person to cry, then he should try and force himself to cry or at least ‘pretend’ to cry which is known as ‘tabaka’ in ‘Arabic.

In a tradition from Imam Ja’far b. Muhammad as-Sadiq (as) it is mentioned that:

“Anyone who remembers us or when we are remembered in his presence, a tear-drop the size of the wing of a gnat comes out from his eye, Allah will forgive his sins even if they are the amount of the foam on the waters of the sea.”[^1]

In another tradition from Imam Ja’far b. Muhammad as-Sadiq (as) he has stated:

“Take care not to refer to him (by name))! By Allah (I swear that) your Imam will disappear for many years during which time, you shall be (intensely) tested until it will be said: “He died” or “He has perished” or “Which valley has he taken as his place of recluse?” Verily, the eyes of the believers shall shed tears for him.”[^2]
Sudair Sairafi has narrated that:

Sudair al-Sairafi says: “I along with al-Mufaďďal b. ‘Umar, Abu BaSir, Aban b. Taghlib entered upon our master Abu ‘Abdillah Ja’far b. Muhammad (as). We saw him sitting on bare earth with a Khaibari woolen cloak that was ringed at the neck, did not have any pockets and had short sleeves.

He was crying like a deeply afflicted and bereaved mother of a child from the depths of a heart that was full of mourning. Grief had appeared in the sides of his face, the change had spread on to both of his cheeks, and tears were rolling on the sides of his visage, as he was saying: ‘My master, your occultation has taken away my night’s sleep it has narrowed my bed for me, and has snatched away the solace from my heart.

My master, your occultation has turned my tragedies into the atrocities of eternity. The loss of one after the other perishes a crowd and a multitude.

No more I feel the tear that drops from my eye, and the moan that faintly leaves my chest from the places of tragedies and past calamities except that it exemplifies before my eye the greatest and cruelest of catastrophes, the most dismal and disdainful mishaps, mixed with your wrath, and calamities coupled with your anger.’”

Sudair says: “Our hearts and minds were overwhelmed by that terrifying scene and mortifying view. We thought that it is the sign of a dreadful shattering or times have brought him a calamity.

We said: ‘May Allah, O’ son of the best of the creation, never bring tears into your eyes. For what incidents are your eyes pouring and your tears raining and what situation has led you to this mourning?’

Sudair says, as-Sadiq (as) took a deep sigh that his chest expanded and his fright enhanced, and he said: ‘O’ you, I looked at the Book of al-Jafr this morning, and that is the book that encompasses the knowledge of deaths, trials and tribulations and the knowledge of all that has been and all that will be until the Day of Judgment, which Allah, glory to His name, has exclusively imparted to Muhammad and the Imams after him, peace be unto him and them.

I viewed therein the birth of our Qa`im a(ajtf) and his disappearance and its protraction and the length of his lifespan and the trials of the believers through him after him in that period and the generation of doubts in their hearts from the length of his disappearance and the apostasy of most of them from their religion and their removing the cord of Islam from their necks.

About which Allah, glory to His name, has said: “We have fastened to everyman’s neck his fateful record’ which is the wilayah. So emotions overpowered me and grieves overwhelmed me.’

We said: “O’ son of the Messenger of Allah, dignify us and bestow honor upon us by sharing some of what you know from the knowledge.’

He said: “Allah, the Exalted, has consigned three qualities in the Qa`im (ajtf) of ours, which He had consigned to three of the apostles. He foreordained his birth like the birth of Moses, his disappearance like the disappearance of Jesus and his protraction like the protraction of Noah. Moreover, He made the lifespan of His virtuous servant al-Khidhr a proof of his lifespan.’

I said: “remove the curtains for us, O’ son of the Messenger of Allah from the faces of these concepts.’

He said: “As for the birth of Moses: When the Pharaoh discerned that the demise of his kingdom is in his hands, he ordered the soothsayers be called, who foretold him about his lineage and that he will be from the Children of Israel. Pharaoh did not cease to have his men rip open the abdomens of the pregnant women of the Children of Israel, until he killed in the pursuit of Moses twenty and some odd thousand babies.

He was unable to murder Moses, for Allah, the Exalted, protected him. Likewise, when the Umayyad and the ‘Abbasids discovered that the demise of their kingdom and that of their kings and tyrants will be at the hands of the Qa`im (ajtf) from us.

They showed enmity towards us and took their swords out for the murder of the House of the Messenger of Allah (as) and to cut off his progeny in order to make certain they have killed the Qa`im (ajtf). However, Allah dislikes not revealing His Command for one of the oppressors until His light is full, even if the pagans may dislike this.

As for the disappearance of Jesus: The Jews and the Christians formed unanimity that he has been killed whereas Allah belied them in His verse:

“They did not kill, nor crucify him, but rather, it was made dubious for them.’

Likewise is the disappearance of the Qa`im (ajtf) since one congregation denies it for its length ranging from one misguided person who says: “He was never born’, to another who says: “He was born and he died’, to another who rejects faith by saying that our eleventh was barren, to another who deviates by saying: “This will increase to thirteen an upwards’, and another who sins against God, the Exalted, by saying: “The spirit of the Qa`im speaks through the body of someone else.’

As for the protraction of Noah: When he prayed for the descent of punishment against his people from the heavens, Allah, the Exalted, sent Gabriel, the Trusted Spirit, with seven kernels, and said: “O’ Apostle of Allah, Allah, the Exalted, says to you: “They are my creation and my servants.

I will not perish them with a lightening from my thunderbolts until the call has been stressed upon and the proof has become binding.

Retain your hard labor in making the call to your people, for I will reward you for that. Plant these kernels, because your relief and liberation will be at its plantation, outgrowth, and fruition when it reaches fruition. Give this glad tiding to your believing followers.’

When the trees grew and thrived and their trunks and branches developed and spread out and their fruits grew big, he asked Allah, the Exalted, for the fulfillment of the promise. Allah, the Exalted, ordered him to plant the seeds of those trees and retain patience and hard work and make the call to his people.

He informed the nations that believed in him; three hundred men of them turned away from him and said: “If what Noah is claiming were true, the promise of his Lord would not have been violated.’ Then Allah, the Exalted, continued to order him every time to plant the seeds until they had been planted seven times.

Nations of believers continued to lose congregations until they were left only seventy and some odd men. At that time, did Allah, the Exalted, sent a message to him and said: “O’ Noah, now the dawn on your eyes has broken the night as the truth has manifested with clarity and the order of belief has become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone who had a wicked disposition.

If I had destroyed the disbelievers and kept those who have apostatized from amongst the believers in you, I had not fulfilled my early promise to the believers from your people who were sincere in their belief in Me and had adhered to the rope of your Prophet hood that I would make them heirs in earth and empower for them their religion and replace their fear with security, so that worship be pure for me by the departure of doubts from their hearts.

How could I provide heirship and empowerment and replacement of fear with security while I know the weakness of certainty of the people who apostatized and their wicked dispositions and their evil insides, which were the outcomes of hypocrisy and the initiation of misguidance?

If they had procured from Me the kingdom that will be given to the believers at the time of heir ship when I will have killed their enemies, they would have sniffed the smells of its attractions, and it would have strengthened the inner secrets of their hypocrisy, and eternalized the strings of misguidance in their hearts, and they would have faced their brothers with enmity and would have battled them in pursuit of chiefdom and the distinction of commanding and forbidding.

And how can the religion’s empowerment and the Command’s spread amongst the believers coexist with rise of mischief and occurrence of wars? Never. Build the ark under our eyes and as We reveal.’”

AS-Sadiq (as) said: “Likewise is the Qa`im (ajtf). The days of his occultation will be lengthy so truth may become clear and belief may become pure from impurity by the apostasy of everyone from the Shi’a with a wicked disposition, who are feared they are hypocrites when they expect heir ship and empowerment and a vast security in the reign of the Qa`im (ajtf).’

al-Mufaďďal says, I asked: “O’ son of the Messenger of Allah, the nawasib believe this verse has been revealed about Abu Bakr, ‘Umar, ‘Uthman and ‘Ali (as)!’

He said: “May Allah not guide the hearts of the nawasib. When was the religion which Allah and His Messenger pleased with empowered through spread of security in the Ummah and departure of fear from their hearts and doubts from breasts during the reign of anyone of them? In the reign of ‘Ali (as) especially with the apostasy of Muslims and mischief which were occurring in their days and the wars that were breaking out between the disbelievers and between themselves.’

Then as-Sadiq (as) recited this verse:

“Until, when the apostles despaired and deemed they were counted liars, our succor came to him”

As for the virtuous servant of Allah, al-Khidr: Allah, the Exalted, did not lengthen his lifespan for the sake of an apostleship ordained to him, nor for a book sent to him, nor for a code of law replacing the previous codes from other messengers before him, nor for an Imamate obliging His servants to follow him, nor any obedience mandated with respect to him.

Instead, since Allah, the Exalted, knew how lengthy He would make the life of the Qa`im (ajtf) in the days of his disappearance and He knew the rejection of His servants with respect to the length of that life, He lengthened the lifespan of the Virtuous Servant for no other reason but to argue on its basis for the lifespan of the Qa`im (ajtf) and so that the argument of the adversaries may cease and people may not have any proofs against Allah.”[^3] and [^4]

[^1]: Biharul Anwar, vol. 44, pg. 278, sec. 34, no. 3

[^2]: al-Ghaybah of al-Nu’mani, pg. 152; Kamal ad-Din wa Tamam an-Ni’mah, vol. 2, pg. 347, sec. 23, no. 35

[^3]: Kamal ad-Din wa Tamam an-Ni’mah, vol. 2, pg. 352, sec. 33, no. 50; Biharul Anwar, vol. 51, pg. 219, no. 9

[^4]: The translation of this tradition has been taken from the English translation of Biharul Anwar, vol. 51, published by Ansariyan Publications and translated by Hasan Allahyari.