The Promised Mahdi (part One)

20

Chapter Twenty: Miracles and narratives of his Emissaries

1- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from a group from Husain bin Ali bin Babawayh (brother of Shaykh Saduq) that he said:

A group of my associates who were in Baghdad in the year in which the Karamathians raided the pilgrims of Mecca, and that is the year in which meteoroids fell, narrated that my father (a.s.) wrote to the Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh, may Allah sanctify his tomb, seeking permission to go for Hajj.

The answer came, “Do not go in this year.” My father returned a reply, saying, “It is an obligatory pledge. Is it permissible for me not to go. The answer came, “If you must perform, then be in the last caravan.”

My father traveled with the last caravan and his life was saved. All the people in other caravans that were ahead of him were killed.

2- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Shalmaghani in Awsiya that Abu Ja’far Marwazi narrated that:

Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Umar and a number of others came to the Askar and were there in the days when Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) was alive. Amongst them was Ali Ibne Ahmad Ibne Tanin. Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Umar wrote a letter asking permission to enter the tomb. Ali Ibne Ahmad said to him, “Do not write my name. I am not seeking permission.” Ja’far Ibne Muhammad did not write his name and the reply came, “Enter you and the one who did not seek permission.”

3- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Lady Hakima that she said:

I came to Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) forty days after the delivery of Narjis. I saw our master the Master of the Age, walking in the house. I have never seen a tongue as eloquent as his. Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) smiled and said: “We the congregation of the Imams grow in a day as others grow in a year.” She said: I later asked Abu Muhammad about him. He said: “We entrusted him to the one the mother of Musa entrusted her son to.”

4- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Muhammad Ibne Harun Hamadani that he said:

I owed five hundred dinars as religious dues for which I was very uneasy. Then I said to myself, I have shops, which I had bought for five hundred and thirty dinars. I set them aside to sell them for five hundred dinars, and by Allah, I had neither spoken nor conversed about it, that the Imam (a.s.) wrote to Muhammad Ibne Ja’far, “Take the stores from Muhammad Ibne Harun in exchange of the five hundred dinars he owes us.”

An Interesting Story

5- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Muhammad Ibne Yusuf Shashi that he said:

When I returned from Iraq, there was a man with us called Muhammad Ibne Hasin Katib, who had collected money for the Imam of the Age. He asked me about the Imam; so, I informed him of the proofs I had seen.

He said: “I have money for the Gharim (a.s.). What do you say I should do with it?” I said: “Send them to Hajiz.” He asked, “Anyone above the Hajiz?” I said: “Yes, the Shaykh.”

He said: “When Allah asks me about it, I will say you said so.” I said: “Yes.”

I left and then saw him years later. He said: “I was leaving for Iraq and with me was the money for the Imam of the Age. I must tell you that I sent two hundred dinars with Abid Ibne Yali Farsi and Ahmad Ibne Ali Kulthumi and wrote to the Imam about it and asked him for his prayers.

The answer came to what I had sent, considering that I was holding one thousand dinars and had sent him only two hundred dinars, because I had doubts and the rest of his money was still with me. It was as he had said.

He had added, ‘If you want to transact through anyone, you must refer to Abu Husain Asadi in Ray.’”

I asked, “Was it as he had written to you?” He said: “Yes. I had sent two hundred dinars, because I had doubts. Then Allah removed my doubts.”

Hajiz died after two or three days. I went and told him about his death. He became much sorrowful. I said to him, “Grieve not. It was in his letter to you. His informing that the money was a thousand dinars and then ordering you to act through Asadi was because he knew Hajiz would die.”

6- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Muhammad Ibne Husain says that Tamimi narrated from a man from Astarabad, saying:

I went to Askar with thirty dinars in an enfolder. One of these coins was a Syrian dinar. I reached the gate and as I was sitting there, a slave girl or a page, which I don’t clearly remember, came out and said: “Give me what you have brought.” I said: “I don’t have anything.” The person returned and then came back again and said: “You have thirty dinars in a green enfolder, one of which is a Syrian dinar. There is also a ring.” I had forgotten about the ring. I delivered them to him and took the ring.

7- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Masrur Tabbakh that he said:

I wrote to Hasan Ibne Rashid about a severity I was experiencing at my home. I did not find him at his house and came back. I entered the city of Abu Ja’far. As I was walking in the courtyard, a man came across me whom I had not seen. He held my hand and slipped a white sac into it. I looked; there was a writing on it, “Twelve dinars.” There was a writing on the sac that read, “Masrur Tabbakh.”

8- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Shadhan that he said:

Four hundred and eighty dirhams were gradually deposited with me. I made the figure five hundred from my own pocket and sent it to Muhammad Ibne Ahmad Qummi and did not write how much of it was mine. He sent me a letter that said: “Five hundred dirhams came, twenty of which was yours.”

9- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Abu Sulaiman Mahmudi that he said:

We were leaving Dainawar with Ja’far Ibne Abdul­ Ghaffar. The Shaykh came to us before our departure and asked us that when we go to Ray, we had to do certain things - When we came back to Dainawar, the governorship of Ray was conferred to him after a month. I went to Ray and realized what he had said to me.

10- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Ghulal bin Ahmad from Abul Reja, the Egyptian, who was one of the saints, that he said:

I came out to investigate after the demise of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). I said to myself, “If there is someone, he would have been known after three years.” I then heard a voice but did not see a person, which said: “O Nasr Ibne Abde Rabb, say to the people of Egypt, did you believe in the Messenger of Allah only after seeing him?” I did not know that my father’s name was Abde Rabb.

Because I was born in Madayan and Abu Abdullah Naufali had taken me to Egypt and I had grown up there. When I heard the voice, I did not stumble upon anything and left.

Another interesting story

11- Al-Kharaij: It is narrated from Ahmad Ibne Abi Ruh, that he said:

A woman from the people of Dainawar sent for me. When I went to her, she said: “O Ibne Abi Ruh, you are the most trustworthy of all people in our area in religiosity and piety, and I want to vest in you a trust for which I am making you responsible to deliver and relinquish it.”

I said: “Allah-willing, I will do that.” She said: “These dirhams are in this sealed sac. Don’t open it and do not look into it until you have delivered it to the one who informs you of what is in it. This is my earring which equates ten dinars and it has three stones, valued at ten dinars.

I have a wish from the Master of the Age. I want him to inform me about it before I ask him about it.” I asked, “What is your need?” “My mother took a loan of ten dinars in my wedding,” she said: “I don’t know from whom. I don’t know who to pay back to. If the Imam of the Age informs you about it, I will pay it back to whoever he commands you to.”

I said to myself, How am I going to say this to Ja’far Ibne Ali. Then I said: This is a dilemma between me and Ja’far Ibne Ali. I took the money and the ring and came to Baghdad. I came to Hajiz Ibne Yazid Washsha. I greeted him and sat there. He said: “Do you need something?” “This is the money,” I said: “I will not give it to you until you inform me how much it is and who has given it to me. If you inform me, I will give it to you.”

“O Ahmad Ibne Abi Ruh,” he said: “take it to Samarrah.” I said: “La ilaha illa Allah for this. What an extreme thing has she desired!” I came out and went to Samarrah. I thought I would start from Ja’far; but then I thought and said: I will start with them, and if they are able to inform me of this clandestine enterprise, then they are the ones, otherwise, I will go to Ja’far.

I went near the house of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). A servant came out to me and said: “Are you Ahmad Ibne Abi Ruh?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “Here is a slip, read it.” It was written in it:

“In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. O Ibne Abi Ruh, Atika binte Dairani entrusted you with a bag in which, you think, there is one thousand dirhams, but it is not as you think. You have delivered the trust and have not opened the bag and do not know what is in it. There are one thousand dirhams and fifty dinars. You have an earring with you which the lady thought it equated ten dinars.

She is right with the gems therein. It has three pearls, ten dinars their purchase value and they equate more. Give them to our slave girl so-and-so, for we have granted them to her. Go to Baghdad and give the money to Hajiz and take from him whatever he gives you for your expenses to your house.

As for the ten dinars she believes her mother borrowed in her wedding and she does not know from whom; rather she knows, whose they are. It is Kulthum binte Ahmad and she is a Nasibi, so she did not feel comfortable to give her and wanted to divide it between her sisters and asked our permission with that regard. So she may divide it amongst the weak sisters of hers.

Do not, O Ibne Abi Ruh, return to belief in Ja’far and to test him to inform you of these secrets. Go back to your house, for your uncle has just died and Allah has bestowed you with his house and money.”

I returned to Baghdad and gave the bag to Hajiz. He weighed it and there were one thousand dirhams and fifty dinars. He gave me thirty dinars and I took them and returned to the place where I had disembarked. There was someone who had come to me to inform me that my uncle had just died and that my family was asking me to come back. I went back and he had died and I inherited from him three thousand dinars and one hundred thousand dirhams.

12- Al-Kafi & Irshad: It is narrated from Muhammad Ibne Abi Abdullah Sayyari that he said:

I delivered some commodities as religious dues to Marzbani Harithi. Amongst them was a gold bracelet. All were accepted but the bracelet was returned. I was ordered to break it. I broke it and there it was: Bits of iron,

copper and brass were in its middle. I took them out and sent the gold and then it was accepted.

13- Al-Kafi & Irshad: It is narrated from Ali Ibne Muhammad who narrates from Abu Abdullah Ibne Salih, saying:

“One year I went to Baghdad. (At first) I had asked permission to go but it had not been granted to me. So I remained for twenty-two days after the departure of the caravan towards Naharawan. Then I received permission to depart on the Wednesday. I was told to go with it. I set out in despair at catching it up. I reached Nahrawan and the caravan was still there. I only had time to feed my camel before the caravan set out and I set out with it. He (the Hidden Imam) had prayed for my safety. Therefore I came to no harm. Praise be to Allah.”

14- Al-Kafi, Al-Kharaij & Irshad: It is narrated from Ali bin Muhammad from Nasar bin Sabah Balkhi from Muhammad bin Yusuf Shashi that he said:

“I was afflicted with fistula. I had physicians examine me and spent much money over it, but the medicine did not benefit at all. I wrote a letter seeking the Patron’s prayers. The reply came, “May Allah apparel you with the garment of health and make you with us in this world and the hereafter.”

The Friday did not come but I was healed and the spot had become like the palm of my hand. I called a physician who was one of our scholars and showed it to him. He said: “We did not know any medicine for this. Nor has this healing come to you but from Allah.”

Reports of Muhammad bin Salih

15- Al-Kafi & Irshad: It is narrated from Ali bin Muhammad from Muhammad bin Salih that he said:

“When my father passed away and I became in charge, my father had bills of exchange over people belonging to the monies of Gharim (meaning the Imam of the Age (a.s.) Shaykh Mufeed says, “This was a code in the past by which Shia referred to the Imam of the Age (a.s.) for the sake of Taqayyah).

I wrote to the Imam and reported to him. He replied, “Ask them and seek the transferred amounts.” All paid except one who owed a bill worth four hundred dinars.

I came to him to ask him. He asked for more time and his son insulted me. I complained to his father. He said: “So what?” I grabbed his beard and seized his leg and pulled him to the middle of the house and kicked him a number of times. His son went out crying for help from the people of Baghdad, saying, “A Qummi, a Rafidi is killing my father.”

A crowd gathered around me. I climbed over my horse and said: “Good for you, O people of Baghdad! You incline to the oppressor against the loner and the oppressed. I am from Hamadan and am a Sunni. He is calling me a Qummi and accusing me of being a Rafidi so that he could usurp my right and my money.”

They turned at him and wanted to enter his store. I calmed them down. The man who owed the bill of exchange called me and took an oath of divorcing his wife that he would give me my money at that moment. I took the money from him.”

16- Irshad: It is narrated from Ibne Quluwayh from Shaykh Kulaini from Ali bin Muhammad for Hasan Ibne Isa Aridhi that he said:

“When Abu Muhammad Hasan Ibne Ali (a.s.) passed away, a man came from Egypt and brought some religious dues to Mecca for the Master of the Affair. People would come and go to him and some people told him that Abu Muhammad has passed away without leaving an heir; some told him that Ja’far was his heir; and some told him that the heir was his son.

He sent a man called Abu Talib with a letter to Askar to investigate the matter and verify its authenticity. Abu Talib went to Ja’far and asked him for a proof. Ja’far said, “I don’t have it ready at this time.”

The man went to the gate and submitted the book to our scholars who were assigned as emissaries. A reply came, “May Allah reward you with respect to your friend. He just passed away and instructed that the money that was with him to be given to a trustworthy man, who would do as he pleases.” His letter had been answered and it had happened as said he had said.”

17- Irshad: It is narrated through the same chains from Ali Ibne Muhammad that:

“A man from Abah carried some religious dues to deliver and forgot a sword, which he wanted to carry. When the things arrived, a letter came affirming their receipt, and there was written therein, “What happened to the sword which you forgot?”

Story of Ahmad Dinawari

18- Irshad: It is narrated from Hasan Ibne Muhammad Ashari that he said:

“Letters of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) about conducting with Junaid, the murderer of Faris Ibne Hatam Ibne Mahawayh, and Abul Hasan and another person used to come. And when Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) passed away, letters resumed about conducting with Abul Hasan and his friend, but nothing came about Junaid. I was sad because of it. Then came the news of Junaid’s death.”

19- Kitabun Nujoom: Sayyid Ibne Tawus has narrated through his own chains from Muhammad bin Jarir Tabari that he has narrated from Ahmad Dinawari Siraj Makuni from Abul Abbas famous as ‘Istara’ that he said:

I returned from Ardabil to Dainawar, intending to go for Hajj. This was a year or two after the martyrdom of Abu Muhammad Hasan Ibne Ali (a.s.) and people were in great confusion.

The people of Dainawar rejoiced as they received the news of my arrival. The Shia gathered around me and said: “Sixteen thousand dinars have been collected before us from the money of the Patrons. We want you to carry

this with you and submit them where they should be submitted.” I said: “O people, this is a perplexing matter and we do not know the representative at this time.” “We have chosen you to carry this money, because of our knowledge of your trustworthiness and generosity.” They said: “Act, so you do not lose the assets from your hands without a proof.”

The money was given to me in bags, each bag carrying the name of a man. I carried the money and left. As I arrived at Qarmissin, Ahmad Ibne Hasan Ibne Hasan was living there. I went to him and greeted him. When he saw me, he became very happy and then gave me one thousand dinars in a bag and bundles of colorful garments, in which objects, which I did not know what they were, were wrapped and tied. He said: “Carry these with you and do not withdraw your hands from them without a proof.”

I took the riches and the boxes, not knowing what was tied inside the garments, and went to Baghdad. I had only one purpose: to search for the person who was appointed as the emissary. I was told that there was a man known as Baqitani who was claiming to be an emissary; another man known as Ishaq Ahmar, who was claiming to be an emissary; and another Ja’far Amari, who was saying he was an emissary.

I began with Baqitani; I went to him and found him to be an awe-inspiring aged man with an evident manhood and an Arabian courser and many slaves. People had crowded before him and were engaged in discussions. I came to him and offered my greetings. He welcomed me, sat me in his proximity, and became happy and was kind to me. I kept sitting until most of the people had left.

He asked me about my religion. I said: “I am from Dainawar and have come with some assets as religious dues, which I need to submit.” “Bring them,” he said. “I need a proof,” I said. “You will come to me tomorrow,” he said. I went to him the next day; he did not offer me a proof. I went to him the third day; he did not offer me a proof.

I went to Ishaq Ahmar and found him to be a young man who was well-attended to his hygiene; his house was bigger than Baqitani’s, and on the same token, his horse and apparels and manhood more prominent, and his slaves greater than his. More people had gathered before him than Baqitani. I entered and offered greetings. He gave me a warm welcome and sat me in his proximity. I waited until few people were left. He asked me what I wanted. I told him what I had told ­Baqitani. I kept going to his house for three days, but he failed to provide me with a proof.

Then I went to Abu Ja’far Amari. I found him an aged man of great humility. He had a white cloak on him and was sitting on a woolen cushion in a small house; he did not have any slaves, nor any of the extravagance and horses and all which the others had. I greeted at him. He returned my greetings and had me sit near him. He was happy to see me. He asked me how I was. I told him that I had come from the mountains and was carrying some religious dues. He said: “If you desire that these commodities reach the person to whom it must reach, then you will go to Samarrah and ask about the house of the son of Imam Reza, which is peopled by its inhabitants. There, you will find whom you are seeking.”

I left him and went to Samarrah and went to the house of Ibne Imam Reza and inquired about the representative. The doorman said that he is occupied now and he will come out soon. I sat at the door, waiting his exit. He came out after an hour. I rose and greeted him. He took my hand and led me towards the house he had. He asked me how I was and what had brought me to him.

I told him that I was bringing some goods from the peripheries of the mountains and that I need to deliver them after seeing a proof. He said: “Yes.” Then he offered me food and said: “Eat this and rest. You are tired and there is an hour remaining to noon prayers. I am going to bring you what you need.”

I ate and slept and when it was the time for prayers, I rose and prayed. Then I went to the riverbank and bathed and adorned myself. I returned to the house of the man and stayed until past a quarter of the night. Then he came at the quarter of the night passed, with a leaf in which it was written:

In the name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate. Ahmad Ibne Muhammad Dainawari arrived. He brought sixteen thousand dinars in such and such sacs. These include the sacs of so-and-so with such and such amount of dinars. It had accounted for all the sacs, including the sac of so-and-so, a surveyor, stating, that it had sixteen dinars.

Satan whispered to me, so I said: “My master knows this better than me.” I kept reading the letter, which was mentioning each and every sac and the name of its sender until I reached its end. Then it mentioned, “He carried from Qirmansha from Ahmad Ibne Hasan Madirani, the brother of Sawwaf, a sac which carries one thousand dinars” and such and such boxes of garments; there is amongst them the garment of so-and-so and its color is such and such. It recounted all of the garments until its last with each one’s color and its sender.

I praised Allah and thanked Him for the end of doubts from my heart. He ordered me to submit all of what I had carried to where Abu Ja’far Amari orders me. I returned to Baghdad and went to Abu Ja’far Amari. My departure and return had taken three days. When Abu Ja’far (a.s.) saw me, he asked, “Didn’t you go?” I said: “My master, I am coming back from Samarrah.”

As I was speaking to Abu Ja’far about my trip, a letter came from our master the Master of the Affair, bliss of Allah be for him. There was a list like the one I had, mentioning the goods and the garments. Abu Ja’far was ordered to submit all of that to Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ahmad Ibne Ja’far Qattan Qummi.

Abu Ja’far Amari put on his clothes and said to me, “Bring what you have to Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ahmad al Qattan Qummi.” I took the money and the garments to the said person’s house and gave them to him.

Then I went for Hajj and when I returned to Dainawar, people gathered around me. I took out the list which the representative of our Master (a.s.) had given to me. I read it to the people. When he heard the sac mentioned on the name of the surveyor, he fell unconscious. We kept treating him until he regained his senses. He fell into prostration thanking Allah, the Exalted, and said: “Praise belongs to the Lord Who conferred on us the favor of

guidance. Now I realized that the earth will never remain devoid of a Hujjah. This sac, by Allah, this surveyor gave it to me and no one knew it except Allah, the Exalted.” I left there and later met with Abul Hasan Madirani and told him my narrative and read the list to him. He said: “Subhan-Allah, I never doubted in anything. Do not doubt that Allah, the Exalted, will not let the earth be without His Hujjah.” Then he narrated to me his following story:

When Idhkukatain battled Yazid Ibne Abdullah in Shahrzur and overwhelmed his domain and held his treasures, he went to a man and mentioned that Yazid Ibne Abdullah put so-and-so’s horse and so-and-so’s sword at the gate of our Master (a.s.). He said: “I gradually kept transferring treasures of Yazid Ibne Abdullah to Idhkukatain. I was procrastinating with the sword and the horse until nothing was left but the two. I hoped that I could keep that for our Master (a.s.).

When his demands for me in Idhkukatain became severe and could no longer put it off, I held the sword and the horse on myself for one thousand dinars. I weighed the money and gave them to the treasurer and said to him, “Put these dinars in the safest place and do not bring them to me in any situation or condition, even if the need for it may become very compelling.” I took the horse and the sword.

I was sitting one day in my place, where I was running the affairs, executing the penalties and delivering orders and prohibitions, when Abul Hasan Asadi entered. He used to visit me from time to time and I would do what he needed me to do for him. As he sat for very long, and I had many things to do, I asked him, “Is there anything you need?” He said: “I need a private moment with you.” I ordered the treasurer to prepare a place us for us in the treasury. We entered the treasury. He took out a small slip from our Master (a.s.) which said: “O Ahmad Ibne Hasan, our one thousand dinars which you have as the price of the horse and the sword, give it to Abul Hasan Asadi.” I fell into prostration before Allah in gratitude for His favor over me and I realized that he is the true Hujjah of Allah, because no one knew about this except me. I gave Asadi another three thousand dinars, because I was very happy for the grace and favor of Allah in this regard.

Sayyid Ibne Tawus inKitabun Nujoom reports through his own chains of narrators from Muhammad bin Jurair Tabari in the books ofDalailul Imamah from Abul Mufaddal Shaibani and he has narrated from Shaykh Kulaini that Qasim Ibne Ala said: I wrote to the Master of the Age three letters about the needs and wishes I had. I told him that I was an aged man and that I did not have an offspring. He answered me with respect to the other wishes but did not say anything about an offspring. I wrote him the fourth letter and entreated him to pray to Allah that He gives me an offspring. He answered me and wrote my wishes and wrote, “O Allah, grant him a son, who would be a solace his heart and make this pregnancy he has worked into a son.”

The letter came but I did not know my woman was pregnant. I went to my slave girl and asked her. She told me her malady had gone. She gave birth to a son. This report is also mentioned in Himyari’sQurbul Asnad .

Abul Husain bin Abul Baghl Katib says: I took on a duty from Abu Mansur Ibne Salihan and then something happened between me and him that caused me going into hiding. He asked for me and threatened me. I waited into hiding with fear and then went to the graveyard of Quraish in Baghdad on a Friday eve. I intended to spend the night there, praying and supplicating.

It was a windy, rainy night. I asked Abu Ja’far, the custodian, to lock the doors and make sure there remains no one, so I may pray and supplicate in solitude and be safe from the entrance of anyone, because I was fearful and did not feel safe.

He did that and locked the doors. Half past the night, the winds and rains were so powerful that they made sure no one came to the place, I stayed praying and reciting Ziyarat, and worshipping. As I was like that, I heard footsteps there before the tomb of our Master Musa (a.s.); there was a man reciting Ziyarat. He greeted Adam, and the other great prophets, peace be with them, and then the Imams, one after the other until he reached the Master of the Age (a.s.), he did not mention him. I much wondered and said perhaps he has forgotten or he does not know or maybe this is his belief.

When he finished his Ziyarat, he offered tworakats ofprayers. I was fearful of him, since I did not know him. He seemed a full young man, appareled in white clothes, wearing a turban with its end coming down under his chin and going over his shoulder, with braided hair, and had a cloak with long threads at its margins on his shoulder. He said: “O Abu Husain Ibne Abul Baghal, why are you not reading the supplication ofFaraj?” “And which supplication is that, my master?” I asked. He said: “Pray two rakats, and say:

Ya Man adhara al-Jamil wa satara al-qabih! Ya mun lam yu’akhidh bil­jarira wa lam yahtikis-sitra! Ya ‘Adhim al-mann, ya Karim as-Safh, ya Hasan al­tajawuz, ya Wasi’ al-Maghtira, ya Basit al-Yadain bir-Rahma, ya Muntaha kulli najwa, wa ya Ghayata kulli shakwa, ya ‘Awna kulli musta’in ya Mubtade’an bin­ne’ami qabla istehqaqiha, ya Rabbahu, ten times, ya Sayyidah, ten times, ya Mawlayah, ten times, ya Ghayatah, ten times, ya Muntaha Ghayata Raghbatah, ten times, as’aluka bi haqqi hadhihi al-asma’ wa bi haqqi Muhammad wa Alihi at-­Tahirin ilia ma kashafta karbi wa nafasta hammi wa farajta ghammi wa aslahta hali.

And then you ask for your desire and ask your wish and then you put your right cheek on the earth and say one hundred times in your Sajdah:Ya Muhammad Ya Ali, Ya Ali ya Muhammad, ikfiyani fa innakuma kafiyai wan-surani fa innakuma nasirai, and you place your left cheek on the earth and say one hundred times,adrikni, and repeat it over and over and you say,al-ghawth, al-ghawth, al­ghawth, until you run out of breath and then raise your head. Allah will fulfill your wish through His generosity.”

As I applied myself to theprayers and supplications, he left. When I was finished, I decided to go out to Abu Ja’far to ask him about the man and how he had entered. I saw all the doors had been locked the way they were. I was perplexed much and said perhaps he had spent the night there and I had not realized. I found Abu Ja’far, the custodian. He came out to me from

the oil-room. I asked him about the gentleman and his entrance. He said: “The doors are locked as you see them. I have not opened them.”

I told him about the incident. He said: “This is our master, the Master of the Age, (a.s.). I have seen him many times in the nights like this when the shrine is empty from the people.” I became much sad for the opportunity I had missed. I exited at near the dawn and went towards Karkh towards the place where I was hiding. It was but the daybreak when men of Ibne Salihan were begging to meet me and were asking my friends about me.

They were carrying a letter of pledge of protection from the minister and a slip in his hand writing that had every pleasant thing. I went to him with a trustworthy friend of mine. He rose and embraced me and treated me in away that I had never seen from him before. He said: “Have things worsened so much for you that you had to complain about me to the Master of the Age (a.s.). I said: “I simply prayed and supplicated.” “I saw my master the Master of the Age,” he replied, “in my dream last night.” He meant the Friday eve. “He was ordering me to do every good deed and expressed a dislike to me that frightened me.”

I said:“La ilaha illa Allah! I bear witness that they are the truth and the pinnacle of righteousness. Last night I saw our master, while I was awake. And he asked me to do such and such things.” I explained to him what I had seen in the shrine. He was astounded. Great favors he did to me with this respect and reached a level I did not anticipate. All of this from the blessings of our master, the Master of the Age.

The author says: I found this and the rest of the previous narratives, which the author ofKitabun Nujoom has narrated from the book ofTabari, in his original book, corresponding to what he has narrated, may Allah bless them both.

20- Kitabun Nujoom: Shaykh Abul Abbas Abdullah Ibne Ja’far Himyari narrates in the second volume of Kitabul Dalail of Tabari that:

“A man from the outskirts of Hamid wrote a letter, asking for a Dua about the baby that had been conceived for him. The Dua about the baby came to him and it was four months before the birth. It said: “You will sire a son.” It was as predicted.

The same book narrates that Hasan bin Ali bin Ibrahim has narrated from Siyari that he said: Ali Ibne Muhammad Saymoori wrote to the Imam of the Age (a.s.) asking for a burial shroud*.* The reply came, “You will need it in the year [two hundred and] eighty.” He died at the predicted time and the Imam sent him a burial shroud two months before his death.

21- Rijal Kashi: Abu Abdullah Balkhi wrote to me, narrating on the authority of Husain Ibne Ruh Qummi that:

Ahmad Ibne Ishaq wrote to the Imam of the Age and sought permission for Hajj. The Imam gave him permission and sent him a dress. Ahmad Ibne Ishaq said: “The news of my final departure has been given.” He returned from Hajj and died at Halwan.

22- Rijal Najjashi: Ali Ibne Husain Ibne Babawayh Qummi (father of Shaykh Saduq) went to Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh and posed some queries to him. Then he sent him a letter through Ali Ibne Ja’far Ibne Aswad, asking him to deliver a slip of his to the Patron (a.s.). He was asking in it a son from the Imam. The Imam wrote back to him:

“We prayed to Allah for you and you will be given two virtuous sons.” So, Abu Ja’far and Abu Abdullah were born to him from a slave girl. Abu Abdullah Husain Ibne Ubaidullah would say, I heard Abu Ja’far say, “I was born with the Dua of the Master of the Affair (a.s.).” He would take pride in it.

Muhammad bin Ali Alawi Husaini

23- Muhajjud Dawat: It is narrated from Ahmad bin Muhammad Alawi Aridhi from Muhammad bin Ali Alawi Husaini, who lived in Egypt that he said:

A great calamity and severe concern struck me in context to my relationship to the ruler of Egypt. I feared for my life. I had been slandered before Ahmad Ibne Tulun. So, I left Egypt for Hajj and went from Hijaz to Iraq. I wanted to go to the shrine of my master Husain Ibne Ali (a.s.) to seek refuge from him and seek asylum at his tomb, in order to be secure from the lash of the person I feared. I remained at the sacred abode for fifteen days, praying and making earnest and tearful entreatments day and night.

So, the Custodian of the Time and the Bosom Friend of the All-Merciful was shown to me, as I was in a state between stupor and awake. He said to me, “Imam Husain is saying to you, O my son, do you fear so-and-­so?” I said: “Yes, he wants to kill me. So, I have sought refuge with my master (a.s.) to complain from the calamity my enemy has schemed for me.”

He urged me, “Why don’t you pray to Allah, your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers, through Duas through which the apostles in the past beseeched the Lord? They were in severity and Allah succored them.”

“Which Dua should I recite?” I asked. “When it is the Friday eve, make aGhusl and offer your midnight prayers. When you have performed your prostration of thankfulness, recite this Dua, as you are hobbling on your knees.” Then he mentioned to me the supplication.

I saw him in the same time, as he would come to me as I was between stupor and awake. He came to me on five consecutive nights, repeating the same words until I memorized the Dua. His visits to me stopped on Friday eve.

I madeGhusl, dusted my dress off and applied fragrance. I prayed the midnight prayers and performed the prostration of thankfulness. I hobbled on my knees and entreated Allah, the Exalted, through this Dua. The Master of the Age (a.s.) came to me on the eve of Saturday and said to me, “Your Dua has been accepted, O Muhammad; your enemy was killed when you had just finished your supplication, before the very person he had slandered you to.”

Next morning, I bid my Master farewell and departed for Egypt; and as I reached Jordan on my way to Egypt, I saw one of my neighbors, who was a pious man. He told me that Ahmad Ibne Tulun had seized my enemy and

had ordered that he should be taken care of and that my enemy was found beheaded from the hind in the morning. This had happened on that Friday eve and Ahmad Ibne Tulun had ordered, on the virtue of which his body had been dumped into the Nile.

A number of people of my area and our Shia brothers told me that this event had reached them at the same time when I had finished the Dua, as my Master had informed me. May Allah bless my Master and his household.

24- Irshad: It is narrated from Ibne Quluwayh from Kulaini from Ali bin Muhammad from one of our scholars:

“A son was born for me. I wrote a letter to the Master of the Age, seeking permission to perform his circumcision on the seventh day. The answer came saying not to do it. My son died on the seventh or eighth day. Then I wrote to our Master about his death. The answer came, You will sire another and another son. He had named the first Ahmad, and the one after Ahmad, Ja’far. They were born as the Imam predicted.

Then I prepared for Hajj and called the people as I was leaving. They said: “We do not like you leaving; however, it is your decision.” I felt great unease and was sad. I wrote a letter, as I was determined to submission and obedience of my Master’s command, though I was sorry for missing the Hajj. The answer came, “Do not feel unease, for you will perform Hajj next year, Allah-willing.”

Next year, I wrote a letter and sought permission. The permission came. I wrote, “I see Muhammad Ibne Abbas appropriate as my proxy to run my affairs. I am confident of his religiosity and trustworthiness.” The answer came, “Asadi is the best proxy. If he comes, do not choose anyone over him.” Asadi came and I appointed him as my proxy.

A similar report in mentionedGhaibat Shaykh Tusi.

Hasan bin Nadhr

25- Al-Kafi: It is narrated from Ali bin Muhammad from Saad Ibne Abdullah Ashari that he said:

Hasan Ibne Nadhr and Abu Saddam and a number of men talked after the demise of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) about the money and the assets that were at the hands of the representatives as religious dues. They wanted to investigate the matter. Hasan Ibne Nadhr came to Abu Saddam and said: “I want to go to Hajj.” Abu Saddam said: “Delay it this year.” “I am frightened in my sleeps,” said Hasan, “and I must go.” He conferred to Ahmad Ibne Yala Ibne Himad and the men of the vicinity his final will with respect to some wealth of his and asked him not to give anything away except to the Imam’s hand after his rise. Hasan said: When I reached Baghdad, I rented a house and stayed there.

One of the representatives came to me and brought me garments and dinars and placed them with me. I asked, “What are these?” He said: “It is what you see.” Then another representative came and did the same; and then another, until the house was full. Then Ahmad Ibne Ishaq brought me all of theKhums that he was holding. As I was perplexed and was thinking what to do, his letter came to me, which said that when such and such time passes

from the day, I had to bring the commodities. I left with the goods. There was a bandit on the road who robbed the road along with sixty other men. I passed his area and Allah protected me from him.

I reached Askar and disembarked; a letter came to me ordering me to bring the goods. I put them in two baskets of porters. When I reached the entrance hall of the house, there was a black man standing. He asked, “Are you Hasan Ibne Nadhr?” I said: “Yes.” He said: “Enter.” I entered the house and then a room and emptied the baskets of the porters. In one corner of the room, there was a big number of breads; each one of the porters were given two loaves and were let go.

There was one room and a curtain draped over it. A call came from it, “O Hasan Ibne Nadhr, thank Allah for His favors over you and complain not, for Satan loves that you complain.” Two garments were brought to me and I was told, “Take them, for you will need them.” I took the garments and left. Saad said: Hasan Ibne Nadhr returned and died in the month of Ramadan and was buried the two garments.

26- Al-Kafi: It is narrated from Ali bin Muhammad from Fadhl Khazzaz Madayni, the slave of Khadija binte Imam Muhammad Taqi (a.s.) that he said:

“A group of the children of Abu Talib (a.s.) in Medina believed in the True Creed and stipends were coming to them on a set time. When Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) passed away, one group of them turned away from believing in his son. Stipends continued to come for those who had remained firm on the belief in Abu Muhammad’s son and it had been discontinued from the rest. They are not even heard of anymore, andall praise is due to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.”

Sons of Qasim Ibne Yala

27- Al-Kafi: It is narrated from Qasim Ibne Yala that:

“A number of sons were born for me, and I would write [to the Imam of the Age, peace be with him], requesting Dua. He would not write to me anything about them. And when my son Hasan was born, I wrote asking for Dua, he answered me that he will survive, and praise belongs to Allah.”

28- Al-Kafi: It is narrated that Hasan Ibne Fadhl bin Zaid Hamani that he said:

“My father wrote a letter in his handwriting. Its answer came. Then he wrote a letter on my hand. Its answer came. Then he wrote a letter on the hand of one of the jurists from our scholars. Its answer did not come. We thought about it. The reason was that the man had become a Karmatian.”

Dismissal of the servant

29- Al-Kafi: It is narrated from Hasan bin Khafif from his father that:

“The Imam of the Age sent some servants to Medina along with two servants. He wrote to Khafif to go leave with them, so he left with them and when they reached Kufa, one of the two servants drank an intoxicant. They

had not left Kufa yet that a letter arrived from Askar ordering the expulsion of the servant who had drank an intoxicant.”

Muhammad bin Ahmad

30- Al-Kafi: It is narrated from Husain bin Hasan Alawi said:

“There was a man from the courtiers of Ruzhasani and another man with him. He said to Ruzhasani, “This man collects money and has representatives.” They mentioned the names of all of the representatives in the peripheries and the report was passed on to Ubaidullah Ibne Sulaiman, the minister. The minister decided to seize them. The king said: “Search, where is this man. This is a grave matter.” Ubaidullah Ibne Sulaiman said: “Shall we seize the representatives?” “No,” said the king. “Instead, covertly send people whom they did not know with money. Whoever from them takes it, arrest him.”

A letter came ordering that the news should be forwarded to all of the representatives not to take anything from anyone and to pretend to be ignorant of the matter.

A spy, whom he did not know, came to Muhammad Ibne Ahmad and said to him in private, “I have some money, which I want to deliver.” Muhammad said to him, “You are mistaken. I don’t know anything about this.” The spy kept on soft talking with him and Muhammad kept pretending not knowing anything. They sent spies but all the representatives refrained because of the forewarning they had received.”

Muhammad bin Ibrahim Mahziyar

]31- Ghaibat Tusi: His miracles are more than to be accounted for; however, we will mention a few of them. Of his miracles is the narrative of Muhammad Ibne Ibrahim Ibne Mahziyar, who said: At the demise of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) doubts overwhelmed me.

This was while great amounts of Khums had been deposited with my father; so he carried them and boarded a ship. I went with him to accompany him. He got a very severe fever and said to me, “My son, take me back, take me back. This is death. And fear Allah in this Khums.” He confided his final will to me and died.

I said to myself that my father had not asked me to do anything wrong. I will carry these assets to Iraq and will rent a house there and will not inform anyone. If things became clear to me like their clarity in the days of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.), I will hand the assets over, or else, I will distribute them as alms.

I went to Iraq and rented a house by the river. I had remained there but a few days that a messenger brought a letter to me that said: O Muhammad, you have brought this and this in such and such parcels; recounting all of the assets that were with me of which I did not know myself. I gave the assets to the messenger. I remained there a few more days and was not given any attention, which made me rather sad. Then a letter came, “We have placed you in the position of your father, so thank Allah.”

32- Irshad: It is narrated from Ibne Quluwayh from Kulaini from Ali bin Muhammad from Muhammad Jamhur from Muhammad bin Ibrahim Nadhir the same story.

33- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from the same chains from Hasan Ibne Fadhl bin Zaid Yamani that he says:

“I wrote a letter about two ideas and wanted to write about a third idea, but did not write, fearing he will not like it. The answer came, explaining the two ideas and the third, which I had kept to myself.”

Ahmad Ibne Hasan

34- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from the same chains from Badr, the page of Ahmad Ibne Hasan, from his father that he said:

“I arrived at the mountain. In those days, I was not a believer in the Imamate, but loved them over all. Until, Yazid Ibne Abdul Malik died and he bequeathed in his malady that Shahriul Samand (a breed of horse) and his sword and his belt should be given to his lord. I was afraid if I did not give Shahriul Samand to Idhkutakain, he would chastise me.

I valued the beast and the sword and the belt for seven hundred dinars and took them on my account and did not tell anyone. Then a letter came from Iraq ordering me, “Send the seven hundred dinars that you owe us for the price of Shahriul­ Samand, the sword, and the belt.”

35- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from the same chains from Ali bin Muhammad bin Abi Aqil Isa Ibne Nasr that he said:

“Ali Ibne Ziyad Saymoori wrote and requested a burial shroud. The Imam wrote him a letter, “You will need it in the year two hundred and eighty.” He died that year and the Imam sent him a burial shroud before his demise.”

36- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Muhammad bin Yaqub from Ali Ibne Muhammad that he said:

“A prohibition came forbidding visitations to the graveyard in Kadhimiyya and the Shrine. A few months later, the minister called Baqitani and said to him, “See the people of the Euphrates and the village of Bars and tell them not to visit the graveyard at the Kadhimain, because the caliph has ordered that anyone who comes there must be watched and arrested.”

Shaykh Saduq in Ikmaaluddin has narrated from Muzaffar Alawi from Ibne Ayyashi from his father from Ali bin Ahmad Razi that:

“One of our brothers from the people of Ray went out to investigate the situation after the demise of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). As he was in the course of his search in the Masjid of Kufa, thinking about the enterprise he had come for and touching the pebbles of Masjid, a pebble appeared to him that bore a writing, Muhammad. He looked, the writing was not engraved into the stone, but rather the inscription stood above and was raised over the surface of the pebble, as it had been created on it.”

Extraordinary incident of Qasim Ibne Ala

37- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Shaykh Mufeed and Husain bin Ubaidullah Ghazairi from Muhammad bin Ahmad Safwani that:

“I had seen Qasim Ibne Ala who had aged a hundred and seventeen years, during eighty of which his both eyes were good. He had met our Master Abul Hasan Askari and Abu Muhammad Askari (a.s.). At eighty, he lost his eyesight. However, it was returned to him seven days before his death.

This happened when I was staying with him in the town of Ran in Azerbaijan. The letters of our master the Master of the Age (a.s.) through Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Uthman Amari and after him Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh, blessed be their souls, were constantly coming. Then for two months the letters stopped coming. This made him angry.

We were with him one day eating when the doorman came, bringing the joyous news and said to him that the messenger of Iraq, the only name by which he was identified with, has come. Qasim became much happy and turned his face to the Qibla and prostrated. A short old man, who bore the marks of messengers and was wearing an Egyptian dress and muhamili shoes and a bag over his shoulder, came in.

Qasim arose and hugged him and took off the bag from his shoulder. He asked for a basin and water, washed his hands and led him to sit on his side. We ate and washed our hands. The man rose and took out a letter that was longer than half of page. Qasim took the letter, kissed it and handed it over to a transcriber called Ibne Abi Salama.

Abu Abdullah took the letter, broke its seal, and read it. As he read it, Qasim sensed something. He said: “O Abu Abdullah, is it alright’?” He replied, “It is alright.” “Watch it you. Is there anything written about me?” “Not something you dislike.” “Then what is it’?” “It is giving the news of your final departure forty days after the arrival of this letter. Seven garments have been taken to him.”

Qasim asked, “With my faith secure?” He replied, “With your faith secure.” He laughed and said: “What else can I hope for after this age’?” The messenger took out three undergarments, one red Yemeni cloak, two shirts, and a turban. Qasim took them. He also had a garment that our Master Imam Reza Abul Hasan (a.s.) had given to him.

Qasim had a friend called Abdur Rahman Ibne Muhammad Sunaizi, who was one of the adversaries and had very strict religious views. There was a very strong affinity between him and Qasim (a.s.) in the daily issues and Qasim loved him very much. Abdur Rahman had undertaken some toils to reconcile Abu Ja’far Ibne Hamdun Hamadani and his son-in-law, the son of Qasim.

Considering this, Qasim asked two of our Shaykhs who were staying with him - Abu Hamid Imran Ibne Muflis and Abu Ali Ibne Jahdar - to read this letter to Abdur Rahman Ibne Muhammad, “because I love him to be guided and I hope that Allah will guide him by reading this letter.” The two Shaykhs replied, “La ilaha illa Allah. Many Shia cannot bear the content of this letter. How do you expect that Abdul Rahman Ibne Muhammad will?” Qasim replied, “I know that I am disclosing a secret that is not permissible

for me to disclose. However, due to my love for Abdur Rahman Ibne Muhammad and my desire that Allah, the Exalted, may guide him towards this faith, it is that I want you to read this letter to him.”

When that day passed, and it was Thursday and thirteen days were left from Rajab, Abdur­ Rahman came and greeted Qasim. Qasim took out the letter and asked his guest to read it, “and look for yourself.” Abdur Rahman read the letter and when he reached where Qasim’s death had been predicted, he threw the letter from his hand and said to Qasim, “Abu Muhammad, fear God. You are a pious man, you are wise. Allah says:

“…and no one knows what he shall earn on the morrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die…” (Surah Luqman 31:34)

And He says:

“The Knower of the unseen! So He does not reveal His secrets to any,” (Surah Jinn 72:26)

Qasim laughed and said: “Read the next verse also:

“Except to him whom He chooses as an apostle...” (Surah Jinn 72:27)

And my Master is a well-pleased messenger.” Qasim said: “I know what you are saying. Mark today’s date. If I outlive the date predicted in this letter, then my creed is false and if I die on that date, then you assess your condition.”

Abdur Rahman noted the date at that day and left.

Qasim got a fever seven days after the arrival of the letter. On that day, his malady worsened. He was lying on his bed on the side of the wall. His son Hasan, who used to drink wine and was married to the daughter of Abu Ja’far Ibne Hamadan Hamadani, was sitting.

Qasim’s sheet was covering his face, as he was lying in one side of the room. Abu Hamid was sitting on one side, as Abu Ali Ibne Jahdar and I and a group of other men of the locality were crying. Suddenly, Qasim rose and sat resting on his hands on his behind, and began saying, “O Muhammad, O Ali, O Hasan, O Husain, O my Masters, be my intercessors before God, the Exalted.” He said this another and then a third time.

When he reached the third time, saying, “O Musa, O Ali,” his eyelid popped open like children crack windflowers. His eyes opened and he began rubbing his eyes with his sleeves. A soupy fluid came out from his eyes. Then he glanced at his son and said: “O Hasan.” He looked each one of us and was saying, “O Abu Hamid, O Abu Ali.” We crowded around him and looked at his perfect eyeballs. Abu Hamid asked him, “Do you see me?” as he was pointing his hand at each of us.

The news spread amongst the people and the Ahle Sunnat. Individuals from the Ahle Sunnat began coming and examining him. The judge, Abu Saib Ataba Ibne Ubaidullah Masudi, who was the chief justice at Baghdad, came and met Qasim and asked him, “What is in my hand?” as he was showing him a ring the stone of which was turquoise. He brought the ring

near. Qasim told him what it had and said it has three lines. The judge brought it closer but he could not read the lines. People left as they were amazed at him and talking about him. Qasim said to his son Hasan, “Allah will grant you a great position, so accept it with gratitude.”

Hasan said: “Father, I accept it.” Qasim said: “How?” “As you order me father.” He said: “Do not drink wine.” Hasan said: “Father, you are right. I will give up wine and many other things you do not know.” Qasim raised his hands to the sky and said: “God, cast into Hasan’s heart Your obedience and prevent him from Your sins.” He said this three times.

Then he asked for a paper and wrote his final will with his own hands. He endowed the orchards and properties in his possession for our Master. Amongst the things he confided in his final will in his son Hasan, was “My son, if you become eligible for this position [meaning representation from the Master], your livelihood should be from the half of my bequeathals in Farjida. The rest of them will belong to my Master. If you were not eligible for this, seek your goodness from a venue that Allah desires.” Hasan accepted his final will.

When it was the fortieth day and after dawn, Qasim died. Abdur Rahman received the news of his departure with great grief, as he was running in the streets barefoot and was bare head, calling, “O my master.” People viewed his action odd and they began saying to him, “What are you doing?” He said to them, “Quiet. I have seen what you have not.” Abdur Rahman became a Shia and forsook his previous creed. He endowed his orchards and his properties as waqf.

Abu Ali Ibne Jahdar gave Qasim his funeral bath and Abu Hamid poured water over him. Qasim was shrouded in eight dresses, with the shirt of his Master Abul Hasan (a.s.) on his body and the other seven that came from Iraq over them.

A short while after that, a letter of consolation came to his son from our Master (a.s.), at the end of which was a Dua for him, “May God cast into your heart His obedience and may He prevent you from his sins,” the Dua his father had prayed for him. At the end it stated, “We made your father an imam for you and his actions an example for you.”

Messenger of the people of Qom

38- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Husain bin Ibrahim from Ahmad bin Ali bin Nuh that Abu Nasr Hibatullah bin Muhammad bin Umme Kulthum binte Abi Ja’far Amari said:

A number of people from the Bani Naubakht, amongst them Abul Hasan Ibne Kathir Naubakhti and also Umme Kulthum Ibne Abi Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Uthman, may Allah be pleased with them, narrated to me that in a certain time, religious dues from Qom and its peripheries sent for the Master of the Age (a.s.) were brought to Abu Ja’far (a.s.).

When the messenger reached Baghdad and went to Abu Ja’far and delivered to him what he had brought and then bid him farewell, and came to return, Abu Ja’far said to him, “There is one thing remaining, which you have been entrusted with. Where is it?” “Nothing is remaining with me, my master. I have submitted it everything to you,” replied the messenger. “On

the contrary, something is remaining with you. So return to your belongings and search and remember what things were given to you,” said Abu Ja’far. The messenger left and remained many days trying to remember and search and think. He did not recall anything, nor did anyone who was with him reminded him of anything.

He came back to Abu Ja’far and said: “Nothing that was given to me remains in my hands, which I have not brought to your eminence.” Abu Ja’far said to him, “It is said that you have two Sardani garments, which were given to you by a certain man,” mentioning his name and his father’s name. “Where are they?”

The messenger said: “Yes, by Allah, O my master, I totally forgot about them, so much that they have gone away from my heart and I do not remember where I have put them.”

The man left and searched and opened everything he had with him and asked all the people he had carried something for them to look for the garments. But they were not to be found anywhere. He returned to Abu Ja’far (a.s.) and told him his mishap. Abu Ja’far said to him, You are ordered to go to so-and-so, the cotton seller, to whom you carried the two loads of cotton in the cotton market. Open one of them, which has such and such writing. The two garments are on its side.

The messenger was amazed by the prediction of Abu Ja’far and went ahead to the spot and opened the load that he had told him to open and there they were: two garments on the side, entered into the cotton.

He took them and brought them to Abu Ja’far and said: “I had forgotten them, because when I tied the goods, they were left outside, so I put them on the side of the cotton load to keep them safe.”

Explanation of Shaykh Tusi

The man spoke about this astonishing incident and Abu Ja’far’s informing him, which knows none but an apostle or an Imam ordained by Allah, Who knows all the secrets and all that the chests hide. This man did not know Abu Ja’far and he was sent as courier and as a messenger, just like merchants send someone whom they entrust to their business partners.

Nor did he have a register that he might have given to Abu Ja’far nor a letter, because the issue was very sensitive at the time of Motazid and swords were dripping blood. This sort of activity was a secret amongst very special people who were qualified for such confidentiality. A person who would carry assets to Abu Ja’far would not know his position and his duty. He would be only asked to go to such and such place and deliver these things, without being told anything else. Such a courier would not be given a letter so the purpose of his delivery could not be traced.

39- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from a group of scholars from Hasan bin Hamza Alawi from Ali bin Muhammad Kulaini that he said:

“Muhammad bin Ziyad Saymoori wrote to the Master of the Age, asking for a blessed burial shroud from his holy self. The answer came, “You will need it in the year two hundred and eighty one.” He died in the time that the Imam of the Age had foreseen for him. The Imam sent him a burial shroud a month before his demise.”

Abu Surah Zaidi

40- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from a group of scholars from Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Abbas from Ibne Marwan Kufi from Abi Sura that he said: I saw a son of Abu Surah. Abu Surah was a prominent member of Zaidiyyah sect and he said:

“I was in Kerbala on the eve of Arafa. I left following the land route. As I reached Masnath, I sat over the hill to rest and then got up and began walking. A man came from the rear of the road and said to me, “Would you be interested in having a company?” I said: “Definitely.” We walked together and he talked to me and I talked to him. He asked me about my situation; I told him that I was in hardship and did not have anything with me in my hands. He turned to me and said: “When you enter Kufa, go to Abu Tahir Razi and knock at his door. He will come out to you and blood of sacrifice will be on his hand. Say to him, ‘You are asked to give me the sack of dinars that is with the man of the bedstead.’”

I much wondered at his words. Then he separated from me and went his way. I don’t know where he went to. I reached Kufa and went to Abu Tahir Muhammad Ibne Sulaiman Razi. I knocked on his door, as he had asked me to. Abu Tahir came out to me; on his hands were the blood of sacrifices. I said to him, “You are asked to give me the sack of dinars, which are with the man of the bedstead.” He said: “Of course, you are heard and obeyed.” He went back and brought out the sack and gave it to me. I took the sack and went away.”

41- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from a group from Abu Ghalib Ahmad bin Muhammad Zurari from Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Zaid bin Marwan from Abu Isa Muhammad bin Ali Ja’fari from Abul Husain Muhammad bin Ali bin Raqqam that he said:

“I had seen two sons of Abu Sura. Abu Sura had been one of the Shaykhs of the Zaidiyyah. Abu Ghalib narrates on the authority of the named narrators from Abu Sura, who says, I left to visit the Tomb of Imam Ja’far Sadiq (a.s.) on the Arafa.

I stayed the day of Arafa there and when it was the time of Isha prayers, I stood to perform my prayer. I rose and began by Surah Hamd. Suddenly, a young man of tremendous beauty, who had a summer cloak on him, also began with al-Hamd, and finished before me or I did before him. Later we left together from the door of the shrine. When we reached the banks of the Euphrates, the young man said to me, “You want to go to Kufa, so go ahead.” I went ahead by the way of the Euphrates and the young man took the land trail.

Abu Sura continues, Feeling sorry for separating from his company, I began following him. He said to me, “Come.” We went together to the foundation of the fortress of Masnath. We slept there. When we woke up, we were at the heights, at the mountain of Khandaq. He said to me, “You are in hardship and you have a family to support. Go to Abu Tahir Razi. He will come out to you, while his hands are drenched in the blood of sacrifice. Say to him a young man who had these qualities says that the sack that has

twenty dinars in it and one of your brothers has brought it to you is yours. Take it from him.” Abu Sura says, I went to Abu Tahir Ibne Razi, as the young man had said and described him to him. He said: “Praise belongs to Allah, and you saw him.” He went inside and brought out a sack in which were dinars. He gave them to me and I returned.

Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibne Zaid Ibne Marwan, who is also one of the Shaykhs of the Zaidiyyah, says, I recounted this narrative to Abu Husain Muhammad Ibne Ubaidullah Alawi, when we were stationed at the land of Herr. He said: This is true. A young man came to me and I recognized a sign in his face. When all the public left, I asked him, “Who are you?” He said: “I am the messenger of the successor (a.s.) to one of his brothers in Baghdad.” I asked, “Do you have the means for the journey?” “Yes, in the house of the Talhayayn.” I said to him, “Go and bring them.” I sent a page with him. He brought his gears and the means of travel and stayed with me that day. He ate with me and talked about many of the secrets and confidentialities.

I asked him, “What road are you going to take?” “I will disembark at this height and then I will go to the valley of the sands then I will go to the tents and purchase coursers and will ride to the successor (a.s.) to the west.”

Abu Husain Muhammad Ibne Ubaidullah said: Next day he rode his courser and I rode along with him. We went to the archway of the house of Salih. He crossed the channel by himself and I was watching him until he reached Najaf and then he disappeared from my eyes. Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibne Zaid says, I recounted these two narratives to Abu Bakr Muhammad Ibne Abi Darram Yamami, who is one of the Shaykhs of the Hashawiyya. He said: This is true.”

Abu Ghalib Zurari

42- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated that a group narrated from Abu Abdullah Ahmad bin Muhammad bin Ayyash from Abu Ghalib Zurari that he said:

“I reached Kufa. I was a young man and one of our brothers [whose name Abu Abdullah had forgotten], was with me. This was in the days of Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh, when he went into hiding and appointed Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ali known as Shalmaghani, who was at that time a righteous man and had not evinced the heresy and blasphemy which he later did. People visited him and met him because he was a comrade of Shaykh Abul Qasim ­Husain Ibne Ruh and his emissary amongst the people with regard to their needs and necessities. My friend said to me, “Do you wish to meet Abu Ja’far and make a covenant with him, for he is the appointed man today amongst this congregation?” I wanted to ask him to request a Dua from the Imam of the Age?” I said: “Yes.” We went to him and saw a group of our faithful brethren there with him. We offered him our greetings and sat there. He turned to my comrade and asked him, “Who is this young man?” He said: “A man from the house of Zurarah.” He turned to me and asked, “Which Zurarah?” I said: “My master, I am from the children of Bukair Ibne Ayyan, brother of Zurarah.” He said: “This is a majestic household, dignified in this Order.” My comrade turned to him and said: “Our master, I want to request a Dua.” He said: “Yes.” When I heard this, I

also desired to request the same. I intended in my heart not to disclose it to anyone the condition of my wife the mother of my son Abul Abbas. She had many differences and was very angry at me while I was greatly fond of her. I said in my heart that I will ask him a Dua for this problem that has been much troubling me and will name it. So I said: “May Allah prolong the life of our Master, I have a wish as well.” Shalmaghani said: “What is your wish?” I said: “I want a Dua for relief from a problem that has troubled me.” Shalmaghani took the paper that was in front of him on which he registered people’s requests and wrote, “And the man from Zurarah has a request for Dua about a matter that has troubled him.” Then he folded the paper. We rose and left. After a few days, my friend said to me, “Shouldn’t we go to Abu Ja’far and ask him about our requests we made to him?” I went with him and we entered ­Shalmaghani’s place. As we sat down, he took out a paper that had many requests on it, which had been answered in their sides. He turned to my friend and read to him the answer of his query. Then he turned to me as he was reading, “As for the man from Zurarah and the condition between the husband and the wife, may Allah rectify their relationship.” I was overwhelmed by this great incident. We got up and left. My friend said to me, “You are overwhelmed by this?”

I said: “I am surprised by this.” “By what?” I said: “It was a secret that no one but God and me knew and he informed me about it.” He said: “Are you doubting about the capacity of the Imam? Tell me what the story is?” I told them what had happened and he was much amazed too. Then we returned to Kufa and I went to my house, my wife, who had been angry at me and had been living with her family, came to me and sought my pleasure and apologized to me. She remained very agreeable to me and did not disagree with me until death separated us.

A group narrated this story to me from Abu Ghalib Ahmad Ibne Muhammad Ibne Sulaiman Zurari through a permission. Abul Faraj Muhammad Ibne ­Muzaffar wrote from his side in house at Baghdad at the street of Ghalib on Sunday when five days were left from Dhul Qada of the year three hundred and fifty six, saying, I was married to a woman, who was the first woman I had married. I was young man and my age was below twenty. I copulated with her at her father’s house and then she stayed there at her father’s house for years. I tried much to convince them to let her move to my house, but they would not listen to me. The woman became pregnant from me in this time and gave birth to a girl. The girl lived for a while and then died. I was neither present at her birth, nor when she died, and I never saw her because of the strained relationship between me and my in-laws. Then again we agreed that they are going to let her move to my house. So I went to their house, but they again declined to let me take her to my house. I again made the woman pregnant. Then I demanded them to bring the woman to my house, as we had agreed. They again refused and our relationship soured. I moved away from them. She gave birth in my absence to a girl. We remained in this strained condition many years. I did not go to get her. Then I went to Baghdad. My friend at that time in Baghdad was Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ahmad Zajzawzaji and was like an uncle or father to me. I stayed at his house in Baghdad and complained to him about

my strained relationship with my wife and my in-laws. He asked me to write a letter and ask for a Dua.

So, I wrote a letter and mentioned in it my condition and my sour relation with my wife’s family and their refusal to let my wife come to my house. I and Abu Ja’far took the letter to Muhammad Ibne Ali, who was at the time a connection between us and Husain Ibne Ruh, who was at that time the Representative. We gave him the letter and asked him to send it. He took the letter from me but the answer did not come for a long while. I met him and told him that I was much uncomfortable with the delay in the answer to my letter. He said: “The delay should not make you uncomfortable.’ He hinted to me that if the answer comes soon, it is from Husain Ibne Ruh, and if there is a delay, it is from the Hujjah (a.s.). I left.

After a while - which I do not remember how long, but it was not very long - Abu Ja’far Zajawzaji called me one day. I went to him. He took out a section of a letter and said to me, “This is the answer of your letter. If you should like to copy it, copy it and then return it to me.”

I read the letter, which said: “May Allah set right the differences of the husband and the wife.” I copied these down words and returned the letter to him. We went to Kufa. God made the woman’s heart soft to me with no effort. She lived with me many years and I had many children from her. At times I was very rough to her and did things that would require much forbearance from any woman, but she did not utter a word of disagreement, nor did her family, until time separated us from one another.”

Another Story

The narrators say, Abu Ghalib said: Long before this, once I wrote a letter requesting that my orchard and property be accepted. It was not my belief at that time to seek the pleasure of God, but rather I had a desire to find courtship with the Naubakhtis, because of the wealth and power and prestige they enjoyed. No reply came to me. I insisted on making my request. A reply came to me, “Choose someone and transfer the property into his name, because you will need it.”

I wrote the property on the name of Abul Qasim Musa Ibne Hasan Zajawzaji, the nephew of Abu Ja’far, because I had confidence in him in his piety.

Not many days had passed that the Bedouins took me prisoner and looted the property I owned. All my grains and animals and instruments worth a thousand dinars were gone. I remained in their captivity for some time until I bought my freedom for a hundred dinars and fifteen hundred dirhams. I became indebted to the couriers for another five hundred dirhams. I came out from the captivity and sold the property for this sheer need.

43- Ghaibat Tusi: It is narrated from Husain bin Ubaidullah from Abul Hasan Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Dawood Qummi from Abu Ali Ibne Himam that he said:

Muhammad Ibne Ali ­Shalmaghani Azaqari challenged Shaykh Husain Ibne Ruh to a Mubahila, saying, “I am the companion of the Imam and have been ordered to manifest my Knowledge, which I have manifested expressly and implicitly; so, come to my Mubahila.” The Shaykh sent a reply to him,

“Whoever of us dies first, is the one who bears the anathema.” Azaqari died first, as he was killed, crucified, and Ibne Abi Aun was taken with him. This was in the year three hundred and thirteen. Hasan Ibne Ja’far Ibne Ismail Ibne Salih Saymoori says, When Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh sent the letter of the Imam that cursed Ibne Abi Azaqir, he sent it from where he was sitting at the house of Muqtadir to our Shaykh Abu Ali Ibne Himam in the Dhul Hijja of the year three hundred and twelve. Abu Ali copied the letter and told me that Abul Qasim (a.s.) is not bound not to express condemnation of Ibne Abi Azaqir, because he was in the hands of the Ahle Sunnat and in their prison, and was ordered in that condition to disclose this condemnation and not to fear and that he will be safe. So he was freed from the prison a short while after that.

“He is not my son!”

Shaykh Tusi then says: I found in an old book that had been written in Ahwaz in the Muharram of three hundred and seventeen. It narrated on the authority of Abu Talib Jurjani: While I was in Qom, there began a discussion amongst our people about a man who had negated his son to be from his seed. They sent a man to Shaykh Siyanatullah, as I was present before him.

The messenger handed to him the letter, but he did not read it and told him to go to Abu Abdullah Bazufari for the answer to the letter. I went with the messenger. Bazufari said to him, “The boy is his son and he copulated with his mother in such and such day in such and such time. Tell him to name his son Muhammad.” The messenger returned and the matter was clarified to all and the boy was named Muhammad.

Shaykh Saduq and his brothers

Muhammad bin Nuh narrates that Ali Ibne Husain Ibne Musa Ibne Babawayh was married to the daughter of his uncle, Muhammad Ibne Musa Ibne Babawayh, and did not have offspring from her.

He wrote to Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh and asked him to request the Imam to pray for him that Allah gives him Faqih sons. An answer came, “You will not be given sons from her. You will have a Dailami slave girl and you will sire two Faqih sons from her.”

The narrator says that a man who had been at that time recounted that Abul Hasan Ibne Babawayh has three sons. Muhammad and Husain are very adept jurists and they learn what other people of Qom cannot. They have a brother whose name is Hasan. He is the middle brother and he has devoted himself to worship and piety and does not mix with the people. He is not a Faqih.

Whenever the two sons of Abul Hasan narrate something, people are amazed by their learning and they say, “You have this by the blessing of the Imam.” This is a very well-known matter in Qom.

Muhammad bin Shadhan

44- Ikmaaluddin: Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his teacher, Ibne Walid Qummi, from Saad bin Abdullah Ashari from Allaan Kulaini from Muhammad bin Shadhan bin Naeem that:

“Religions dues belonging to the Gharim (a.s.) were deposited with me. It was twenty dinars short of five hundred. I did not like to send a number that was not round, so I put another twenty from myself and sent it to Muhammad Ibne Ja’far and did not write that my money was also included. Muhammad Ibne Ja’far sent the receipt to me, which said: “Five hundred dirhams reached us, in which twenty dirhams were yours.”

Man from Sawad

45- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Saad from Ishaq Ibne Yaqub that he said:

“I heard Shaykh Amari say, I was once with a man from the people of the peripheries, who had some religious dues belonging to the Gharim (a.s.). He sent the assets, but were returned to him and it was stated, “Take out the rights of your cousin from them, which is four hundred dirhams.” The man wax transfixed with wonder and perplexity.

He viewed the accounts and there was in his hands the lost assets for the son of his uncle, some of which he had returned but not all of it. When he transferred his cousins’ assets to currency, it was worth four hundred dirhams, as the Imam (a.s.) had said. He took that sum out and sent the rest. His dispatch was accepted.”

The cost of the slave was less

46- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Saad Ali Ibne Muhammad Raazi from a number of our scholars that:

“The Imam of the Age (a.s.) sent to Abu Abdullah Ibne Junaid, when he was at Wasit, a page and asked him to sell the page.

He sold him and took his money and when he measured the weights of the dinars, they were eighteen carats and a seed. So he added eighteen carats and a seed from himself and sent the money. A dinar, which weighed eighteen carats and a seed, was returned to him.”

Muhammad Ibne Ibrahim Ibne Mahziyar

47- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from Ibne Walid from Saad from Allaan from Muhammad bin Jibraeel from Ibrahim and Muhammad bin Faraj from Muhammad Ibne Ibrahim Ibne Mahziyar that he says:

I decided to go to the Askar for a visit. A woman met me and said: “Are you Muhammad Ibne Ibrahim?” I said: “Yes.” She said: “Return, for you will not reach at this time. Come back in the night; the door will be open for you; enter the house and go to the room where there is light.” I did that. I went to the door; it was open. I entered the house and went to the room, which was lighted.

There I was, between two tombs, crying and wailing, when I heard a voice, which said: “O Muhammad, fear Allah and repent from all which you are up to, for you have adhered to an order so very great.”

Khuzistani Scribe

48- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ibne Walid from Saad from Ali bin Muhammad Raazi from Nasr Ibne Sabah Balkhi that he said:

There was a scribe in Merv that Khuzistani had introduced him to me as Nasr. Gradually, one thousand dinars belonging to Nahiyya (Periphery) were deposited with him. He sought my advice. I said: “Send them to Hajiz.” He said: “You will be held responsible, if Allah asks me about him on Judgment Day.”

I said: “Yes.” I separated from him and then returned after two years. I saw him and asked him about the money. He said that he sent two hundred dinars to Hajiz, the receipt of which came to him along with a Dua for him. It had been written to him, “The asset was one thousand dinars, and you sent me two hundred dinars. If you would like to transact through anyone, do so through Asadi in Ray.”

The news of ­Hajiz’s death came, which made me so very grievous and mournful. I said to him, “Do not grieve or become sad, for Allah has done you the favor of two hints: He informed of you of the receipt of the money and Hajiz’s death was relayed to you already.”

49- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Saad from Allaan from Nasr Ibne Sabah that he said:

“A man from Balkh sent five dinars to Hajiz and wrote a slip with his name on it. The receipt came with his name and the name of his forefathers and a Dua for him.”

Messenger of the man from Balkh

50- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq (r.a.) has narrated from his father from Saad from Abu Hamid Muraghi from Muhammad Ibne Shadhan Ibne Naeem that he said:

A man from the people of Balkh sent some assets as religious dues and a slip, which had a mark made with his finger saying, “as you go around”; but it had no writing. He said to the messenger, “Take these funds and whoever informs you of its story and gives an answer to the slip, give him these.”

The man went to Askar and went to Ja’far and informed his story. Ja’far said to him, “Do you profess that a man may change his mind?” The man said: “Yes.” Ja’far said: “Well, your friend has just changed his mind and orders you to give these funds to me.” The messenger said: “This does not satisfy me,” and left. He then went to visit our scholars. A letter came to him stating:

“These are funds that have been the subject of a mishap. They were over a box. Thieves entered the house and took all that were in the box and these funds remained safe. A slip was put over them that had written in it, ‘as you

go around.’ You asked for a Dua that Allah may do that to you and He did that to you.”

51- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Muhammad bin Salih that he said:

I wrote a letter asking for Dua for Badashakan, who had been imprisoned by Ibne Abdul Aziz. I also asked for permission to have a son from a concubine of mine. The answer came, “Sire from her and Allah will do what He desires and He will emancipate the prisoner.” I fathered an offspring from the concubine. She gave birth and then she died. The prisoner was released the same day the letter came.

Abu Ja’far Maruzi said: A child was born for me. I wrote a letter and sought permission to circumcise him on the seventh or eighth day. He did not write anything back to me. The child died on the eighth day. Then I wrote a letter and informed him of his death. A letter came that said: “He will be replaced for you by another child and then another child. Name him Ahmad and the one after Ahmad, Ja’far.” It happened as he had said.

Another time, I married a woman in secret and when I copulated with her, she became pregnant, and gave birth to a daughter. That made me sorrowful and uneasy. I wrote a letter to him and complained. A letter came back that I should not grieve. My daughter lived for four years and then she died. Then a letter came that stated, “Allah has patience, while you are hasty.”

Ahmad bin Hilal Sufi

When the news of the death of Ibne Hilal, the accursed came, the Shaykh came to me and said: “Take out the bag you have.” I brought out the bag. He took out a letter for me that said: “As for the fake Sufi (that is, Hilali), which I mentioned, may Allah cut his life short.” After his death, a letter came, “He targeted us, and we bore patience on him. And Allah cut short his life because of our Dua.”

Hasan Ibne Fadhl Yamani

52- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Allaan from Hasan Ibne Fadhl Yamani that he said:

I set out to go to Samarrah. A bag was sent to me, which had dinars and two garments in it.

I returned them and said to myself, “Am I before them of this position?” Honor overwhelmed me. Then later I regretted and wrote a letter, apologizing and seeking forgiveness.

I went to a lone comer as I was talking to myself and was saying, “By Allah, if the bag is returned to me, I will not open it and will not spend it until I take it to my father, because he is more knowledgeable than me.”

The messenger who took it back from me did not say anything and did not forbid me from doing so.

A letter came to him, “You made a mistake by not telling him that many a time, we do this to our devotees, and many a time, they ask us for it with the purpose of seeking blessing from it.”

A letter came to me too, “You made a mistake by turning down our favor. When you sought forgiveness from Allah, Allah forgave you. And as it was your intention and determination not to do anything with it or to spend it in your way, we spent it on your behalf. As for the two garments, you must take them so you may do ihram in them.”

I wrote with regard to the two matters and desired to write about a third, and then said to myself, perhaps, he dislikes that. The answer came to me about the two matters, and the third matter, which I had concealed and had not written about it. He wrote, “You had asked for a fragrance.” He sent me a fragrance in a white wrap. It was with me in the carriage. My camel ran away at Asfan and my carriage fell and all that I had with me scattered.

I gathered the goods but lost the sac. I took much labor looking for it, so much so that one of our companions asked, “What are you looking for’?” “A sac that was with me.” “What was in it?” “My expenses,” He said: “I saw the one who took it.” I kept looking for it until I lost hope. When I reached Mecca, I opened my luggage, and the first thing that appeared before me was the sac. It had been outside the carriage and had fallen down when everything had been scattered.

My heart became very anxious in Baghdad for my stay. I said to myself, “I fear I may not perform Hajj this year and do not return to my house.” I set out to go to Abu Ja’far and ask him for the reply of my slip I had written. He told me to go to a certain mosque. “A man who will inform you of what you need will come to you.” I went to that mosque and as I was there, suddenly a man came. As he looked at me, he greeted at me and smiled and said: “Rejoice, you will go to Hajj this year and will return to your family, Allah-willing.”

I went to Ibne Wajna to ask him to rent a ride for me and find a colleague for me. I found him to be hesitant. Then I saw him after some days. He said: “I have been looking for you for some days. A letter has come to me to rent a ride for you and to find you a colleague.” Hasan said that he encountered on that year ten signs, and All Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Ali Ibne Muhammad Shamshati

53- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Ali Ibne Muhammad Shamshati the messenger of Ja’far Ibne Ibrahim Yamani that he said:

I was at Baghdad as the caravan of the Yemen is prepared to leave. I wrote to seek permission to leave with them. The answer came, “Do not go with them. There is no benefit for you in leaving. Stay at Kufa.”

The caravan left and the tribe of the Handhalas raided and looted them. I wrote and sought permission to go by the sea. The answer came, “Do not do that.” No ship sailed that year but was raided by the pirates. I went to perform Ziyarat at Askar.

I was at the mosque, when a page came to me and said: “Come.” I asked, “Who am I and where am I going to’?” He said: “You are Ali Ibne Muhammad the messenger of Ja’far Ibne Ibrahim Yamani. Come to the house.” This was while none of our friends knew about my arrival. I went to

the house and sought permission to perform Ziyarat from the inside. I was granted permission.

Abu Rija Misri

54- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Allaan Elam Basri from Abu Rija Misri that he said:

I went to investigate the situation two years after the demise of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). I did not find anything in those two years. In the third year, I was in Medina in search of the offspring of Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.). I was riding a couched a camel. Abu Ghanim had asked me to have dinner with him. I was sitting thinking with my self and saying, “If there had been something, it would have manifested after three years.” Suddenly, I heard a caller, whose voice I heard but his person I did not see, say:

“O Nasr Ibne Abdullah, say to the people of Egypt, do you believe in the Messenger of Allah after seeing him’?” I did not know my father’s name, because I was born in Madayan and Naufali had taken me to Egypt. My father had died and I was raised in Egypt.

When I heard the voice, I left and did not go to Abu Ghanim. I set on the trail of Egypt. He also says, Two men from Egypt wrote to me about two sons of theirs. The answer came for one, Allah rewarded you, and a prayer for the other, the son of whom died. Abu Muhammad Wajna says, The order of the land became chaotic and mischief rose. I decided to stay in Baghdad for eighty days.

The Shaykh came to me and said: “Return to your lands.” I left Baghdad while I disliked my departure. As I reached Samarrah, I desired to stay there, since I was hearing the news of anarchy in my lands. I set out and as I had not reached the house that the Shaykh saw me. He had a letter from my family with him; they were informing me of the calm of the lands and were asking me to come back.

55- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Muhammad Ibne Harun that he said:

I owed five hundred dinars to the Gharim (a.s.). One night I was in Baghdad and mighty winds were blowing and it was very dark. I felt extreme terror and thought about myself and said to myself, “I have these stores I have bought for five hundred and thirteen dinars. I set them aside for the Gharim (a.s.) for his five hundred dinars.” Later someone came to me and took the stores from me. I had not written anything about it before nor had I spoken to anyone.

Abul Qasim Ibne Abi Habis

56- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Abul Qasim Ibne Abi Habis that he said:

I used to visit the Tomb of Imam Husain (a.s.) in the mid-Shaban. On one of the years, I went to Askar before Shaban and thought about not visiting the Tomb in Shaban. When Shaban arrived, I said: “I will not abandon the Ziyarat I have always been performing.” I went for the

pilgrimage. When I used to come to Askar, I would inform them through a letter or a slip.

This time, I said to Abul Qasim Hasan Ibne Abi Ahmad, the Representative, “Do not inform them of my arrival. I want it to be a sincere Ziyarat.” Abul Qasim came to me, as he was smiling and said: “These two dinars have been sent to me and I have been told to give them to Habisi and to say to him, Whoever fulfills the order of Allah, Allah fulfills his need.”

I became much sick in Samarrah. My malady was so severe that I was worried and readied myself for dying. A medicine that was made of violet oil was sent to me. I was ordered to take them. I had not finished them that I had already recovered. Praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds.

Someone who owed me money died. I wrote a letter and sought permission to go to his heirs at Wasit. I said that I would go to them in the beginning of his days of demise, so perchance I will get my right. However, I was not given permission. When it was after two years, a letter came to me with my inquiry and ordered me to go to them. I went to them and they paid me my money. Abul Qasim says, Ibne Rais sent ten dinars to Hajiz, which Hajiz forgot to deliver. A letter came to him, “You shall send the dinars of Ibne Rais.” Ibne Harun Ibne Musa Ibne Furat wrote a letter about a number of things. He inscribed with a pen that did not have ink, asking for Dua for two of his nephews who were in prison. The answer of his letter came and it included a Dua for the prisoners, mentioning them by their names.

A man from the people of Hamid wrote and asked for Dua for the baby his wife had conceived from him. The Dua came about the conception four months before the delivery, saying, “She will deliver a girl.” It happened as written in the letter. Muhammad Ibne Muhammad Qasri wrote and asked for a Dua for the sufficiency of his means for his daughters and that he may go to Hajj and that his assets be returned to him. His answer for what he asked came. He performed Hajj that year and four of his daughters died - he had a total of six - and his assets were returned to him. Muhammad Ibne Yazdad wrote, asking for Dua for his parents.

The answer came, “May Allah forgive you and your parents and your deceased sister Kalki.” She was a virtuous woman and had been married off to the peripheries. She had written that fifty dinars be sent for a group of the faithful, ten for my cousin, who was not a believer at all. She had put his name at the end of the letter, hinting her lack of desire for a prayer for him. The answer with respect to the faithful came, “May Allah accept from them and may He do favors to them and reward you.” He had not prayed for my cousin. I also sent some dinars for a faithful congregation. A man who was called Muhammad Ibne Saeed also sent me some dinars, which I sent on the name of his father on purpose, because he himself did not have anything from the religion of Allah. The receipt came by the name “of the person whose name you changed.” I carried on this year, in which I saw this sign, one thousand dinars, which Abu Ja’far had sent. Abul Husain Muhammad Ibne Muhammad Ibne Khalaf and Ishaq Ibne Junaid were with me. Abu Husain took on to carry the saddlebags to the houses. We rented three donkeys and when we reached Qatul, we did not find any donkey. I said to Abu Husain, “Take the saddlebags in which the money is and go with the

caravan. I will stay behind and look for a donkey for Ishaq Ibne Junaid to ride, because he is an old man.” I rented a donkey and joined Abu Husain at Hiyar, which is the suburb of Samarrah. I was talking to him in the night and saying, “I praise Allah for what you are doing.” He said: “I would love if I remained with this task.” I reached Samarrah and delivered what we were carrying. The representative took it from me in my presence and placed it in a scarf and sent it with a black slave.

When it was afternoon, he brought me a light package. In the morning, Abul Qasim took a private moment with me and Abu Husain and Ishaq went ahead. Abul Qasim said: “The slave who carried the package brought me these dirhams and asked me to give them to the messenger who carried the package.” I took the money from him and as I went out of the door of the house, before I speak and before he discovered there is something with me, Abu Husain said to me, “When I was with you at the Hiyar, I wished that he sends me some dirhams for the sake of blessings. Likewise, it was the first year when I was with you in Askar.” I said to him, “Take these. Allah has granted them to you. All praise belongs to Allah the Lord of the Worlds.”

Muhammad Ibne Kashmard wrote a letter, seeking Dua to have his son, Ahmad from his concubine forgiven. The answer came, “As for the Sagari, may Allah have that forgiven for him.” The Imam (a.s.)let him know that his patronymic was Abu Sagar.

The woman who was not pregnant

57- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Ali bin Muhammad bin Ishaq Ashari that he said:

I had a wife from the cousins, which I had deserted for ages. She came to me and said: “If you have divorced me, let me know.” I said: “I have not divorced you,” and I copulated with her on that day. She wrote to me after a year claiming that she has been impregnated

I wrote about her and about a house my son-in-law had left behind for the Gharim (a.s.). I was asking that the house should be sold to me and I should be allowed to pay its price. The answer came about the house, “You have been granted what you have asked. However, the woman and her pregnancy had not been mentioned. I wrote to the woman after that; she told me that she had written falsely and that she had never been pregnant. And praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the World.

Predictions

58- Ikmaaluddin: Shaykh Saduq has narrated from his father from Saad from Abu Ali Nili that he said:

Abu Ja’far came to me and took me to Abbasiyya and led me to a ruin and took out a book and read it to me. It bore the narrative of all that happened in the house. It spoke of a female, Umme Abdullah, who would clip her hairs and leave the house and would throw it in Baghdad and would sit in front of the ruler. It had other similar stories. Then he said to me, “Remember.” Then he threw the book. This happened long before the incidents that ensued.

Reports of Saad bin Abdullah Ashari

Abu Ja’far Marwazi narrates from Ja’far Ibne Amr who says, I went to Askar; this was while the mother of Abu Muhammad was alive. I was with a group of men. When we reached Askar, my friends wrote a letter, seeking permission for a visit to the inside, recounting the name of each man. I said to them, “Do not write my name and my lineage. I am not seeking permission.” They left out my name. The permission came, “All of you enter and the one who did not seek permission.”

Abul Hasan Ja’far Ibne Ahmad said: Ibrahim Ibne Muhammad Ibne Faraj Rakhji wrote about a number of things and about a newborn baby and requested a name for him. The answer came to him about the things he had asked, but there was no mention about the baby. The fact was that the baby died. All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the World. There had been a discussion amongst some men of our congregation. A letter came to one of them, explaining what had taken place in the gathering.

Asimi told me that a man was thinking about someone who would deliver the religious dues he owed to the Gharim (a.s.) and became much ill at ease for this. He heard a caller call, “Deliver what you have to Hajiz.” Abu Muhammad Sarwi went to Samarrah carrying the money. A message came to him without his own initiation, saying, “There is no doubt in us, nor in the one sitting in our place. Return what you have to Hajiz.” Abu Ja’far told me, We sent some religious dues with a very reliable brother of ours to the Askar. This brother left for his destination and inserted a letter without telling us about the things he was carrying from us. His letter was returned to him without any answer.

Saad Ibne Abdullah says, Abu Abdullah Husain Ibne Ismail Kindi said: “Abu Tahir Bilali said to me, ‘The letter that came to me from Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) and later on after his demise they sent it as a trust, is at your house.” I said to him, “I like that you write for me the words of the letter.” Abu Abdullah told Abu Tahir what I had said and he said to him, “Bring him to me, so he may narrate this from me without any narrator between us.

A letter came to me from Imam Hasan Askari (a.s.) two years before his demise, foretelling me about the successor after him. Then another letter came to me from him three days before his demise, informing me of the same. So may Allah curse whoever denies the bosom friends of God their rights and leads the people to their challengers and may praises be for Allah.”

The author says: Kulaini has narrated this epistle inAl-Kafi from Abu Tahir Bilali.

59- Ikmaaluddin: Ali Ibne Muhammad Saymoori wrote and requested for a burial shroud. The answer came that he will need that in the year two hundred and eighty or two hundred and eighty one. The man died in the year prophesied by the holy Imam and he sent him the burial shroud two months before his death.

Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad

60- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad said:

A woman gave me a garment in one of the years and asked me to take it to Amari. I took that with many other garments and when I reached Baghdad, he ordered me to submit all of them to Muhammad Ibne Abbas Qummi. I gave all of them to him except for the garment of the woman.

Amari sent for me and said: “The woman’s garment, give it to him.” I remembered that a woman had given me a garment; I looked for it but did not find it. He said: “Do not grieve, for you will find it.” Then I found it. This was while Amari did not have a list of the things I was carrying.

Shaykh Saduq Muhammad bin Babawayh

61- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad said:

Ali Ibne Husain Ibne Musa Ibne Babawayh (a.s.) asked me after the death of Muhammad Ibne Uthman Amari to ask Abul Qasim Ibne Ruh to ask our Master the Master of the Age (a.s.) to pray that Allah gives him a son. I asked him that and he delivered the request. Then he informed me after three days that the Imam has prayedfor Ali Ibne Husain and that he will sire a blessed son that Allah will benefit him through this son and then there will be other sons after him.

Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad says, I requested himfor myself to pray that may Allah give me a son. He did not give me a reply and said: “This cannot happen.” Ali Ibne Husain had his son Muhammad that year and after him other sons and no son was bornfor me.

Saduq (a.s.) says, Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad would often say to me when he saw me coming to the sessions of our Shaykh Muhammad Ibne Hasan Ibne Ahmad Ibne Walid (a.s.) and my lovefor books of knowledge and learning, “It is not surprising that you are fond of knowledge, since you are born through the Dua of the Imam (a.s.).”

Abu Abdullah Ibne Babawayh says, I started teaching when I was less than twenty years of age. Many a time, Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Ali Aswad would attend my sessions and when he would see my promptness in answering questions regarding the codes of practice (fiqh), he would be much astonished by my young age and then he would say, “It is not surprising, you were born through the Dua of the Imam (a.s.).”

The Lady of Aba

62- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Ali Ibne Matil said:

There was a woman called Zainabfrom the people of Aba. She was married to Muhammad Ibne Abdil Abi. She had three hundred dinars.

She came to my uncle, Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Matil and said: “I wantyou to give this moneyfrom me to Abul Qasim Ibne Ruh.” My uncle sent me with her to translatefor her. When I came to Abul Qasim (a.s.), he addressed her with an eloquent tongue and said: “Zainab, chuna, chuwaida, kuwaida, chun aiqanah.” It meant, “Zainab, how are you and how did you stay and what is the news of your children?” She did not need my translation. She gave the money and came back.

Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Matil

63- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Ali Matil said: My uncle Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Matil said:

Abu Ja’far Muhammad Ibne Uthman Samman, known as Amari, called me and gave me small embroidered garments and a sac of dirhams and said: “You need to go by yourself to Wasit at this time and give what I gave you to the first man who meets you after you climb overyour courser to the waterway in Wasit.”

A tremendous shock overwhelmed me and I said to myself, “A man of my stature is sent for something like this and is assigned to carry these insignificant items.” I went to Wasit, dismounted from the courser, and the first man who encountered me, I asked him about Hasan Ibne Muhammad Ibne Qatat, the pharmacist and the representative of the endowment in Wasit. He said: “I am him. And who are you?” I said: “I am Ja’far Ibne Muhammad Ibne Matil.” He recognized me through my name and gave me greetings. I gave him greetings and we hugged each other.

I said to him, “Abu Ja’far Amari sends you his greetings and he gave me these little garments and this sac to give them to you.” He said: “Praise belongs to Allah. Muhammad Ibne Abdullah Amari has just died and I had come out to procure a burial shroud for him.” He opened the garments and there was all he needed, a Yemeni cloak, shrouds, and camphor. There was money in the sac for the porters and the diggers. We attended the procession of his burial and then I returned.

Abul Hasan Aqiqi

64- Ikmaaluddin: Abu Muhammad Hasan Ibne Muhammad Ibne Yahya Alawi, the nephew of Tahir, told us in Baghdad on the side of the cotton market in a house that:

Abul Hasan Ali Ibne Ahmad Ibne Ali Aqiqi came to Baghdad in the year two hundred and ninety eight and went to Ali Ibne Isa Jarrah, who was at that time the minister, to seek help about something he had lost. He asked the minister for help.

But he said to him, “Your family is extensive in this land. Even if we go to them, they will give us everything we ask for.” This took very long or he gave this answer. So, Aqiqi said to him, “I will ask someone who can fulfill my need.” Ali Ibne Isa asked, “And who is that?” He said: “Allah, the Exalted.” Saying this, he left angrily. He said: I went out as I was saying, “To God is the call of help from every calamity and in Him is relief from every tragedy.”

As I went away, a messenger from Husain Ibne Ruh came to me and I confided in him my misgivings. The messenger went and brought this to the attention of Husain Ibne Ruh. The messenger came to me with a hundred dirhams, whole in number and weight, and a scarf and some scents for the deceased and some burial shrouds. He said: “Your master is extending his greetings to you and is saying, ‘When a grief or hard event challenges you, touch this scarf against your face, for this is the scarf of your master. And

take these dirhams and these scents and these burial shrouds. Your need will be fulfilled in this night of yours.

When you reach Egypt, Muhammad Ibne Ismail will be dead ten days before your arrival and then you will die after him. So, this will be your burial shroud and this will be your scent and this will be your gear.” I took the items and put the event into my memory. The messenger left.

When I was at the Mashail at my door. The door was knocked. I asked my page, “Look, what is it?” He said: “It is alright. It is the page of Hamid Ibne Muhammad Katib, the cousin of the minister.” He brought him to me. He said: “The minister wants to see you. My master Hamid is asking you to ride to him.” I rode and passed by the streets gates and reached the street of the weight-makers.

I saw that Hamid was sitting there and waiting for me. When he saw me, he held my hand and we rode to the minister. The minister said: “O Shaykh, Allah has fulfilled your need.” He apologized to me and gave me letters that were written and sealed and he had made them ready for me. I took the letters and left.

Abu Muhammad Hasan Ibne Muhammad says, Abul Hasan Ali Ibne Ahmad Aqiqi narrated this to us in Nasibayn and said to me, “These scents have not come but for my aunt.” He did not mention her name. I really wished the scents for myself. Husain Ibne Ruh had told me, “I have the lost commodity.” He had written to me about what I wanted.

So, I went to him and kissed his forehead and his eyes and said: “O my master, show me the burial shrouds and the scents and the dirhams.” He took out the shrouds for me. There was a cloak in them which was embroidered and was weaved at Yemen, three garments from Khurasan, and a turban. The scents were in a sack. He took out the dirhams. I counted them. They were one hundred. I said: “O my master, give me one dirham from them, I will make a ring out of it.” He said: “How can that be? Take anything else from me you want?”

I begged and entreated that I wanted a dirham from those dirhams. I kissed his head and his eyes. He gave me a dirham, which I fastened in my handkerchief and then put it in my sleeve. When I went to the inn, I opened the long sack which I had and put the handkerchief, in which the dirham was tied, in the long sack. I put my books and notebooks over it. I stayed some days and then came back to get the dirham. The sack was tied as it had been, but nothing was in it.

Different thoughts were ravaging through my head. I went to the door of Aqiqi and said to his page Khair, “I want to see the Shaykh.” He took me inside. Aqiqi said: “What is happening?” I said: “My master, the dirham which you gave me, I did not put it in my sack.” He called for his sack and took out the dirhams and counted them: they were one hundred by number and weight. There was no one with me who I would suspect of wrongdoing. I asked him to give it back to me. He turned me down.

And then he went to Egypt and took his lost commodity. Muhammad Ibne Ismail had died ten days before him and then he died and was shrouded in the burial shrouds he was given. May Allah have mercy on him.

Muhammad Ibne Shadhan

65- Ikmaaluddin: It is narrated from Attar from his father from Muhammad Ibne Shadhan Ibne Naeem that he said:

Four hundred and eighty dirhams were given to me as religious dues. I added another twenty from myself and sent them to Abul Husain Asadi (a.s.) and did not tell him about the twenty from my own. The answer came, “The five hundred dirhams, of which twenty was yours, were received.”

Muhammad Ibne Shadhan says: After that I sent some money and did not specify who the senders were. The receipt that came was specifying the name of each individual and the amount he had sent.

Abul Abbas Kufi says, A certain man took some money to deliver to the Imam. He desired to see a proof. The Master of the Age (a.s.) wrote to him, “If you should desire guidance, you will be guided, and if you seek, you will find. Your master is saying to you, Bring what is with you.” The man says, I kept dinars out from the money that was with me. I did not weigh those six coins and passed on the rest. A letter came, “Return the six, which you took out without weighing. Their weight is six dinars and five dawaniq and one and a half grain.” I weighed the dinars and they were as the Imam (a.s.) had said.

Murjia partner

66- Ikmaaluddin: Ahmad Ibne Harun narrates from Muhammad Himyari from Ishaq Ibne Hamid Katib that he said:

“There was a merchant who sold fabrics in Qom. He was a faithful man, but his partner was a Murjia. A very delicate garment once came to them. The faithful man said: ‘This garment is appropriate for my master.’ His partner said: ‘I do not know your master, but do with the garment as you like.’ When the garment reached him, the Imam (a.s.) stripped it into two halves by length. He kept one half and returned the other and said: ‘I do not have any needfor the Murjia’s wealth.’”

67- Ikmaaluddin: Ammar Ibne Husain Ibne Ishaq Ashrusi (a.s.) narrates from Abul Abbas Ahmad Ibne Khizr Ibne Abi Salih Jahdari that he said:

“After he had been fascinated with the search and investigation into the matter of Imamate after the Eleventh Imam and had left his homeland to find out what to do, a letter came to him from the Master of the Age (a.s.). It read, ‘Whoever searches, he seeks; and whoever seeks, he leads on; and whoever leads on, he destroys; and whoever destroys, he worships a deity other than Allah.’ At that, he gave up the search and returned.”

Muhammad Ibne Hasan Sairafi

68- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Ahmad Ibne Ruh Ibne Abdullah Ibne Mansur Ibne Yunus Ibne Ruh, the last the companion of our master the Master of the Age (a.s.) said:

“I heard Muhammad Ibne Hasan Sairafi, who lived in the land of Balkh say, I desired to go to Hajj and had a some religious dues, some of which

were gold and some were silver. I melted the gold and the silver and rendered them into pieces.

These assets had been entrusted to me that I will deliver them to Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh. When I reached Sarakhs, I erected my tent on a sandy spot and began separating the pieces of gold and silver. One of these pieces fell from me and went into the sand and I did not notice. When I reached Hamadan, I went over the gold and silver once again as a precaution to guard them, and found out that one piece, which weighted one hundred and three metical, or he said: ninety three metical, was missing.

I replaced that piece with another precious piece of the same weight from my own assets and put it with the other pieces of gold and silver. When I reached Baghdad, I went to Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh and gave him all of the gold and silver I was carrying. He stretched his hand and pulled out the piece I had included from my own assets, from amongst all the pieces, and threw it to me and said: “This piece is not ours.

Our piece is the one you lost at Sarakhs, where you erected your tent over the sands. Return to that place and disembark where you had disembarked and search for the piece there beneath the sands. You will find it there and when you will come back here, you will not see me.”

I went back to Sarakhs and disembarked where I had stayed and found the piece of gold. I went back to my lands and when the next time I went for Hajj, I took the piece and went to Baghdad, and found out that Shaykh Abul Qasim Ibne Ruh had passed away. I met Abul Hasan Saymoori and gave the piece to him.”

Abu Ali Baghdadi

69- Ikmaaluddin: Husain Ibne Ali Ibne Muhammad Qummi, known as Abu Ali Baghdadi narrated:

“When I was in Bukhara, the man known as Ibne Jawshir handed me ten pieces of gold and asked me to give them to Shaykh Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh in Baghdad. I carried them with me and when I reached Amawaih, I lost one of the pieces. I did not realize this until I reached Baghdad. I took out all of the gold for delivery, but I noticed one was missing. So I bought another piece of the equal weight in its place and put it with the other nine pieces.

Then I went to Shaykh Abul Qasim Ibne Ruh and put the pieces in front of him. He said: ‘Take it. That piece which you bought is yours,’ pointing to the piece. ‘The piece which you lost has already reached us, and here it is.’ Then he pulled out the piece which I had lost at Amawaih. I looked at it and recognized it.”

A Shia Lady

A Shia LadyHusain Ibne Ali Ibne Muhammad Qummi, known as Abu Ali Baghdadi, said: I saw that year in Baghdad a woman who was asking me about the representative of our Master (a.s.) who he was. One of the Qummis told her that he is Abul Qasim Husain Ibne Ruh and he led her to me.

She came to him when I was there and said: “O Shaykh, what do I have with me?” He said: “Whatever you have with you, throw it at the Tigris river and then come back to me, so I may inform you.” The woman went and carried what was with her and threw it at the Tigris and then returned.

Abul Qasim said to a bondmaid of his, “Bring me the case.” Then he said to the woman, “This is the case that was with you and you threw it into the Tigris. Should I tell you what is in it or you are going to tell me?” “You tell me,” said the woman. He said: “There is a pair of gold bracelet in this case and a big ring that is studded with jewels, and two small rings studded with jewels and two rings, one of them turquoise and the other agate.”

It was as he had said and he had not left out anything. Then he opened the case and showed me its contents. The woman also looked at it. She exclaimed, “This is the very case I carried and threw into the Tigris.” I and the woman fainted out of happiness of seeing this miraculous proof of the truth of guidance.

Shaykh Saduq says: After he narrated this hadith to me, Husain said: “I bear witness by Allah, the High, that this hadith is as I told you, neither I added anything to it, nor did I omit anything from it.” He took solemn oaths by the Twelve Imams, peace be with them all, that he spoke the truth and did not add or omit.

A Youth from Bani Abbas

70- Ikmaaluddin: Muhammad Ibne Isa Ibne Ahmad Zurji said:

“I saw at Samarrah a young man in the Masjid known as Zubaida. He mentioned that he was a Hashemite from the progeny of Musa Ibne Isa.

When he was talking to me, he called out a slave girl and said either, ‘O Ghazzal’or ‘ O Zulal’. Suddenly an aged slave girl came. He said to her: Slave girl, speak to your master of the narrative of the applicator and baby. She said: We had a child who was sick. My mistress asked me to go to the house of Hasan Ibne Ali (a.s.) and ask lady Hakima to give us something to bless our child with health.

I went to lady Hakima and asked her that. Lady Hakima said: Bring me the applicator by which the baby, who was born yesterday, has been appliedkohl. Meaning the son of Hasan Ibne Ali. The servant brought the applicator and she gave it to me and I brought it to my mistress. She appliedkohl to our child and he was healed and he lived. We used to seek cure through that applicator and then we lost it.”