Volume2 Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam Chapter2

Volume2

Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

Chapter2

From Sālim al-Ashall, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on him, who said:

Moses, peace be on him, looked in the first Exodus at what would be granted to the Qā’im from the family of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], and pleaded, “O Lord! Make me the Qā’im from the family of Muḥammad. ” It was said to him, “This [position] belongs to the seed of Aḥmad. ” Then he looked in the second Exodus and saw the same things, and made the same request and got the same reply. Again, in the third Exodus, he saw the same things, made the same request and got the same reply.

435. Musnad Abī Ya`lā [2]: Narrated to us Abū Bakr b.

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Abū l-Naṣr, from Abū l-Naḍr, from al-Murjā b. Rajā’ al-Yashkurī, from `Īsā b. Hilāl, from Bushair b. Nuhaik, from Abū Huraira who said: “Narrated to me my friend, Abū l-Qāsim, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], that ‘the Hour will not be established until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rises against them. He will attack them until they return to the truth. ’” I (i. e. Nuhaik) asked, “How many will they be? ” He (i. e. Abū Huraira) replied, “five and two. ” I enquired, “And what is five and two? ” He replied, “I don’t know. ”

436. Kanz al-`ummāl [1]: From `Adī b. Ḥātim, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “Indeed, the Hour will not be established until the white castle which is in Madā’in will be conquered, and the Hour will not be established until a woman in a howdah travels safely from Ḥijāz to Iraq without fearing anything. And the Hour will not be established until an Imam rules over the people who will give away wealth freely. ”

437. Musnad Abī Ya`lā [2]: Narrated to us Sulaimān b. `Abd al-Jabbār Abū Ayyūb, from Sahl b. `Āmir, from Fuḍail b. Marzūq, from `Aṭiyya, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “In the end of times—after the advance of ages and passing of time—there will be an Imam who will be the most generous of the people. A man will come to him and [the

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Imam] will put [the wealth] in his dress. He will be concerned as to who will accept the charity of this wealth—which is between him and his family—as all the people will be flushed with welfare. ”

438. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us ibn Wahb, from ibn Lahī`a, from al-Ḥarth b. Yazīd, from `Abd-Allah b. Zarīr al-Ghāfiqī, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, who said: “Trials are of four kinds: The trial of prosperity, the trial of distress, the trial of so and so... then, a person from the progeny of the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], will emerge. Allah will reform their affairs at his hands. ”

439. Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan [2]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Raḥmān, from Qāsim, from Aḥmad b. Zuhair, from `Ammār al-Duhnī, from Sālim b. Abū l-Ja`d who said: “When we went for Hajj, I went to see `Abd-Allah b. `Amr al-`Āṣ. He asked me, ‘Where are you from? ’ I replied, ‘From Iraq. ’ He said, ‘Then be from the people of Kūfa. ’ I replied, ‘I am from them. ’ To which he answered, ‘They will be the most helpful to the Mahdī. ’”

440. Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan [3]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah b. Fuḍail, from `Abbāb b. Hārūn, from al-Faḍl b. `Ubaid-Allah, from Yaḥyā b. Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyāwayh al-Nīsābūrī, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā, from Muḥammad b. Salma, from Abū l-Wāṣil b. `Ubaid, from Jābir b. `Abd-Allah, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

A group from

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my umma will always fight for the truth until Jesus, son of Mary, descends at the time of dawn at Bait al-Maqdas. He will come to the Mahdī and will be told, “Come forward O Prophet of Allah and lead our prayers. ” He will reply, “Verily, some from this umma are trustees for others due to their honorable position with Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He. ”

441. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us `Abd-Allah b. Marwān, from al-`Alā’ b. `Utba, from al-Ḥasan that “the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], mentioned a hardship that will be afflicted on his Ahl al-Bait until Allah sends a black flag from the East. Whoever helps it, Allah will help him and whoever abandons it, Allah will abandon him, until a person comes whose name will be my name. Allah will make him in charge of their affairs and will assist him with His help. ”

442. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us Sa`īd Abū Uthmān, from Jābir, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, that “Black Flags that will rise from Khurāsān and will descend at Kūfa. When the Mahdī appears at Mecca, they will go to him to pledge allegiance. ”

443. Al-Fitan [3]: Narrated to us al-Walīd and Rushdain, from ibn Lahī`a, from Abū Qubail, from Abū Rūmān, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, who said: “The Sufyānī and the Black Flags will confront each other. Amongst the Black Flags there will be a youth from Banī-Hāshim who has a mole on his

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left hand. Guiding them will be a man from Banī Tamīm named Shu`ayb b. Ṣāliḥ. There will be intense bloodshed between these two armies. The Black Flags will be victorious and the horsemen of Sufyānī will take to their heels. It is then that the people will desire for the Mahdī and will seek him. ”

444. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah Abū `Abd-Allah al-Tayharti, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Ziyād b. An`um, from Muslim b. Yasār, from Sa`īd b. al-Musayyib, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “Black Flags belonging to the Banī `Abbās will emerge from the east. They will halt for a period that Allah wills. Then, smaller Black Flags will appear from the east who will fight against a man from the progeny of Abū Sufyān and his companions. They will advise [the people] to obey the Mahdī. ”

445. Nahj al-balāgha [2]:

Until Allah brings out for you one who will gather you together and unite you after your separation. Do not place expectations in one who does not come forward and do not lose hope in one who has turned back [from you], because it is possible that one of the two feet of the one who has turned back may have slipped while the other has remained firm and both [his feet] might return, until both are firm. Beware! The example of the family of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on them, is like that of the stars in the sky.

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When one star sets another one rises. Allah has completed his obligations upon you and He has shown [or will show] you what you used to wish for.

446. Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha (by ibn Maitham) [1]:

O People! Be aware of a knowledge that is definite. What the Qā’im will encounter from your ignorance is like what the Messenger [of Allah] also encountered from your ignorance. That is, because on that day the entire umma will be engulfed in a state of ignorance except those upon whom Allah has mercy.

Do not hurry lest your demise hastens towards you; and know that lenience is a blessing and in forbearance is survival and comfort. The Imam is more knowledgeable regarding what they deny/don’t know. I swear by my life! He will uproot the evil judges from amongst you, he will remove the diseased from you, he will dismiss the tyrant rulers, and he will purify the earth of every deceiver.

Certainly, he will act amongst you with justice and stand amongst you with the straight weighing scale. Those living from you will desire the return of their dead ones even for a very brief period. It is then that they will enjoy life and this will surely happen. For the sake of Allah have patience, control your tongues, and live [peacefully] because soon deprivation will reach you. If you exercise patience, act in a calculated manner, and live in harmony, he will certainly seek the blood-revenge of your killed ones, avenge the murdered ones,

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and get back your rights. I swear by Allah a true oath,

“Surely Allah is with those who restrain themselves and those who do good” (Quran Surah Nahl 16: 128).

447. Al-Durr al-manthūr [1]: He has recorded from ibn Mardawayh, from ibn `Abbās, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “The Companions of the Cave (aṣḥāb al-kahf) will assist the Mahdī. ”

It has been mentioned in Tafsīr al-tha`labī, in the story about the companions of the cave—which has also been narrated from him in ‘Iqd al- durar, al-Burhān, al-`Umda, and al-Ṭarā’if—that: “They went to their sleeping places and will go to sleep until the end of times when the Mahdī, peace be on him, emerges. ” He continues, “The Mahdī will salute them after which Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will bring them back to life for him. Then, they will go to sleep again and will not wake up until the Day of Rising (al-Qiyāma). ”

448. `Iqd al-durar [2]: Saif b. `Umair narrates:

I was with Abū Ja`far al-Manṣūr [the Abbasid caliph] when he initiated the conversation: “O Saif b. `Umair! It is inevitable that a caller will call out from the sky the name of a person from the progeny of Abū Ṭālib. ” I replied, “May I be given as ransom for you, O Amīr al-Mu’minīn! Are you narrating this? ” He answered, “I swear by the One in whose hand is my life, Yes—for the listener who has ears. ”

I said, “O Amīr al-Mu’minīn! I have never heard this

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tradition before. ” He replied, “O Saif! This is the truth. And when this happens, we will be the ones who will be more worthy of responding to this call. The call will be to a person from the sons of our cousins. ” I asked, “A person from the progeny of Fāṭima, peace be on her? ” He answered, “Yes, O Saif! Had I not heard it from Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, I would not have accepted it even if all the people on earth had narrated it to me, but, he is Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him. ”

449. Al-Amālī [1]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. Aḥmad b. al-Walīd, from al-Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan b. Abān, from al-Ḥusayn b. Sa`īd, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn [al-Ḥasan] al-Kinānī, from his grandfather, from Imam Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, who said:

Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, sent to His Prophet— Allah’s blessings be on him and his family—a manuscript before his death and said, “O Muḥammad! This manuscript is your will to the noble (al-najīb) one from your family. ” He asked, “And who is the noble one from my progeny, O Jabra’īl? ” He replied, “`Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib. ” There were golden seals on the manuscript and the Prophet handed it over to `Alī, peace be on him, 

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[2]: Musnad Abī Ya`lā, vol. 12, p. 19, no. 825 (6665) ; Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 7, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” p. 315; al-Maṭālib al-`āliya, vol. 4, p. 343, no. 4554; Ibn Khaldūn’s al-Muqaddama, p. 379; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 577; al-`Arf al-wardī, (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 131, to his saying: “five and two”.

I say: Apparently, his saying “And what is five and two? ” is the question of the narrator from Abū Huraira or other than him from one of the other narrators. It is not unlikely that his saying “to the truth,” marks the end of the narration and the two questions were in fact from the narrators who were asking each other. Allah knows the best.

[1]: Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 572, no. 39635.

[2]: Musnad Abī Ya`lā, vol. 2, pp. 356–357, no. 131 (1105) ; Similar to it can be found in Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, no. 38703, from Abī Ya`lā and ibn `Asākir.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 1, pp. 19–20; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 138, He says: “Nu`aim b. Ḥammād has recorded it in his book al-Fitan through a reliable chain of narrators in accordance with the criteria set by Muslim.

[2]: Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Mā jā’a fī l-Mahdī,” p. 99, no. 3; Al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 138, from ibn Sa`īd and ibn Abī Shaiba.

[3]: Al-Sunan al-wārida fī l-fitan, vol. 6, chap. “Mā jā’a fī nuzūl `Īsā,” p. 142, no. 5; Al-`Arf al-Wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 162; al-Taṣrīḥ bi mā tawātara fī nuzūl al-Masīḥ, p. 274, no. 5. Tradition no. 4 and 6 which have been narrated from Jābir are similar to it.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 4, p. 167, which we mentioned it under no. 409.

[2]: Al-Fitan, vol. 4, p. 168.

[3]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 172, and similar to it p. 168, no. 1.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 4, p. 168; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 102, p. 55.

[2]: Nahj al-balāgha, sermon 100, ibn Abū al-Ḥadīd writes while explaining this sermon (vol. 7, p. 93): “Know that Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, delivered this sermon on the third Friday after he became the caliph. ” While explaining his saying, “Until Allah brings out for you one who will gather you together and unite you after your separation,” he writes, “that person [who will unite them] is from the Ahl al-Bait, and refers to the Mahdī who will emerge in the end of times” (vol. 7, p. 94). Under his saying: “Allah has completed his obligations upon you... ,” he writes: “He then informs them about the closeness of relief (faraj) and says, ‘Allah perfects his obligations upon you and what you hope for is near—as if it has already occurred. ’ This is like the divine promise about the establishment of the Hour. All the Holy Books have explicitly declared that it is nearn even though it is far from us and in Allah’s knowledge, all far things are near. He, Glory be to Him, declares, ‘Surely, they deem it to be far while We consider it to be near’ (Quran 70: 6–7). ”

[1]: Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha by ibn Maitham, vol. 3, p. 9. He has mentioned this tradition while explaining his saying: “Allah has completed his obligations upon you,” and says: “What he has said is an indication of Allah’s bestowal upon them by the appearance of the Awaited Imam and the reformation of their condition by his presence. ” He then writes, “I have seen in the course of some of his sermons a section in which he foretells the events that will occur after him—in addition to explaining this promise. This is what he said, ‘O people! Be aware... ,’” which is what we mentioned in the text.

[1]: Al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 4, p. 215; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, pp. 141–142; al-`Umda, pp. 223–224; al-Burhān, chap. 1, p. 87, no. 44; al-Ṭarā’if, p. 84; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 105, no. 40 and vol. 39, chap. 17, p. 150, no. 14.

[2]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 4, sect. 3, pp. 110–111; Al-Irshād, p. 385, through his chain of narrators from Saif b. `Umaira; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, pp. 265–266; Rauḍat al-Kāfī, p. 178, no. 255, from Saif.

[1]: Al-Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, session 63, p. 328, no. 2.

and advised him to break one of the seals and act according to what was in it. `Alī, peace be on him, broke a seal and acted upon its instructions.

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Then he handed it over to his son al-Ḥasan, peace be on him, who broke a seal and acted upon its instructions. Then he handed it over to his son al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, who broke a seal and found written in it that, “Go with a group of people towards martyrdom, for, there is no martyrdom for them except with you and sell yourself to Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He. ” And he did, then handed it to `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, who broke a seal and found in it, “Maintain silence, be confined to your house, and worship your Lord until certainty [i. e. death] comes to you” and he did accordingly.

Then, he handed it over to Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, who broke a seal and found in it, “Narrate/speak to the people and give verdicts. Do not fear anyone except Allah because no one can harm you. ” Then he handed these to me. I broke a seal and found, “Narrate/speak to the people and give verdicts. Spread the knowledge of your Ahl al-Bait and confirm your righteous forefathers. Do not fear anyone except Allah for you are in protection and safety. ” I acted according [to the instructions]. Then, I will pass it on to Mūsā b. Ja`far who will hand it over to the one after him. This will continue until the rise of the Mahdī, peace be on him.

450. Al-Amālī [1]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Mūsā b. al-Mutawakkil, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī,

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from Mūsā b. `Imrān al-Nakha`ī, from his uncle al-Ḥusayn b. Yazīd al-Naufalī, from `Alī ibn Sālim, from his father, from Abū Ḥamza al- Thumālī, from Sa`d al-Khaffāf, from al-Aṣbagh b. Nubāta, from `Abd-Allah b. `Abbās, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

When I was taken to the seventh heaven and from there to the Lote Tree of the Boundary (sidrat al-muntahā) and from sidrat al-muntahā to the veils of light (ḥujub al-nūr) , my Lord, majestic be His Majesty, called out to me, “O Muḥammad! You are my servant and I am your Lord. So, be humble before Me and only worship Me. Rely on Me and trust Me for I am satisfied with you as a servant, beloved, messenger, and prophet and [I am satisfied] with your brother, `Alī, as a successor and a door (khalīfatan wa bābā). He is My proof (ḥujjatī) upon My servants and a leader (Imām) for My creation.

Through him, My friends will be known from My enemies and through him, Satan’s party will be distinguished from My party. Through him, My religion will be established, My limits will be protected, and My regulations implemented. Through you, him, and the Imams from his progeny, I will have mercy on My male and female servants. And by the Qā’im from amongst you I will give life to My earth with My Tasbīḥ, Tahlīl, Taqdīs, Takbīr, and Tamjīd. Through him, I will clean the earth from My enemies and make

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My friends inherit it. Through him, I will degrade the word of the disbelievers and elevate My word.

Through him, I will enliven My servants and My cities with My knowledge. For him, I will reveal the treasures and the reserves with My will. I will disclose only to him the secrets and the hidden things by My intention (bi Irādatī). I will help him with My angels so that they may assist him in implementing My order and proclaiming My religion. He is surely My [appointed] guardian and truly the guided one from My servants. ”

451. Al-Amālī of al-Ṭūsī [1]: A group informed us from Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Yasār b. Abī l-`Ajūz al-Simsār, from Mujāhid b. Mūsā al-Khuttalī, from `Abbād b. `Abbād, from Mujālid b. Sa`īd, from Jabr [or Jubair] b. Nauf Abū l-Waddāk who said:

I said to Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, “By Allah! No year comes upon us but that it is worse than the previous one, and no ruler but that he is worse than the previous,” to which Abū Sa`īd answered, “I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, say what you are saying, but, I also heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, say, ‘This situation will not go away from you until amongst all the fitnas and injustices, someone is born who will not be recognized at that time. [This situation will continue] until The world becomes filled with injustice

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to the extent that no one will be able to utter: ‘Allah’.

Then, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will send a person from me and from my progeny. He will fill the earth with justice just as those before him will have filled it with unfairness. [Allah] will bring out its treasures [1] , and he will give away wealth freely and will not even count [what he is giving]. This will continue until Islam is fully established. ’”

452. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [2]: Informed me a group from Abū Muḥammad Hārūn b. Mūsā al-Talla`ukbarī, from Abū `Alī al-Rāzī, from ibn Abū Dārim, from `Alī ibn al-`Abbās al-Sindī al-Muqāni`ī, from Muḥammad b. Hāshim al-Qaysī, from Sahl b. Tamām al-Baṣrī, from `Imrān al-Qattān, from Qatāda, from Abū Naḍra, from Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The Mahdī will emerge in the end of times. ”

453. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [3]: From Muḥammad b. Isḥāq, from al-Muqāni`ī, from Bakkār b. Aḥmad, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn, from Talīd, from Abū l-Jaḥḥāf, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “I give you glad tidings about the Mahdī,” and he repeated this statement three times. Then he said, “He will emerge when there will be disagreements amongst the people and intense hardships. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. He will fill the hearts of Allah’s servants with worship and they will

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benefit from his justice. ”

454. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [1]: Through the aforementioned chain of narrators, from al-Ḥasan b. Ḥusayn, from Sufyān al-Jarīrī, from `Abd al- Mu’min, from al-Ḥārith b. Ḥaṣīra, from `Umāra b. Juwain al-`Abdī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī who said:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, say [while he was] on the pulpit, “Verily, the Mahdī is from my progeny from my Ahl al-Bait. He will emerge in the end of times. The sky will pour down its raindrops for him and the earth will bring out its seeds for him. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as the people will have filled it with unfairness and injustice. ”

455. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [2]: Muḥammad b. Isḥāq, from al-Muqāni`ī, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad al-Zuhrī, from Isḥāq b. Manṣūr, from Qays b. al-Rabī` and others, from `Āṣim, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah b. Mas`ūd who recounts that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The world will not come to an end until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules my nation. He will be called the Mahdī. ”

456. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [3]: Informed me a group from Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. Sufyān al-Bazaufarī, from Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī ibn Muḥammad b. Qutayba al-Naishābūrī, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Naṣr b. Muzāḥim, from Abū Lahī`a, from Abū Qubail, from `Abd- Allah b. `Amr b. al-`Āṣ, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said in a lengthy narration: “It

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is then that the Mahdī will emerge. He is from the descendants of this [man]—and he pointed towards `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him.

Through him, Allah will destroy falsehood (al-kadhib) and will conclude the era of hardship. Through him, the noose of disgrace will be removed from your necks. ” Then, he declared, “I am the first of this nation, the Mahdī will be in the middle, and Jesus will be at the end. Between all this there will be a crooked old man. ”

457. Al-Amālī by al-Ṣadūq [1]: Ibn al-Mutawakkil, from `Alī, from his father, from ibn Abū `Umair, from someone who heard (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, say the following line [of poetry]:

For every nation is a government which they are on the lookout for,

And our government will appear in the end of times

458. Dalā’il al-imāma [2]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah, from Aḥmad b. Isḥāq b. al-Buhlūl al-Qāḍī, from his father, from Samura b. Ḥajar, from Ḥamza al-Naṣībī, from Zaid b. Rafī`, from Abū `Ubaida, from `Abd-Allah b. Mas`ūd who recounts:

I was with the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, when a group of youth from Banī-Hāshim passed by whose faces were [shining like] lamps. [On seeing them], the Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, started weeping. I said, “What has made you cry, O Messenger of Allah? ”

He replied, “We are an Ahl al-Bait for whom, Allah has chosen the Hereafter over the world. Soon, my

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Ahl al-Bait will be killed, driven away, and displaced from the cities. [This will continue] until Allah makes ready for us a flag which will come from the East and whoever fights it will be defeated. Then, a person from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge whose name will be like my name and whose character will be like my character. My umma will go to him like birds returning to their nests. Then, he will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

Similar traditions with various chains of narrators have also been reported on the authority of ibn Mas`ūd.

459. Dalā’il al-imāma [1]: Informed us Abū Ṭāhir `Abd-Allah b. Aḥmad al-Khāzin, from Abū Bakr Muḥammad b. `Umar b. Muḥammad b. Muslim b. al-Barā’ al-Ji`ābī, from Abū l-Ḥasan `Abd-Allah b. Muḥammad b. al-`Abbās al-Rāzī al-Qummī, from his father, from (Imam) `Alī ibn Mūsā al-Riḍā, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, from his brother (Imam) al-Ḥasan, peace be on him, from his father (Imam) `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said to me, ‘The Hour will not be established until the true

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Qā’im rises.

This will occur when Allah, Mighty and Glorified be, permits him to do so. Whoever follows him will be saved and whoever doesn’t will perish. [Fear] Allah! [Fear] Allah! O servants of Allah! Go to him even if you have to crawl on ice because he is the Caliph of Allah (khalīfat Allah) and my successor (khalīfatī). ”

460. Dalā’il al-imāma [1]: Through his chain of narrators [i. e. Abū l-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. Hārūn b. Mūsā from his father], from Abū `Alī al-Nahāwandī, from Isḥāq, from Yaḥyā b. Sulaim, from Hishām b. Ḥasan, from al-Mu`allā b. Abū l-Mu`allā, from Abū l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Rejoice at the good news of the Mahdī. Surely, he will come in the end of times amidst difficulties and hardships. Allah will make the earth prosperous for him with justice and fairness. ”

461. Dalā’il al-imāma [2]: From him [i. e. Muḥammad b. Hārūn b. Mūsā], from his father Abū Muḥammad Hārūn b. Mūsā, from Abū `Alī - Volume 2 , Page 100 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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[1]: Al-Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, session 92, p. 504, no. 4; Al-Faiḍ, al-Nawādir, the book of al-Nubuwwa wa l-imāma, chap. 41, p. 70; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, pp. 65–66, no. 3.

[1]: Al-Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 2, p. 126; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 68, no. 9; al-Nawādir, chap. 46, with some differences.

[1]: In the narration, the term ‘pieces of liver’ has been used instead of ‘treasures. ’ Treasures have been likened to ‘pieces of the liver’ and this is indeed an amazing metaphor. For, the liver is one of the most vital organs of the body and so are the treasures of the earth. This is what Sayyid al-Raḍī has mentioned in his book Majāzāt al-āthār al-nabawiyya, no. 231.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 178, no. 135; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, pp. 72 and 74, no. 22; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 502, no. 291.

[3]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 179, no. 137; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 74, no. 24; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 502, no. 293.

[1]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 180, no. 138; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 74, no. 25; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 502, no. 294.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 182, no. 141; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 75, no. 28; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 503, no. 297.

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

[1]: Al-Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, session 74, p. 396; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 6, p. 143, no. 3; al-Ṭūsī, Al-Amālī, vol. 1, part 7, p. 182, no. 1: “Through his chain of narrators from al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from Abān, from Ismā`īl al-Ju`fī who recounts, ‘A person came to (Imam) Abū Ja’far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, and with him was a page of questions which were like [arguments for use in] a dispute. (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, said to him, ‘This is a page which disputes the religion by which Allah accepts the deeds. ’ He replied, ‘May Allah have mercy on you! This is what I intend! ’ (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, said, ‘Testify that there is no god except Allah, He is Alone and has no partner, and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger. Acknowledge what he has brought from Allah and the Mastership (wilaya) of us Ahl al-Bait and express hatred toward our enemies and submit to us with humility and contentment and await our rule, because surely for us is a government that will come if Allah wills. ’”

[2]: Dalā’il al-imāma, p. 235, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,’ no. 6. Traditions with the same meaning have also been narrated in pp. 223, 224, and 226.

[1]: Dalā’il al-imāma, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” pp. 239 –240, no. 15; `Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 2, p. 60, no. 230.

[1]: Dalā’il al-imāma, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” pp. 249–250, no. 41.

[2]: Dalā’il al-imāma, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” p. 255, no. 54.

al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al-Nahāwandī, from Aḥmad b. Zuhair, from `Abd-Allah b. Dāhir al-Rāzī, from `Abd-Allah b. `Abd al-Quddūs, from al-A’mash, from `Āṣim b. Abū al-Najūd, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from `Abd-Allah b. Mas`ūd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The Hour will not be established until a person from my progeny rules. His name will be like my name. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice

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just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ”

462. Dalā’il al-imāma [1]: Informed us Abū l-Ḥusayn Muḥammad b. Hārūn, from Abū Hārūn b. Mūsā, from Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-Ṭabarī, from `Īsā b. `Abd al-Raḥmān, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn al-`Uranī, from Yaḥyā b. Ya`lā al-Aslamī, `Alī ibn al-Qāsim al-Kindī, and Yaḥyā b. al-Musāwir, from `Alī ibn al-Musāwir, from `Alī ibn al-Ḥazawwar, from al-Aṣbagh b. al-Nubāta, (in a tradition from Imam `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, which he said at the end): “And the Mahdī will be from us in the end of times. In all the nations, there will be no other awaited Mahdī other than him. ”

463. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [2]: Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī ibn al-Faḍl, from Aḥmad b. Uthmān, from Aḥmad b. Razzāq, from Yaḥyā b. al-`Alā al- Rāzī, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, who said:

Allah, the Exalted, will bring forth in this nation a person who is from me and I am from him. Through him, Allah, the Exalted, will bring forth the blessings of the skies and the earth. The sky will pour its raindrops, the earth will bring out its seeds, and its beasts and wild animals will be protected. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. He will kill to the extent that the ignorant will say, ‘Had he been from the seed of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, he would have been merciful. ’

464. Al-Kāfī [3]: Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā,

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from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Abān, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, who said: “The world will not come to an end until a person from me appears. He will judge using the judgment of the family of [the prophet] David, peace be on him, and will not ask for any testimony. He will give everybody their rights. ”

465. Al-Irshād [1]: Abū l-Qāsim; Ja`far b. Muḥammad, from Muḥammad b. Ya`qūb, from `Alī ibn Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father; and `Alī ibn Muḥammad al-Qāsānī, all of them from Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyā b. al-Nu`mān al-Baṣrī who said: “I heard `Alī ibn Ja`far b. Muḥammad say to al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī ibn Ḥusayn, ‘Allah helped Abū l-Ḥasan al-Riḍā, peace be on him, when his brothers and uncles rebelled against him. ” (He then mentions a lengthy tradition which ends with his saying: ) ‘And I stood up and held Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā’s hand and said to him, “I testify that you are my Imam [when I stand] before Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He. ”

On witnessing this, (Imam) al-Riḍā, peace be on him, wept and said, “O uncle! Didn’t you hear my father say, ‘The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, declared, “May my father be sacrificed for the son of the pure, the best lady from the city of Nūbiyya [2]! From his [i. e. Imam Riḍā’s] descendants will be the driven-away (al-ṭarīd) , the wanderer (al-sharīd) , whose father and grandfather have

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been killed but not avenged. He will go in occultation until it is said, ‘He has died or he has perished or which valley has he entered? ’”’” I replied, “You are speaking the truth, may I be sacrificed for you! ”’

466. Nafas al-mahmūm [1]: From al-Kāmil by Shaykh al-Bahā’ī, from (Imam) `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn Zain al-`Ābidīn, peace be on him, in his famous sermon delivered at Damascus:

Allah, the Exalted, bestowed upon us forbearance, knowledge, bravery, and generosity and [put our] love in the hearts of the believers. From us is the Messenger of Allah, his successor, the Master of the Martyrs, and Ja`far al-Ṭayyār (the flying one) in Paradise, the two grandsons of this umma [i. e. Ḥasan and Ḥusayn], and the Mahdī, who will kill the Dajjāl.

467. Maqātil al-ṭālibīn [2]: (While mentioning the martyrdom of Zaid b. `Alī and its reason, he writes): Informed us `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī al-Ādamī, from Abū Bakr al-Jabalī, from `Abd-Allah b. `Abd al-Raḥmān al-`Anbarī, from Mūsā b. Muḥammad, from al- Walīd b. Muḥammad al-Mūqirī who said:

I was with al-Zuhrī at al-Ruṣāfa when he heard the sound of people making fun. He said to me, “O Walīd! See what it is? ” I peeped out a window of his house and said, “It is the head of Zaid b. `Alī!!” He sat up and said, “The people of this house who hurried have been killed. ” I asked him, “Will they not rule? ” He answered, “Narrated to me `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, from his father, from Fāṭima, that

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the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, informed her, ‘The Mahdī is from your descendants. ’”

468. Al-Amālī (known as al-Amālī al-khamīsiyya) [1]: In a tradition that he has recorded through his chain of narrators from `Alī, peace be on him:

By the One Who split the grain and created the wind! If only one day remains from the world, Allah will prolong that day until a man from me rules the earth. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness... I swear by the One Who split the grain and created the wind, if no one remains from them (i. e. the Banī Umayya) except one man, he will indeed rebel with evil against the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He.

469. Qurb al-isnād [2]: Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from `Abd-Allah b. Maimūn al-Qaddāḥ, from Ja`far, from his father, from (Imam) `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said:

From us are seven people whom Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, has created and has not created like them on earth. From us is the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, the master of the first and the last and the seal of the Prophets. His heir (waṣī) is the best of heirs, his grandsons are the best of grandsons—Ḥasan and Ḥusayn. The Master of the Martyrs (sayyid al-shuhadā) , Ḥamza, is his uncle. [And the two others are] Ja`far, the

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one who turns [or flies] with the angels, and the Qā’im.

470. Kāmil al-ziyārāt [1]: Through his previous chains of narrators, from Abū l-Qāsim Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Qūlawayh, from a group of his teachers which include: his father, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, and `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, [all of them] from Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah b. Abū Khalaf, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā b. `Ubaid al-Yaqṭīnī, from Abū `Abd-Allah Zakariyyā al-Mu’min, from ibn Muskān, from Zaid—the slave of ibn Hubayra—from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

Fasten to the waist-belt of this anza` [2] , for surely, he is the greatest truthful person (al-ṣiddīq al-akbar) and the guide for those who follow him. Whoever precedes him has gone ahead of religion. Whoever deserts him, Allah will destroy him. Whoever holds fast to him has held fast to the rope of Allah. Whoever accepts his guardianship (wilaya) will be guided by Allah, and whoever rejects his guardianship (wilaya) , will be misled by Allah.

From him are the two grandsons of this nation, who are my two sons al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. From the descendants of al-Ḥusayn are the guiding Imams and the Qā’im, the Mahdī. Love them and accept their guardianship. Don’t take their enemy as an ally instead of them, in that case you will be worthy of the wrath of your Lord and a disgrace in this world, and indeed, whoever has forged a lie will be disappointed.

471. Mukhtaṣar baṣā’ir al-darajāt [3]: Muḥammad

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b. al-Ḥusayn b. Abū l-Khaṭṭāb and Ya`qūb b. Yazīd, from Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Maithamī, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn, from Abān b. Uthmān, from Mūsā al-Ḥannāṭ, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, who said: “The Days of Allah (ayyām Allāh) are three: the day when the Qā’im rises, the Day of Returning (yaum al-karra) [1] and the Day of Judgment (qiyāma). ”

472. Al-Mustarshid [2]: Narrated to us Abū Ḥafṣ `Umar b. `Alī ibn Yaḥyā, from Qays b. Ḥafṣ, from Yūnus, from `Alī ibn Ḥazawwar, from Aṣbagh b. Nubāta, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

When Allah gathers the first and the last [i. e. all the people], the best of the people will be seven and all of them will be from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. Your Prophet will be called the best of the Prophets, [and he is] from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. The heir (waṣī) of your Prophet, is the master of the heirs (sayyid al-auṣiyā) [and he is] from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. Al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, the two masters of the youth of paradise, are from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. Ḥamza, the Master of the Martyrs, is from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. Ja`far, who has two wings, is from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. And the Mahdī who will emerge in the end of times, is from the descendants of `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. This is a generosity from Allah, the like of which has not been granted to anyone from the first ones

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and the last ones. ”

473. Sunan Abī Dāwūd [1]: Hārūn narrates from `Amr b. Abī Qays, from Muṭarrif b. Ṭarīf, from al-Ḥasan, from Hilāl b. `Amr, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “A person from Mā Warā’ al- Nahr will emerge who will be called al-Ḥārith b. Ḥarrāth. His army will be led by a person called Manṣūr. He will strengthen the family of Muḥammad, just like the Quraish who strengthened the Messenger of Allah. It will be obligatory upon every believer to help him. ”

474. Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā [2]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Yūsuf al-Baghdadi, from al-Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad b. al- Faḍl—the Imam of the Jāmi` Mosque of Ahwāz—from Bakr b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Qaṣrī, the slave of al-Khalīl al-Maḥlamī, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī ibn Muḥammad b. `Alī ibn Mūsā, from `Alī ibn Mūsā, from his father (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far b. Muḥammad who said: “The Qā’im will not be but an Imam, the son of an Imam, and a heir (waṣī) , the son of a heir (waṣī). ”

475. Al-Khiṣāl [3]: Through his chain of narrators from `Alī, peace be on him, in the tradition mentioning seventy of his excellences in which none of the companions of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, matched him, he said:

As for the fifty third [excellence], then surely Allah will not end the world until the Qā’im from us rises. He

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will kill those who hate us, he will not accept the non-Muslim tax (jizya) , he will break the cross and the idols. War will end and he will invite [people to come and] take wealth and he will distribute it equally, and will deal justly with the people.

476. Sharḥ al-akhbār [1]: From Mujāhid (without mentioning the chain of narrators): “... then the Qā’im from the family of Muḥammad will be sent to punish them. The people will regard him weak [but] Allah will grant him victory over the easts and the wests of the world. Be aware! They are the true believers. Be aware! The finest jihad is at the end of times. ”

477. Sharḥ al-akhbār [2]: From the narration of ibn Salām, through his chain of narrators from Amīr al-Mu’minīn (`Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib) , peace - Volume 2 , Page 108 - Muntakhab al - Athar fi l-Imam al - thani Ashar: Selected Narrations about the Twelfth Imam

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[1]: Dalā’il al-imāma, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” pp. 256–257, no. 57.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 188, no. 149; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 6, p. 146, no. 16; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 504, no. 305.

[3]: Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, pp. 397–398, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, chap. 27, p. 230, no. 22.

[1]: Al-Mufīd, al-Irshād, p. 340, no. 1; I`lām al-warā, chap. 8, sect. 2, p. 330; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 50, chap. 2, p. 21, no. 7.

[2]: This refers to the mother of Imam Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā, peace be on him. She was from the city of Nūbiyya and was called Sabīka. “The son of the best lady from the city of Nūbiyya” does not refer to our master Imam al-Mahdī, peace be on him, as is suggested by the author of al-Wāfī, who writes, “It refers to the Mahdī, the Master of Time, Allah’s blessings be on him. It seems he has been attributed to his grand-mother, the mother of Imam Abū Ja`far al-Thānī, peace be on him... ” He has reached this conclusion by relying on the manuscript of al-Kāfī. Apparently, the following statement has been deleted from it: “From his progeny will be the driven-away (al-ṭarīd) , the wanderer (al-sharīd) ”. The manuscript of al-Irshād clarifies the meaning.

[1]: Nafas al-mahmūm, pp. 242–243. It is worth mentioning that the book al-Kāmil, has been written in Persian and it mentions the translation of the Imam’s sermon, Al-Kāmil, vol. 2, pp. 299–302.

[2]: Maqātil al-ṭālibīn, p. 143; Dalā’il al-imāma, sect. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” p. 234, no. 5.

[1]: Al-Amālī (known as al-Amālī al-khamīsiyya) , vol. 2, p. 83.

[2]: Qurb al-isnād, pp. 13–14.

[1]: Kāmil al-ziyārāt, chap. 14, p. 52, no. 10.

[2]: This word is used to refer to someone who has no hair on the sides of his forehead.

[3]: Mukhtaṣar baṣā’ir al-darajāt, p. 18; Īqāḍ al-ḥaj`a, chap. 9, p. 282, no. 100.

[1]: The ‘Day of Returning’ is the Day of Raj`a and it is the day about which Allah, the Exalted, says: “And on the day when We will gather from every nation a group from among those who reject Our signs, then they will be held in ranks” (Quran 27: 83). On this day, only a group from the deniers and a group from the believers will be gathered. This has been mentioned in detail in mutawātir traditions. As for the Day of Judgment, then on that Great Day, all the people will be raised without exception as has been announced by Allah, the Exalted: “and We will gather them and leave not any one of them behind” (Quran 18: 47) , and His saying: “On that day people will come in scattered groups to be shown their deeds” (Quran 99: 6) , “The day in which people will be like scattered moths” (Quran 101: 4) , “On the day that you will see every breast-feeder forgetting about what she was breast-feeding, and every pregnant female will drop her fetus, and people will be drunk but (in fact) they are not drunk, and the punishment of Allah will be severe” (Quran 22: 2). The clear verses that describe the Day of Judgment are indeed numerous and so are the verses that refer to the ‘Day of Returning. ’. These two groups of verses can be separated by pondering in their style and wordings. Indeed, traditions narrated from the infallible Imams, peace be on them, have also distinguished between these two groups of Quranic verses.

One must never consider the return of the dead to this world as improbable, because such things have already happened by the miracles of the divine Prophets and Allah, the Exalted, has informed us about them in the following verses: “Or like the person [`Uzair] who passed by a town and its [walls] had fallen down upon its roofs... So Allah caused him to die for a hundred years then raised him to life” (Quran 2: 259) , and: “Did you not see those who deserted their homes for fear of death, and they were thousands, then Allah said to them, ‘Die’ and then He gave them life [again]” (Quran 2: 243) , and in the story of Ayyūb: “Then We responded to him and removed what was harming him, and We gave him his family and the like of them with them” (Quran 21: 84). Moreover, prominent Sunni scholars like ibn Mardawayh and others have narrated from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, that the Companions of the Cave (aṣḥāb al-kahf) will return to this world when the Mahdī rises.

We must always remember that surely Allah is powerful over all things. The belief in Mahdawiyya and the faith in Raj`a are not two things that are inseparable. The importance of believing in Raj`a is not like the importance of believing in Mahdawiyya about which the entire Muslim nation has consensus about, and which has reliable traditions from both the sects to support it. In this book, we intend to establish the belief in the Awaited Mahdī, peace be on him, and explain it and elaborate on it. The matter of Raj`a—in addition to the fact that its position is unlike that of Mahdawiyya—has no role in proving the belief in Mahdawiyya. Discussions about Raj`a, investigations concerning it, and its details must be debated elsewhere.

[2]: Al-Mustarshid, pp. 186–187.

[1]: Sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 2, “Kitāb al-Mahdī,” pp. 208–209; al-Tāj al-jāmi` lil-uṣūl, “Kitāb al-fitan wa `alāmāt al-sā`a,” vol. 5, chap. 7, p. 344. The author of Ghāyat al-ma’mūl (printed in the marginal notes of al-Tāj) writes: “In the end of times a righteous person will emerge from Mā Warā al-Nahr. His name will be Ḥārith. He will have a great army that will be led by a great person whose name will be Manṣūr. This man will prepare the ground for the seed of Muḥammad. He will prepare the army, the reserves, and the wealth to help the caliph who will appear and he will be the Mahdī. Just like the companions who prepared the ground for the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family]. It is compulsory for every believer to help this army and this caliph because both are [on the path] of truth. ”

[2]: `Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 2, chap. 35, p. 131, no. 13.

[3]: Al-Khiṣāl, chap. “Seventy and Beyond,’ pp. 578–579, no. 1. The entire tradition with the chain of narrators and text has been mentioned on pp. 572–581.

[1]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 14, p. 360, no. 1227.

[2]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 15, p. 388, no. 1265.

be on him, who said:

Tests are of three kinds: The test during a good and enjoyable life, the test during hardships, and the test in which the people will be cleaned like the cleaning of the gold extracted from the mines. This will continue until a man emerges from us—the progeny of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family—and then Allah will set right their affairs.

478. Sharḥ al-akhbār [3]: `Abd-Allah b. Jabala, narrates through his chain of narrators from `Alī, peace be on him, that: “Islam will depart from the people like a camel which runs away from rain. Allah will not return it except by a person from us. ”

479. Sharḥ al-akhbār [4]: In

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another tradition from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “As if I am seeing your religion fleeing from you. Nothing from it will remain with you until Allah returns it to you by a person from us. ”

480. Sharḥ al-akhbār [1]: From the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, whom mentioned the Mahdī and said: “Whoever sees him, should obey/follow him even if he has to crawl on ice—or fire—for surely he is Allah’s Caliph on earth. ”

The traditions with the following numbers are either in harmony with the topic of this section, or result in it, or based on the interpretation of other narrations conform to it: 1–352, 481–715, 719–807, 864–870, 872, 876, 878, 881–912, 918, 928, 932, 933, 936, 941, 943, 951, 956 969, 971–973, 975–1029, 1039–1041, 1043, 1049, 1055, 1059–1062, 1083, 1086–1118, 1123–1169, 1173, 1175–1177, 1179–1186, 1195–1206, 1211–1223, 1228–1238, 1240, 1241, 1243, 1244, 1246–1249, 1251–1256, 1258–1261, 1266, 1267, 1270, 1271–1274, 1276, and 1277.

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[3]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 15, p. 390, no. 1267.

[4]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 15, p. 393, no. 1270.

[1]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 14, p. 359, no. 1224.

Section Three

The traditions that prove he is from the progeny of the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, from his Ahl al-Bait, and from his seed

Comprised of 407 traditions

481. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from al-Shaykh, from al-Zuhrī, from `Urwa, from `Ā’isha, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “He is a man from my progeny. He will fight in accordance with my customs (sunnatī) just as I fought in accordance with the revelations. ”

482. Al-Fitan [3]: Narrated to us al-Walīd

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from ibn Lahī`a and informed me `Ayyāsh b. `Abbās from ibn Zarīr, from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “He is a man from my Ahl al-Bait. ”

And narrated to us ibn Wahb, from ibn Lahī`a, from al-Ḥarth b. Yazīd, from ibn Zarīr al-Ghāfiqī, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “He is from the progeny of the Prophet, may Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family. ”

483. Jawāhir al-`iqdain [1]: Aḥmad, ibn Māja, and others have narrated from `Alī, may Allah be satisfied with him, without a chains of narrators, that: “The Mahdī is from us. Religion will be sealed through us just as it by through us. ”

484. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [2]: Narrated to us al-Ḥusayn b. Isḥāq al-Tustarī, from Wāṣil b. `Abd al-A`lā, from Muḥammad b. Fuḍail, from Uthmān b. `Abd-Allah b. Shubrama, from `Āṣim b. Abī l-Najūd, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, from `Abd-Allah b. Mas`ūd, may Allah be satisfied with him, who recounts that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “A man from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge. His name will be my name and his character will be my character. He will fill [the earth] with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ”

485. Ṣifat al-Mahdī [3]: From `Abd-Allah b. `Umar, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Hour will not be established until

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a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules. His name will be my name. He will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ”

486. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from Abū Rāfi`, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “He is from my progeny. ”

487. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us al-Qāsim b. Malak al-Muzanī, from Yāsīn b. Sayyār, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥanafiyya, from his father, from `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. ”

488. Al-Fitan (by Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥārith al-Bazzāz) [3]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Quddūs al-`Aṭṭār, from `Amr b. `Āṣim, from `Imrān al-Qattān, from Qatāda, from Abū Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. ”

489. Al-Mu`jam al-ausaṭ [4]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Yaḥyā b. Khalid b. Ḥibbān, from Muḥammad b. Sufyān al-Ḥaḍramī, from ibn Lahī`a, from Abī Zur`a `Amr b. Jābir, from `Umar b. `Alī, from his father `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said:

I asked the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, “Is the Mahdī from us or other than us, O Messenger of Allah? ” He replied, “He is from us. [Through us] Allah will seal just as

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He commenced through us. Through us they will be liberated from polytheism. Through us Allah will unite their hearts after clear enmity just as He united their hearts after the enmity of polytheism. ” I asked, “Will they be believers or non-believers? ” He replied, “[They will be] astray (maftūn) and non-believers. ”

490. Al-Mu`jam al-ṣaghīr [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al-`Abbās al-Qantarī, from Ḥarb b. al-Ḥasan al-Ṭaḥḥān, from Ḥusayn b. al-Ḥasan al-Ashqar, from Qays b. al-Rabī`, from al-A’mash, from `Abāya i. e. ibn Raba`ī, from Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said to Fāṭima, [peace be on her]:

Our Prophet is the best of Prophets and he is your father. Our martyr is the best of martyrs and he is your uncle. From us is the one who has two wings by which he flies in Paradise where he wishes, and he is your father’s cousin, Ja`far [al-Ṭayyār]. From us are the two grandsons of this nation, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and they are your sons. And from us is the Mahdī.

I say: Ibn al-Maghāzilī has recorded the entire tradition with its chain of narrators—which ends at `Abāya—who narrates from Abū Ayyūb al- Anṣārī:

Once the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], became ill and Fāṭima, Allah’s blessings be on her, visited him while he was recovering from his illness. When she saw the affliction and weakness of the Messenger of Allah, she started gasping until her tears rolled down

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from her eyes.

He said to her, “O Fāṭima! Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, searched the earth thoroughly, then chose from it your father and sent him as a Prophet. He searched it a second time and chose your husband. Thereafter, He revealed [some matters] to me and I gave your hand in marriage to him and made him the executor of my will. Are you not aware, O Fāṭima, that because Allah holds you in such high esteem, He has married you to a person who is the greatest in forbearance, the foremost amongst them in Islam, and the most knowledgeable amongst them? ”

On hearing this, Fāṭima became happy and rejoiced. Then, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said to her, “O Fāṭima! `Alī has eight obvious qualities: His belief in Allah and His Messenger, his wisdom, his marriage to Fāṭima, his sons al-Ḥasan and al- Ḥusayn, his enjoinment of good and forbiddance from evil, his judgment by [using] the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He. O Fāṭima! We Ahl al-Bait have been given seven characteristics that have not been given to anybody from the first ones and the last ones [or he said: no one from the last ones except us].

Our Prophet is the most superior of the Prophets and he is your father. Our heir (waṣī) is the best of the heirs, and he is your husband. Our martyr is the best of martyrs and he is your

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father’s uncle. From us is the one who has two wings by which he flies in Paradise where he wishes and he is your cousin Ja`far [al-Ṭayyār]. From us are the two grandsons of this nation, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, and they are your sons. And I swear by the One in Whose hands is my life, from us is the Mahdī of this nation. ”

The traditions with the following numbers are either in harmony with the topic of this section, or result in it, or based on the interpretation of other narrations conform to it: 65, 70, 72, 80, 81, 83, 91, 95, 113, 118, 120, 125, 126, 127, 129, 132, 134, 136, 143, 149, 153, 158, 159, 160, 167, 168, 169, 170, 173, 175, 176, 177, 178, 181, 183, 191, 193, 194, 196, 205–309, 317, 318, 321, 323, 324, 325, 327, 336, 339, 345, 346, 349, 350, 353–357, 359, 360, 362–367, 370, 371, 373–378, 382, 385, 390, 395, 396, 398, 400, 401, 402, 406, 407, 411, 414, 416, 417, 418, 434, 435, 438, 450, 451, 456, 458, 461, 463–470, 475, 478–480, 492, 494, 496–499, 500, 502-509, 516–572, 575, 578, 580, 581, 586, 588, 590, 591, 595, 597, 603, 608, 609, 610, 613, 624, 625, 641, 645, 653, 654, 670, 685, 726, 757, 771, 780, 786, 787, 789–807, 859, 902, 903, 904, 918, 928, 932, 939, 942, 956, 958, 960, 973, 974, 1105, 1113, 1116, 1130, 1139, 1140, 1158, 1159, 1160, 1162, 1164, 1165, 1168, 1169, 1175, 1178, 1179, 1180, 1184,

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1191, 1198, 1205, 1212, 1216–1219, 1223, 1230, 1235, 1237, 1240, 1243, 1246, 1251, 1252–1256, 1260, 1264, 1272, and 1274.

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[2]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 199; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, under the twelfth verse, p. 162; Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 73, p. 433; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 192; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 95, no. 21; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, pp. 16–17.

[3]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, pp. 199–200; Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 5, no. 21.

[1]: Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, under the twelfth verse from the verses that have been revealed about them, citing al-Ṭabarānī, p. 161; Is`āf al-rāghibīn (printed in the marginal notes of Nūr al-abṣār) , chap. 2, p. 134; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 73, p. 433; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, p. 145. He says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī has recorded it”; Kashf al-khafā wa muzīl al-albās, vol. 2, pp. 288–289.

[2]: Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 10, no. 10229; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 273, no. 38702; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 32, with a little difference; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 92, no. 11. He has recorded it from al-Ṭabarānī and Abū Nu`aim; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 471, no. 23, citing al-Arba`īn by Abū Nu`aim with the difference that he has mentioned the narration to: “... he will fill [the earth] with justice and fairness” ; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 132, citing al-Ṭabarānī and Abū Nu`aim.

[3]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, pp. 29–30. He says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recorded it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī likewise” ; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 471, no. 9, citing Abū Nu`aim in al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn, through his chains of narrators from ibn `Umar.

[1]: Al-Fitan (manuscript) , vol. 5, p. 199; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 194, p. 85, citing al-Fitan, with a slight difference in the wording of the chain.

[2]: Al-Fitan (manuscript) , vol. 5, p. 201; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 198, p. 86, citing al-Fitan.

[3]: Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, sect. 3, chap. 19, pp. 163–164, citing al-Fitan by Abū Yaḥyā Zakariyyā b. Yaḥyā b. al-Ḥārith al-Bazzāz, dated: Wednesday, end of Rabī` al-Awwal, 391 AH from al-Nizāmiyya Waqf; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 21.

[4]: Al-Mu`jam al-ausaṭ, vol. 1, p. 136, no. 757; Al-Fitan, chap. “Nisbat al-Mahdī,” p. 198; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, pp. 598–599, no. 39682; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 91, no. 7; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 129; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 25, and chap. 7, p. 142; Mahdī `āl al-rasūl, p. 5.

[1]: Al-Mu`jam al-ṣaghīr, vol. 1, chap. “Min ismih Aḥmad,” p. 37; Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8. He says: “Al-Ṭabarānī has recorded it in al-Ausaṭ”; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 73, p. 434, with the difference: “From us is the Mahdī and he is from your descendants”; al-Bayān, chap. ½, p. 98; Dhakhā’ir al-uqbā, p. 44; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 25; Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 9, p. 166; al-Ṣawā’iq, p. 163; al-Manāqib by ibn al-Maghāzilī, pp. 101–102, no. 144; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 73, p. 436, with the difference: “I swear by the One in whose hand is my life! From us is the Mahdī of this nation and he is from your descendants”; al-Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, vol. 1, p. 154, like what has been recorded in al-Manāqib; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 37, chap. 50 / 16, pp. 41–42, and pp. 65–66, no. 37, and vol. 51, chap. 1/6, p. 67; al-`Umda, p. 267, no. 423; al-Ṭarā’if, p. 134, no. 212; Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 2, pp. 509–510, no. 900.

Section Four

The traditions that show that his name and epithet (al-kunya) are the same as the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and that his appearance, speaking, and actions are more similar to him than any other person, and that he will act according to his traditions (sunna)

Comprised of forty-five traditions

491. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from Abū Rāfi`, from someone who narrated to him, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The name of the Mahdī is [the same as] my name. ”

492. `Iqd al-durar [2]: From `Abd-Allah b. `Umar, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “In the end of times a person will emerge from my descendants. His name is like my name and his epithet is my epithet (kunyatuhū kunyatī). He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

493. Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān [3]: Nu`aim b. Ḥammād has also recorded from `Alī, peace be on him, that he said: “The name of the Mahdī is Muḥammad. ”

494. Sunan al-Dānī [4]: From Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

A man from my Ahl al-Bait will emerge. He

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will act according to my customs (sunna). Allah will send down blessings for him from the sky. The earth will throw out its treasures for him and it [i. e. the earth] will be filled by him with justice just as it will have been filled with unfairness and injustice. He will rule over this nation for seven years and will dismount at Bait al-Maqdas.

495. Al-`Arf al-wardī [1]: Nu`aim has also recorded from ibn Mas`ūd from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The Mahdī’s name is Muḥammad. ”

496. `Iqd al-durar [2]: From `Abd-Allah b. Mas`ūd, may Allah be satisfied with him, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “The Hour will not be established until a person from my Ahl al-Bait rules the earth. His name is like my name. ”

This tradition has been recorded by al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Bakr al-Bayhaqī.

497. Kamāl al-dīn [3]: Narrated to us Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Masrūr, may Allah be satisfied with him, from al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad b. `Āmir, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Umair, from Abū Jamīla al-Mufaḍḍal b. Ṣāliḥ, from Jābir b. Yazīd al-Ju`fī, from Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

The Mahdī is from my progeny. His name is my name and his epithet is my epithet. He is the most similar of people to me in creation and character. He will go in an occultation in which the nations will be deviated. Then,

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he will emerge like a shining meteor. He will fill it [i. e. the earth] with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness.

498. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us my father, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, and Muḥammad b. Mūsā al-Mutawakkil, may Allah be pleased with all of them, from all of the following: Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah, `Abd-Allah b. Ja`far, and Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-`Aṭṭār, from all of the following: Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. `Īsā, Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, Aḥmad b. Abī `Abd-Allah al-Barqī, and Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Abī l-Khaṭṭāb, from Abū `Alī al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb al-Sarrād, from Dāwūd b. al-Ḥaṣīn, from Abū Baṣīr, from (Imam) al-Ṣādiq, Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, from his forefathers, peace be on them, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said:

The Mahdī is from my descendants. His name is my name and his epithet is my epithet. He is the most similar of people to me in creation and characteristics. He will have an occultation and a bewilderment. It will be [so severe] that the people will deviate from their religions. When this happens, he will emerge like a shining meteor and will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice.

499. Kamāl al-dīn [2]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad b. `Ubdūs al-Nīsābūrī al-`Aṭṭār, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba al- Nīsābūrī, from Ḥamdān b. Sulaimān, from

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Aḥmad b. `Abd-Allah b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, from `Abd-Allah b. al-Faḍl al-Hāshimī, from Hishām b. Sālim, from al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, from his father, from his grandfather, peace be on them, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

The Qā’im is from my descendants. His name is my name, his epithet is my epithet, his features are my features, and his customs (sunna) are my customs. His will make the people establish my religion and my nation (yuqīmu al-nas `alā millatī wa sharī`atī) and he will call the people to the Book of my Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He. Whoever obeys him has indeed obeyed me and whoever disobeys him has indeed disobeyed me. Whoever denies him in his occultation, then indeed he has denied me and whoever refutes him, has indeed refuted me. Whoever acknowledges him has acknowledged me. I will complain to Allah against those who reject what I say about him, those who deny my word about his status and those who deviated my religion from his path,

“And soon those who act unjustly will know to what final place of returning they will go to” (Quran Surah Shuaraa 26: 227).

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 245, 255, 265, 272, 279, 288, 289, 321, 339, 354, 355, 357, 397, 400, 402, 406, 409, 428, 441, 461, 484, 485, 506 (which says: “he has two names, one that is concealed and one that is apparent”) , 525, 529

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(which says: “his epithet will be Abū `Abd-Allah”) , 535, 544 (it comprises of what shows that one of his agnomens will be that of Imam Muḥammad al-Bāqir, peace be on him) , 546 (which says: “he will have two names: Khalaf and Muḥammad”) , 562, 563, 564, 569, 597, 653 (which says: “it is prohibited for them to say his name”) , 693, 726, 784, 791, 792, 797, 799, 800 (which says: “his epithet will be Ja`far,” 804, 806, and 810 (which say: “no one is permitted to address him by his name or by his epithet”).

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[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, under “Fī ism al-Mahdī,” p. 197.

I say: The sentence “his father’s name is my father’s name,” which has been recorded by Zirr, from ibn Mas`ūd, from Maimūn al-Qaddāḥ, from ibn al-Ṭufail, has not been issued by the Holy Prophet. For, it has been narrated like this: “Zirr from ibn Mas`ūd” or “someone from the narrators from whom he has narrated. I have heard [this tradition] numerous times without the aforementioned sentence. Another thing that denotes the weakness of this addition (i. e. “his father’s name is my father’s name”) is its absence in Musnad of Aḥmad in what he has narrated from ibn Mas`ūd, along with the fact that the chains of narrators of some of his traditions are exactly like the chains in al-Fitan. See Aḥmad’s al-Musnad, vol. 1, pp. 376, 377, 430, and 448. Soon, more evidence will be mentioned to prove this, Inshā’Allah.

Al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, under the first section in which he has dedicated to the book of Fitan by Nu`aim b. Ḥammād, chap. 162, p. 74; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 3, p. 101, no. 9; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 148

[2]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, p. 32; Tadhkirat al-khawāṣ, p. 377, with the addition of “This is the Mahdī” at its end.

[3]: Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 3, p. 101, no. 8.

[4]: Sunan al-Dānī, pp. 100–101; `Iqd al-durar (citing al-Dānī’s Sunan and Abū Nu`aim’s Ṣifat al-Mahdī) , chap. 1, p. 20, and chap. 7, p. 156; Similar to this has been narrated in al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 131, citing al-Ṭabarānī’s al-Ausaṭ and Abū Nu`aim; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 472, no. 25, citing Abū Nu`aim’s al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn.

I say: There is no contradiction between this tradition and those that indicate that the capital of his government is other than Bait al-Maqdas, because it has not been mentioned that he will stay there as a place of permanent residence.

[1]: Al-`Arf al-wardī, no. 648.

[2]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, pp. 30–31.

[3]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 25, p. 286, no. 1; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2, p. 243; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 7, pp. 66–67, no. 6; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, pp. 488 & 493; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 521; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, pp. 334–335, no. 585; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 460, no. 103; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, pp. 71–72, no. 13.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 25, p. 287, no. 4; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 493; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 72, no. 16.

[2]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 39, p. 411, no. 6; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 73, no. 19.

Section Five

The traditions that mention his facial appearance (shamā’iluh)

Comprised of twenty-nine traditions

500. Ṣifat al-Mahdī [1]: From Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait and a man from my umma. He will have a aquiline nose. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

501. Al-Muṣannaf [2]: Informed us `Abd al-Razzāq, from Mu`ammar, from Maṭar, from a man, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, that the Mahdī will have a aquiline nose and a wide forehead.

502. Musnad al-Rūyānī, Mu`jam al-Ṭabarānī, and Manāqib al-Mahdī [3]: Ḥudhayfat b. al-Yamān, may Allah be satisfied with him, narrates that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “The Mahdī is a man from my progeny. His face is like a glittering star. His complexion will be Arabian while his physique will be similar

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to the Israelites. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. The inhabitants of the earth and the sky and the birds in the air will be satisfied during his government. He will rule for twenty years. ”

503. Al-`Awālī [1]: From Abī Salmat b. `Abd al-Raḥmān b. `Auf, from his father, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “Certainly, Allah will raise a person from my progeny. His front teeth will be slightly apart and he will have a wide forehead. He will fill the earth with justice and will bestow wealth abundantly. ”

504. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us al-Walīd, from Sa`īd, from Qatāda, from Abī Naḍra, from Abī l-Ṣiddīq, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī will have a wide forehead and a aquiline nose. ”

And through another chain of narrator from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī will have an aquiline nose and a wide forehead. ”

505. Musnad Abī Ya`lā [3]: Narrated to us Qaṭan b. Bushair, from `Adī b. Abī `Umāra, from Maṭar al-Warrāq, from Abī l-Ṣiddīq, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

Certainly, a man from my Ahl al-Bait will rise upon my umma. He will have an aquiline [nose] and a wide [forehead]. He will fill the earth

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with justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. He will rule for seven years.

506. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Mūsā, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. Ismā’īl al-Barmakī, from Ismā’īl b. Mālik, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Abī l-Jārūd Ziyād b. al-Mundhir, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far al-Bāqir, from his father, from his grandfather, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib—peace be on them all—who said while he was on the pulpit:

A man from my descendants will emerge in the end of times. His color will be white with a reddish complexion and he will have a wide stomach, sturdy thighs, and large shoulders. On his back are two moles: One the color of his skin and the other will be similar to the mole of the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

He will have two names: One name will be hidden and the other will be apparent. The one which will be hidden will be Aḥmad and the one that will be apparent will be Muḥammad. When he moves, you will see everything between the east and west being illuminated for him. He will place his hands on the heads of the people, then, no believer will remain but that his heart will be stronger than plates of steel. Allah, the Exalted, will give him the strength of forty men. There will not be a dead person

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[from the believers] in the grave but that happiness will enter his [heart] while he is in his grave, and the [dead] will be visiting each other in their graves and giving glad-tidings to each other about the rise of the Qā’im, may Allah’s blessings be upon him.

507. Al-Mustadrak [1]: Narrated to us Abū l-`Abbās Muḥammad b. Ya`qūb, from Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-Ṣan`ānī, from `Amr b. `Āṣim al- Kilābī, from `Imrān al-Qaṭṭān, from Qatāda, from Abī Naḍra, from Abū Sa`īd, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said: “The Mahdī is from us Ahl al-Bait. He will have an aquiline nose and a wide [forehead]. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. He will live for this many years,” and he showed seven with his fingers by showing the five fingers of his left hand and the thumb and the index finger of his right hand.

Al-Ḥākim says, “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) according to the criteria set by Muslim but neither of them [i. e. al-Bukhārī and Muslim] have recorded it.

508. Dhikr akhbār Iṣbahān [2]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Ja`far, from Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Anṣārī, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. al- Ḥusayn b. Ḥafṣ, from his grandfather al-Ḥusayn, from `Akramat b. Ibrāhīm, from Maṭar al-Warrāq, from Abī l-Ṣiddīq al-Nājī, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

The Hour will not be established until a man

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from my Ahl al-Bait rules. He will have a wide forehead and an aquiline nose. He will fill the earth with justice just as it would have been filled before him with unfairness. He will live for seven years.

509. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us ibn Wahb, from Isḥāq b. Yaḥyā, from Ṭalḥat al-Taymī, from Ṭāwūs, from `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said: “He will be a youth from the Quraish with a tanned (asmar) complexion and lean [in figure]. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 360, 366, 374, 378, 414, 428, 431, 484, 518, 577, 691, 812-814, 835, 836, 1198, 1217 and 1246

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[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 33. He says: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recorded it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī; Kashf al-ghumma, citing al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn, vol. 2, p. 469, no. 11; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, p. 330, no. 58; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 488; Bishārat al-Islām, vol. 2, chap. 3, p. 271, from al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, p. 80.

[2]: `Abd al-Razzāq, al-Muṣannaf, vol. 11, chap. “Al-Mahdī,” no. 20773; al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 95, from Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

[3]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 34. He said: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recoded it in Manāqib al-Mahdī and al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū l-Qāsim al-Ṭabarānī in his Mu`jam; Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, p. 162, from al-Rūyānī, al-Ṭabarānī, and others; Ghāyat al-ma’mūl, vol. 5, p. 343, from al-Rūyānī, Abū Nu`aim, al-Daylamī, and al-Ṭabarānī; Firdaus al-akhbār, vol. 4, p. 6940, which says: “his face is like a glittering moon”; al-Bayān, through his chain of narrators from Ḥudhayfa, chap. 17. He writes: “This is a good (ḥasan) tradition. We have narrated it from a large number of people from the companions of al-Thaqafī and his chain of narrators is acceptable to us, and All Praise is for Allah. ” He then mentions that Abū Nu`aim, al-Ṭabarānī, and al-Daylamī have recorded this tradition. Nūr al-abṣār, chap. 2, p. 154, citing Firdaus al-akhbār; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, chap. 2, p. 135; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 73, p. 433; Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, pp. 93–94, no. 16, citing al-Rūyānī in his Musnad and Abū Nu`aim; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 469, no. 9, citing al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn; al-`Arf al-wardī, p. 137, with the following wording: “The Mahdī is a man from my descendants. His complexion is an Arabian complexion, his physique is like the Israelites, and on his right cheek is a mole like a glittering star... and the birds in the air. ” He has narrated it from al-Rūyānī’s Musnad and Abū Nu`aim; al-Jāmi` al-ṣaghīr, vol. 2, p. 187, under the letter ‘al-Mīm,’ no. 45; Mahdī āl al-Rasūl, p. 4; Ibrāz al-wahm al-maknūn, p. 572, no. 66; Lawā’iḥ al-anwār al-bahiyya under the commentary on the line of poetry: minhā al-imām al-khātam al-faṣīḥ / Muḥammad al-Mahdī wa l-Masīḥ, from the collection of poems called al-Durrat al-muḍī’a; Faiḍ al-qadīr, vol. 6, p. 279; Mashāriq al-anwār, sect. 2, p. 112; al-’Idhā`a, p. 188; al-Qaṭr al-Shahdī, p. 48; Ghāliyat al-mawā`iẓ, vol. 1, p. 77; al-Ṣawā’iq, p. 162, under the Twelfth Verse; al-Fatāwī l-ḥadīthiyya, p. 39, which says: “there is a mole like a glittering star on his right cheek”; Nūr al-abṣār, p. 154; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, no. 38666; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, p. 136; Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 3, p. 378, no. 1251, and many other books and writings which will not be mentioned for the sake of conciseness. In some of these sources, only mentioning the beginning of the tradition will suffice.

I say: Some of them have said ‘Israelite physique’ means that his body-shape is like that of the Israelites, who are tall and well-built.

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 3, p. 34, he writes: “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim al-Iṣbahānī has recorded it in al-`Awālī; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, p. 331, no. 582, with the difference that he said: “Allah, the Exalted, will send from my progeny a man with slightly separated front teeth, a wide forehead... (to the end of the tradition). ” Al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 132, with a slight difference; al-Munār al-munīf, sect. 50, pp. 187–188, no. 335, with a little difference; Lawā’iḥ al-anwār, vol. 2, under the commentary on his saying “minhā al-imām al-khātam al-faṣīḥ) ; Is`āf al-rāghibīn, p. 135; Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8.

[2]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, “Ṣifat al-Mahdī wa ni`atih,” pp. 195–196; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, p. 330, no. 581, with the difference that he said: “The Mahdī is from us. ”

[3]: Musnad Abī Ya`lā, vol. 2, p. 367, no. 154 (1128) ; Dalā’il al-imāma, chap. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-qā’im wa annahū lābudda an yakūn,” p. 251.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 57, p. 653, no. 17; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 4, p. 35, no. 4, from al-Ṭūsī’s Ghayba—although I did not find it there.

[1]: Al-Mustadrak, vol. 4, p. 557; al-’Idhā`a, p. 138.

[2]: Dhikr akhbār Iṣbahān, vol. 1, p. 84.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Ṣifat al-Mahdī,” p. 197; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 147, with the following wording: “The Mahdī is from me, from the Quraish. ”

There is no contradiction between such a tradition and those that mention his long life, for surely, when he is described as a youth and a young person and other similar attributes, it refers to his chivalry and this is in addition to what has been narrated about him that he will not become old with the passing of the days and that he will emerge with the body of a strong man.

Section Six

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

Comprised of 225 traditions

510. Al-Fitan [2]: Narrated to us Yaḥyā b. al-Yamān, from Sufyān, from Abī Isḥāq, from `Āṣim, from `Alī, peace be on him, who said: “He [i. e. the Mahdī] is a man from me. ”

511. Farā’id al-simṭain [3]: Through his chain of narrators from Thābit b. Dīnār, from Sa`īd b. Jubair, from ibn `Abbās, from The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

`Alī b. Abī Ṭālib is the leader (Imām) of my nation and my successor upon them after me. From his descendants is the Qā’im—the awaited one—through whom Allah will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. I swear by the One Who rightly

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sent me as a giver of good news! Surely those who will remain steadfast in believing in him during his occultation will be scarcer than red phosphorus (kibrīt al-aḥmar).

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

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

512. Dalā’il al-imāma [1]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah, from Muḥammad b. Hammām, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mālik al-Kūfī, from Sufyān b. al-Mahdī, from Abān, from Anas b. Mālik who said:

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

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and Majestic be He. ’”

513. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [1]: From Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Muṣabbiḥ, from Abū `Abd al-Raḥmān, from whom he had heard from, from Wahb b. Munabba, from ibn `Abbās (in a lengthy narration) in which he said, “O Wahb! Thereafter, the Mahdī will appear. ” I asked, “[Is he] from your descendants? ” He replied, “No, by Allah! He is not from my descendants but from the descendants of `Alī, peace be on him. Salvation is for the one who lives in his era. Through him, Allah will grant relief to this umma until he fills it with fairness and justice... (to the end of the narration).

514. Ma`ānī l-akhbār [2]: Narrated to us Abū l-`Abbās Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq al-Ṭāliqānī, may Allah have mercy on him, from `Abd al-Aziz b. Yaḥyā al-`Alawī in Basra, from al-Mughairat b. Muḥammad, from Rajā’ b. Salma, from `Amr b. Shimr, from Jābir al-Ju`fī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, delivered a sermon in Kūfa after returning from the Battle of Nahrawān because he had heard Mu`āwiya was abusing and cursing him and killing his companions. He

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stood up and said... (He then narrates the sermon in which `Alī, peace be on him, mentions the virtues bestowed by Allah upon his Prophet and himself... until he says) and from my descendants is the Mahdī of this nation.

515. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [1]: Narrated to me a group from Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. Sufyān al-Bazaufarī, from Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba al-Naishābūrī, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Naṣr b. Muzāḥim, from Abū Lahī`a, from Abū Qubail, from `Abd- Allah b. `Amr b. al-`Āṣ, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said (in a lengthy tradition):

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

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 80, 81, 113, 118, 120, 126, 127, 129, 149, 153, 158, 159, 160, 168, 170, 173, 176, 178, 181, 191, 193, 196, 205-308, 323, 325, 359, 382, 397, 411, 417, 428, 450, 458, 463, 464, 467, 469, 472, 492, 497–499, 502, 506, 516-543, 546–548, 550–572, 588, 589, 597, 600, 608,

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612, 623–626, 641, 670, 685, 757, 761, 765, 770, 775, 786–807, 859, 918, 973, 1104, and 1230.

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

[3]: Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, chap. 61, pp. 335–336, no. 589; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 424, citing al-manāqib.

The same has been narrated in the book Kashf al-yaqīn, pp. 191–192, from al-Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. `Alī al-Naṭanzī—known as Nādirat al-Falak—in his book from Abū l-Ḥasan Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Muqri’, from `Alī b. Shujā` b. `Alī al-Ṣaiqalī, from al-Sharīf Abū l-Qāsim `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī ibn al-Qāsim b. Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. al-`Abbās b. `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, from al-Ḥasan b. Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Hishām, from Muḥammad b. Ja`far al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl al-Barmakī, from Muḥammad b. al-Furāt, from Thābit b. Dīnār, from Sa`īd b. Jubair, from ibn `Abbās. The same has been narrated by Al-Ṣadūq in Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, p. 287, no. 7, from Muḥammad b. Mūsā al-Mutawakkil, from Muḥammad b. Abī Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. Ismā`īl al-Barmakī, from `Alī b. Uthmān, from Muḥammad b. al-Furāt, from Thābit b. Dīnār, from ibn Jubair, from ibn Abbās. Sayyid b. Ṭāwūs says:

Whoever ponders over this great tradition which is a proof upon whoever it reaches—and also ponders on the many other narrations that we have mentioned in this book—will know that the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has left no place for any arguments for anybody concerning `Alī, peace be on him and his son Mahdī and his long-life, peace be on him. This is from the signs of Allah, Majestic be His Majesty, and from the proofs of Muḥammad, the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. He has informed about the birth of the Mahdī’s forefathers, then he has informed about his long life before anybody knew what would be the condition of the Mahdī during his occultation. So, for Allah and His Messenger, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, is the clear proof for whomsoever he was sent to in this perishable world and on the Day of Rewarding and Punishing (yum al-jazā’) ” (Kitāb al-yaqīn bi ikhtiṣāṣ `Alī bi-’imrat al-mu’minīn) ; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 38, chap. 61, pp. 126–127, no. 76, citing Kashf al-yaqīn by al-Ḥāfiẓ Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-Naṭanzī; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 618, no. 177.

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

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

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

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

Section Seven

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants of the Master of the Women of the world, Fāṭimat al-Zahrā, peace be on her

Comprised of 220 traditions

516. Al-Mustadrak `alā l-ṣaḥīḥain [1]: In the book al-Fitan wa l-malāḥim, it has been recorded that Abū l-Naḍr al-Faqīh informed me, from Uthmān b. Sa`īd al-Dārimī, from `Abd-Allah b. Ṣāliḥ, from Abū l-Malīḥ al-Riqqī, from Ziyād b. Bayān (and he mentions his virtues) , from `Alī ibn Nufayl, from Sa`īd b. al-Musayyib, from Umm Salma, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who mentioned the Mahdī and said: “Yes, he is a reality and he is from the descendants of Fāṭima. ”

[And narrated to us] Abū Aḥmad Bakr b. Muḥammad al-Ṣairafī at Marv, from Abū l-Aḥwaṣ Muḥammad b. al-Haytham al-Qāḍī, from `Amr b. Khalid al-Ḥarrānī, from Abū l-Malīḥ, from Ziyād b. Bayān, from `Alī ibn Nufayl, from Sa`īd b. Musayyib, from Umm Salma, may Allah be satisfied with her, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who mentioned the Mahdī and said: “He is from the progeny of Fāṭima. ”

517. Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān [2]: Abū Nu`aim has recorded from al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, that the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said to Fāṭima, “O my daughter! The Mahdī is from your descendants. ”

518. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [3]: From Aḥmad b. Idrīs, from

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`Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from `Ammār b. Marwān, from al-Munakhkhal b. Jamīl, from Jābir al-Ju`fī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, who said: “The Mahdī is from the descendants of Fāṭima. He will have a tanned complexion. ”

519. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us Abū Hārūn, from `Amr b. Qays al-Mulā’ī, from al-Minhāl b. `Amr, from Zirr b. Ḥubaish, who heard `Alī, peace be on him, say: “The Mahdī is a man from us, from the descendants of Fāṭima, may Allah be satisfied with her. ”

520. Al-Amālī [2]: Informed us a group from Abī l-Mufaḍḍal, from Muḥammad b. Fīrūz b. Ghiyāth al-Jallāb at the suburb Bāb al-Abwāb, from Muḥammad b. al-Faḍl b. al-Mukhtār al-Bānī—who is also known as Faḍlān Ṣāḥib al-Jār—from Abū l-Faḍl b. al-Mukhtār, from al- Ḥakam b. Ẓuhair al-Fazārī al-Kūfī, from Thābit b. Abī Ṣafiyya Abū Ḥamza, from Abū `Āmir al-Qāsim b. `Auf, from Abī l-Ṭufail `Āmir b. Wāthila, from Salmān al-Farsī, may Allah be satisfied with him, (in a lengthy tradition) from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said to Fāṭima:

Surely Allah, the Exalted, chose me from my family. He also chose `Alī, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, and you. I am the master (sayyid) of the sons of Adam, `Alī is the master (sayyid) of the Arabs, you are the master of all the women, and al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn are the masters of the youths of Paradise. From the descendants of you two is the Mahdī. Allah,

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Mighty and Majestic be He, will fill the earth by him with justice just as it will be filled before him with injustice.

521. Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī [1]: From Muḥammad b. al-Qāsim b. `Ubaid, from various narrators, from `Abd-Allah b. `Abbās, from Salmān al- Farsī, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family (in a lengthy tradition in which he mentioned the virtues of `Alī, peace be on him) , where he said to Fāṭima, peace be on her: “The Mahdī—the one behind whom `Īsā—will pray, is from you and from him [i. e. `Alī]. ”

522. Al-Manāqib [2]: `Abd al-Malik asked al-Zuhrī, “Do you know anything about him whose name will be called out from the sky? ” Zuhrī answered, “ (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn informed me that he is the Mahdī from the descendants of Fāṭima. ”

523. Al-Sīrat al-Ḥalabiyya [3]: He said: “It has been narrated that the Mahdī is from the progeny of the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him [and his family], from the descendants of Fāṭima. ”

524. Sharḥ al-akhbār [4]: From the narration of Mikhnaf b. `Abd-Allah, through his chain of narrators from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], who said:

The Mahdī is from the generation of Fāṭima, the Master of the Women of the World. He will emerge and will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness, regardless of the days being prolonged or shortened. In his era, life will become pleasant. A caller will call

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out and will curse the Umayyads and their followers and send salutations on Muḥammad and will send blessings on `Alī and his followers. On that day, all the people will be safe.

525. Biḥār al-anwār [1]: Citing al-Amālī, From al-Ḥaffār, from Uthmān b. Aḥmad, from Abū Qilāba, from Bishr b. `Umar, from Mālik b. Anas, from Zaid b. Aslam, from Ismā’īl b. Abān, from Abū Maryam, from Thuwair b. Abī Fākhta, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Laylā, from his father who said:

On the day of [the Battle of] Khaibar, the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, gave the standard to `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, and Allah granted him victory. Then, he mentioned him being appointed on the day of Ghadīr and some of his virtues that were mentioned there... (until he said) , the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, started crying.

He was asked, “What has made you cry, O Messenger of Allah? ” He replied, “Jabra’īl, peace be on him, informed me that the people will oppress him, deprive him of his right, fight against him, kill his children, and oppress them after him. Jabra’īl, peace be on him, also informed me from his Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He, that this will continue until the Qā’im rises. [When he does], their word will become high, the nation will gather on their love, those having hatred towards them will be a minority, those who dislike them will

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be disgraced, and those who will praise them will be the majority.

This will happen only after the cities have changed, the people have been weakened, and there will be no hope for relief (faraj). It is then that the Qā’im will appear amongst them. His name is my name and his father’s name is like the name of my son. He is from the descendants of my daughter. Through them, Allah will manifest the truth and through their swords He will destroy falsehood. People will follow them either because they fear them or are inclined towards them. ”

Then, the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, stopped crying and he continued, “O group of believers, know that there will be relief, because surely, Allah’s promise will not be violated and his decision cannot be countered, and He is the Most Wise and the Most Informed.

Verily, Allah’s victory is near. O Allah! They are my family. So, keep away from them all uncleanness and purify them a thorough purification. O Allah, guard them, protect them, take care of them, be there for them, assist them, help them, make them mighty, don’t degrade them, and make them my successors. You are Powerful over all things. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 80, 118, 120, 126, 127, 129, 158, 168, 170, 171, 173, 176, 178, 181, 191, 193, 196, 205–308, 323, 359, 382, 397, 414, 417, 428, 450, 463, 467, 470, 492,

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497–499, 526-543, 546–548, 550–572, 588, 589, 600, 608, 612, 624, 641, 670, 765, 770, 771, 786–807, 859, 918, 973, 1104, and 1230.

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--------------------

[1]: Al-Mustadrak `alā l-ṣaḥīḥain, vol. 4, p. 557; al-Talkhīṣ, vol. 4, p. 557; Sunan Abī Dāwūd, vol. 4, p. 107, no. 4284, which says: “The Mahdī is from my progeny from the descendants of Fāṭima”; al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, p. 99, which says: “from my progeny from the descendants of Fāṭima”; Nihāyat al-bidāya wa l-nihāya, vol. 1, p. 40, which says: “from my progeny, from the descendants of Fāṭima”; al-Ṣawā`iq al-muḥriqa, chap. “khuṣūṣiyatihim al-dāllat `alā `alā `aẓīm karāmatihim,” p. 236, which he has recorded from Abū Dāwūd, al-Nisā’ī, ibn Māja, and others. It’s wording is: “from my progeny, from the descendants of Fāṭima”; Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 3, part 15, p. 395, no. 1274, with the following wording: “The Mahdī is from my progeny, from the descendants of Fāṭima, my daughter”; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, pp. 185–186, no. 145, and pp. 187–188, no. 148.

I say: This tradition is famous and well-known. Refer to the collection of traditions and books compiled concerning the Mahdī, peace be on him, and the conditions of the Hour. Thus, we have not added any sources to those that we have already mentioned.

It has been recorded in al-Fitan, vol. 5, chap. “Nisbat al-Mahdī,” pp. 197–198, through his chain of narrators from Qatāda who said: “I asked Sa`īd b. al-Musayyib, ‘Is the Mahdī real? ’ He replied, ‘He is the truth. ’ I asked, ‘From whom will he be? ’ He responded, ‘From the Quraish. ’ I asked, ‘From which clan of the Quraish? ’ He said, ‘From the Banī-Hāshim. ’ I asked, ‘From which [family] of Banī-Hāshim? ’ He said, ‘From Banī `Abd al-Muṭṭalib. ’ I asked, ‘From which [family] of Banī `Abd al-Muṭṭalib? ’ He said, ‘From the children of Fāṭima. ’”

It has been recorded in `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, p. 23, with the difference that he said: “From which descendants of Banī `Abd al-Muṭṭalib? ” and “I said, ‘From which children of Fāṭima? ’” He replied, “For now, this is enough for you. ” He says, “Imam Abū l-Ḥusayn Aḥmad b. Ja`far b. al-Munādī has recorded it. He has also recorded a similar tradition on p. 22, to his saying, ‘From the children of Fāṭima,’ citing al-Muqri’ or al-Dānī”; al-`Arf al-wardī, vol. 2, p. 48, which is a short version; Jawāhir al-`iqdain, vol. 2, p. 8; Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 3, part 15, pp. 394–395, no. 1273

[2]: Al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, p. 94, no. 17; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 137, with the wording: “Mahdī is from your descendants,” citing Abū Nu`aim; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, pp. 21–22, from (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, from his father, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said to Fāṭima, “The Mahdī is from your descendants. ” He has recorded it from Abū Nu`aim in Ṣifat al-Mahdī; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 468, no. 4, from Abū Nu`aim in al-Arba`īn from al-Zuhrī, from (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, like what has been narrated in `Iqd al-durar; Dalā’il al-imāma, “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im wa annahū lābudda an yakūn,” p. 234; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, p. 136

[3]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 187, no. 147; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 4, p. 43, no. 32; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 504, no. 303.

[1]: Al-Fitan, vol. 5, p. 201; Kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 14, p. 591, no. 39675; Muntakhab kanz al-`ummāl, vol. 6, p. 34; al-Malāḥim wa l-fitan, chap. 162, p. 75, citing Nu`aim.

[2]: Amālī l-Shaykh, vol. 2, session 10, p. 219; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 22, chap. 1, pp. 502–503, no. 48, and vol. 40, chap. 91, pp. 66–67, no. 100. In both these places it has been recorded: “and from your progeny is the Mahdī. ” Apparently, the manuscript that al-Majlisī possessed was more accurate than the one that is presently available to us. Therefore, we have mentioned the tradition in this section. According to both manuscripts, the tradition proves that he is from her descendants, peace be on her.

[1]: Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī, under the exegesis of Sura al-Wāqi`a, p. 179.

[2]: Al-Manāqib, vol. 1, p. 288.

[3]: Al-Sīrat al-Ḥalabiyya, vol. 1, p. 227.

I say: All the great Sunni memorizers (al-Ḥuffāẓ) and traditionists are unanimous that the Mahdī is from the descendants of Fāṭima, peace be on her. The opinion of anybody who suggests otherwise from the Umayyads, the Abbasids, and their supporters is baseless. Indeed, they have rejected such opinion with the contempt it deserves. Mutawātir traditions and narrations recorded in the Ṣiḥāḥs, Musnads, and Jawāmi`—which must be followed by and believed in by the Muslim nation—repel such an opinion.

It has been mentioned in `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, pp. 153–154, that al-Ḥāfiẓ `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Nakha`ī al-Suhailī has recorded in the book Sharḥ sīrat al-rasūl, the superiority of Fāṭima over the women of the worlds. He has mentioned the saying of the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family, “Fāṭima is a part of me” and “She is the best of my daughters,” and other similar traditions. Later, he proceeds to establish her mastership and superiority over other women and cites numerous reasons for this fact. Amongst these is the fact that the Mahdī—about whose reappearance in the end of times glad-tidings have been given—is from her progeny. This merit exclusively belongs to her, peace be on her, and is shared by no one else.

I say: In the old hand-written manuscript (the name) has been mentioned as al-Ḥāfiẓ `Abd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥanafī but perhaps the correct name is al-Khath`amī, as has been recorded in his biography in sources like Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ and Wafiyyāt al-a`yān.

[4]: Sharḥ al-akhbār, vol. 3, part 15, p. 394, no. 1272.

[1]: Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 28, chap. 2, pp. 45–46, no. 8 and vol. 51, chap. 1, p. 68, no. 7, citing al-Amālī.

The wording of the tradition varies according to the manuscripts we have referred to. It is apparent from Biḥār al-anwār that the copy of al-Amālī which al-Majlisī possessed had the following wording: “His name is like my name and his father’s name is like my son’s name. ” He has recorded the tradition in two places in Biḥār al-anwār citing al-Amālī with the aforementioned wording, just as the renowned traditionist al-Ḥurr al-`Āmilī has recorded it in Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, sect. 12, chap. 32, p. 518, no. 379, also citing al-Amālī. It has been recorded in Biḥār al-Anwār, vol. 37, chap. 52, pp. 191–193, no. 75, citing al-Ṭarā’if. The phrase, “his father’s name is like the name... ” is not found in it. This is the same as the published copy of al-Ṭarā’if, p. 522, with the wording, “his name is like my name and he is from the descendants of my daughter. ” It is also the same as al-Qundūzī al-Ḥanafī’s Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 145, pp. 135–136, citing Manāqib al-Khāwrazmī. In the new editions of al-Amālī, al-Manāqib al-Khāwrazmī, Kashf al-ghumma, and al-Ṭarā’if, the following wording is found: “and his father’s name is my father’s name”. Undoubtedly, even with all these copies, the veracity of neither phrase can be established. Based on strong conjecture, it can be said that the phrase “and his father’s name... ” either did not exist at all in the tradition or it was originally: “and his father’s name is like my son’s name. ” Some of the copy-writers have corrected it, considering it as an addition to the original tradition. This will be discussed in the twenty-second section under no. 568. Moreover, the sentence “and his father’s name is like my father’s name,” is rejected by a number of traditions which announce that the name of his father was al-Ḥasan. Thus, one cannot rely on this statement—regardless of its original wording—especially after the seeing the differences between the manuscripts.

Section Eight

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants of the two grandsons, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them

Comprised of 125 traditions

526. Zakhāīr al-`uqbā [1]: The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said: “From these two—meaning al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn—is the Mahdī of this nation. ”

527. Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr [2]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Ruzaiq b. Jāmi` al-Miṣrī, from al-Haytham b. Ḥabīb, from Sufyān b. `Uyayna, from `Alī b. `Alī al-Makkī al-Hilālī, from his father who recounts:

I went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], during his sufferings in which he passed away. Fāṭima [peace be on her] was sitting near his head. She began crying until her voice rose. The Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, looked up to her and asked, “My beloved Fāṭima! Why are you crying? ” She replied, “I fear neglect after you. ” He replied, “My beloved Fāṭima! Do you not know that Allah, Mighty and Glorified be He, searched the earth thoroughly, then chose from it your father and sent him with His message.

Then, He searched the earth thoroughly and chose from it your husband. Then he revealed to me that I should marry you to him. O Fāṭima! Indeed Allah has granted us Ahl al-Bait seven characteristics that have not been given to anyone before us

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nor to anyone after us: I am the seal of the Prophets, the noblest of Prophets in front of Allah, the most beloved of the creatures to of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and I am your father. My heir (waṣī) is the best of heirs and the most beloved of them to Allah and he is your husband. Our martyr is the best of martyrs and the most beloved of them to Allah and he is Ḥamzat b. `Abd al-Muṭṭalib, the (paternal) uncle of your father and the (paternal) uncle of your husband.

From us is the one who has two green wings by which he flies where he wishes in Paradise along with the angels and he is the cousin of your father and the brother of your husband. From us are the two grandsons of this nation and they are your two sons—al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn—and they are the masters of the youths of Paradise. I swear by the One Who truly sent me, their father is better than both of them. O Fāṭima! I swear by the One Who sent me with truth, surely from these two is the Mahdī of this nation.

When the world becomes engulfed in chaos and turmoil, fitnas appear, the paths are cut-off, and people will loot each other. And when there will be no elder who will have mercy on the young and there will be no young who will respect the elders. Then, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will

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send from the two of them [i. e. al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn] a man who will conquer the forts of deviation and the shrouded hearts. He will rise with religion in the end of times just as I rose with it in the first era. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice.

O Fāṭima, Don’t grieve and don’t cry, for surely, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, is more merciful and kinder to you than me. This is because of your position to me and your [close] place to my heart. Allah has married you to your husband while he possesses the most noble lineage amongst [the members] of your family, is the most honorable of them in position, the most merciful of them with the people, the most just of them in being fair, and the most insightful of them in judgment. I asked my Lord, Mighty and Majestic be He, that you be the first to join me from my Ahl al-Bait [after my death]. ” `Alī, [peace be on him,] said, “When the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], passed away, Fāṭima, peace be on her, did not live after him for more than seventy-five days, and Allah, the Exalted, took her to him. ”

528. Al-Amālī al-Shaykh [1]: In a lengthy tradition through his chains of narrators from Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, which includes Jābir honoring Imam al-Ḥasan and Imam al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them.

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.. to where Jābir said:

One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, was with us in the mosque and was surrounded by the people, when he said to me, “O Jābir! Call Ḥasan and Ḥusayn for me,” and he was extremely fond of both of them. I went and called them and carried them in my arms—in turns—until I we reached him. He asked me—and I could see the joy in his face on seeing me being so affectionate towards both of them and my respect for them—“Do you love them, O Jābir? ” I replied, “And what would prevent me from that while I know their stature with you, may my father and my mother be sacrificed for you? ”

He said, “Should I not inform you about their virtues? ” I replied, “Yes! May my parents be sacrificed for you! ” He said, “When Allah, the Exalted, intended to create me, He created me as a pure white liquid (nutfa) which He placed in the loin of my father Adam, peace be on him. This liquid was continuously transferred from one pure loin to another pure womb until [it reached] Noah and Abraham, peace be on them. This continued to `Abd al-Muṭṭalib, thus, nothing from the filth of ignorance (jāhiliyya) touched me.

Then, this liquid was split into two halves: One went to `Abd-Allah and the other to Abū Ṭālib. I was born to my father [`Abd-Allah] and Allah sealed prophethood through me. `Alī was born

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to Abū Ṭālib and waṣiyya [1] became terminated through him. These two halves—from me and `Alī—came together and resulted in the birth of al-Jahr and al-Jahīr (i. e. al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn) and through them,

He sealed the grandsons of prophethood. He placed my seed (al-dhurriya) in both of them and ordered me to conquer the city—or cities—of disbelief. From his seed—pointing to al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him—a person will emerge in the end of times. He will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. These two are the pure and purified ones. They are the masters of the youths of Paradise. Salvation is for those who love them, their father, and their mother, and woe to those who fight them and have hatred towards them. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 94–160, 463, 464, 465, 543, 546–548, 550–571, 590, 608, 641, 770, and 786–807.

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[1]: Dhakhā’ir al-uqbā, “Fi dhikr mā jā’a anna l-Mahdī fī ākhir al-zamān,” p. 136.

I say: The mother of Imam Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī ibn al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, was Fāṭima, the daughter of Imam (Ḥasan) al-Mujtabā, the older grandson. Thus, our master Imam al-Bāqir and all the seven Imams who succeeded him to Imam al-Mahdī, peace be on them, are from the generation of Imam al-Ḥasan as well as Imam al-Ḥusayn as has been mentioned by the Holy Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. This news is knowledge of the unseen and one of the signs of his prophethood.

[2]: Al-Mu`jam al-kabīr, vol. 3, pp. 57–58, no. 2675; Ṣifat al-Mahdī by Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim who has recorded it from him in `Iqd al-durar, chap. 7, pp. 151–153, and chap. 9, pp. 217–218, sect. 3; Majma` al-zawā’id, vol. 9, pp. 165–166; al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, chap. 1, p. 55, no. 1; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, pp. 135–136. He writes, “al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū l-`Alā al-Hamdānī has recorded it in Arba`īna ḥadīthan fī l-Mahdī; Kashf al-ghumma, citing al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim in al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn, vol. 2, p. 84, no. 403; al-Burhān fī `alāmāt Mahdī ākhir al-zamān, chap. 2, pp. 94–95, no. 19; `Abaqāt al-anwār (India) , Under ḥadīth al-ṭair (The Tradition of the Bird) , vol. 4, second minhāj, p. 86; al-`Arf al-wardī (al-Ḥāwī lil-fatāwī) , vol. 2, p. 137, shortened version citing al-Ṭabarānī in al-Mu`jam al-kabīr; al-’Idhā`a, p. 136; Usd al-ghāba, vol. 4, p. 42, has recorded a shortened version from Abū Nu`aim and Abū Mūsā and also al-’Iṣāba; al-Qaul al-mukhtaṣar, p. 27, he has recorded that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said to Fāṭima, [peace be on her], “I swear by the One Who truly sent me as a Prophet, surely, from these two (meaning al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn) is Mahdī of this umma. ”

Al-Dhahabī’s rejection of this tradition in his book Mīzān al-i`tidāl is not the least surprising because he is notorious for rejecting authentic and famous traditions that glorify the Ahl al-Bait and criticize their enemies. Since this tradition is in conflict with his desires, he has judged it to be false and has accused al-Haytham but has not put forward any evidence for his accusation against al-Haytham or for his rendering it to be false; except for the fact that he cannot tolerate the merits of the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, which have been mentioned in it. Had this tradition been in accordance with his desires—that is, against the Ahl al-Bait and in favor of their enemies like Mu`āwiya—he would have announced it to be correct in content as well as chain of narrators and would have declared its narrators as Sunnis. Surely, we have come from Allah and to Him we will return. There is no power and strength save that of Allah, the Exalted, the Great.

As far as we are concerned, this tradition is absolutely reliable in content. There is nothing amazing in it and there are numerous traditions which support it like the narration of `Abāya from Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī and the tradition of Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī that has been recorded in Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, p. 490, citing al-Sam`ānī’s Faḍā’il al-ṣaḥāba from Abū Sa`īd. Moreover, this view is reinforced by the fact that this al-Haytham is the same al-Haytham b. Ḥabīb al-Ṣairafī al-Kūfī—the brother of `Abd al-Khāliq b. Ḥabīb— about whom Aḥmad [b. Ḥanbal] has said: “His traditions are the best and his is his steadfastness is the greatest. ” It has not been proven that these two are two different people, even if ibn Ḥajar claims so. I think that when people see that they have no rational reason regarding their claims against this tradition—because it has been narrated by someone like al-Haytham, who has been praised by Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal using the words mentioned above—then they claim that there are many al-Haythams!

[1]: Amālī al-Shaykh, vol. 2, pp. 113–114, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 37, pp. 44–47, chap. 50, no. 22.

I say: Perhaps, it would have been better if had I mentioned this tradition in the forthcoming chapter. Anyhow, I have recorded it here by considering the version in Biḥār al-anwār which seems to be more accurate, and Allah knows the best. It is like this: “He made my progeny in these two, and the one who will capture the city—or cities—of disbelief. He will fill the earth... ”

[1]: The state of being the heir of a prophet—Ed.

Section Nine

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants of Imam al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him

Comprised of 208 traditions

529. Ṣifat al-Mahdī [2]: From Ḥudhayfa, may Allah be satisfied with him, who recounts:

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], delivered a sermon about the events that will occur in the future. Then he said, “Even if one day remains from the world, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will prolong that day until He sends in it a person from my descendants Whose name is my name. ” Salmān al-Farsī, may Allah

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be satisfied with him, stood up and enquired, “O Messenger of Allah! From which one of your sons? ” He answered, “He is from his descendants,” and patted al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. ”

In `Iqd al-durar [1] , the same tradition has been recorded from Ḥudhayfa using another wording: “The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family], said, ‘If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will certainly send in it a person whose name is my name and whose character is my character. His epithet will be Abū `Abd-Allah. ’”

[He says]: Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recorded it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī. He has narrated a more complete version from Abū l-Ḥasan al-Raba`ī al- Mālikī, from Ḥudhayfa, who said:

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him [and his family] said, “If there remains only one day from the world, Allah will raise in it a person whose name is my name and whose character is my character. His epithet will be Abū `Abd-Allah. People will pledge allegiance to him between the Rukn and the Maqām. Allah will return religion through him and will grant him victories. There will remain no one on the face of earth but that he will declare, ‘There is no god but Allah. ’” Salmān stood up and asked, “O Messenger of Allah! From which of your sons is he? ” He replied, “From the descendants of this son of mine,” and he patted al-Ḥusayn.

530. Al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān [2]: Through his chains of narrators from al-Dāraqutnī, through

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his chain (sanad) from Sahl b. Sulaimān, from Abū Hārūn al-`Abdī who recounts:

I came to Abū Sa`īd al-Khudrī and asked, “Were you present during the Battle of Badr? ” He replied in the affirmative. I enquired again, “Can you narrate to me something that you heard from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, concerning `Alī, peace be on him, and his excellences? ” He replied, “Yes, I will inform you. Surely the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, became ill and was recovering. Fāṭima, peace be on her, came to visit him and I was sitting on the right side of the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family.

When she saw how weak the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, had become, she started gasping until her tears rolled down her cheeks. The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, asked, ‘Why are you crying, O Fāṭima? Do you not know that Allah, the Exalted, searched the earth thoroughly and chose from it your father, whom He sent as a prophet? He searched it thoroughly a second time and chose your husband.

Then, He revealed to me and I married you to him and made him the executor of my will (waṣī). Did you not know that because of the respect that Allah, the Exalted, has for you, He married you to the most knowledgeable, the most

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patient, and the foremost from them in accepting Islam? ’ [On hearing this] she smiled and rejoiced.

So, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, decided to increase her joy greatly by informing her about what Allah had destined for Muḥammad and his family. He continued, ‘O Fāṭima! `Alī has eight virtues: Belief in Allah and His Messenger, his wisdom, his wife, his sons al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, and his enjoinment of good and forbidding from evil.

O Fāṭima! We Ahl al-Bait have been granted six characteristics that have been granted to no one before us and no one after us. Our prophet is the best of prophets and he is your father; our heir (waṣī) is the best of heirs and he is your husband; our martyr is the best of martyrs and he is Ḥamza, your father’s uncle; from us are the two grandsons of this nation and they are your two sons; from us is the Mahdī of this nation—behind whom Jesus, peace be on him, will pray. ’ Then, he patted al-Ḥusayn on the shoulder and said, ‘From him is the Mahdī of this nation. ’”

I say: This is how al-Dāraqutnī, the author of al-Jarḥ wa l-ta`dīl has recorded it.

531. Al-Fitan [1]: Narrated to us al-Walīd and Rushdain, from Abū Lahī`a, from Abū Qubail, from `Abd-Allah b. `Amr who said: “A person from the descendants of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, will emerge from the East. If mountains come in his way,

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he will destroy them and create paths through them. ”

The traditions with the following numbers—directly and indirectly—show the aforementioned concept: 80, 113, 126, 127, 129, 167, 168, 170, 171, 173, 176, 178, 181, 191, 193, 196, 205–308, 382, 397, 414, 428, 465, 466, 526, 527, 528, 532–543, 546, 547, 548, 550–571, 588, 600, 608, 612, 641, 770, 786–807, 859, 918, 973, 1104, 1116, 1139, 1140, 1159, 1168, 1216, and 1230.

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[2]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 1, pp. 24–25. He says: “al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has recorded it in Ṣifat al-Mahdī”; Dhakhā’ir al-`uqbā, pp. 136–137. He says the traditions that mention he is from the descendants of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and from the descendants of Fāṭima, refer to the fact that he is from the descendants of Imam al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, pp. 488 & 490; Kashf al-ghumma, citing Abū Nu`aim’s al-Aḥādīth al-arba`īn, vol. 2, p. 469, no. 6; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, pp. 325–326, no. 575; Lisān al-mīzān, vol. 3, p. 238, from ibn Ḥibbān, from al-Abbās b. Bakkār al-Ḍabbī al-Baṣrī who said: “Narrated to us `Abd-Allah b. Ziyād al-Kalbī, from al-A`mash, from Zirr, from Ḥudhayfa, may Allah be satisfied with him, who said about the Mahdī... Salmān asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! From which of your sons will he be? ’ He replied, ‘From this son of mine,’ and he patted al-Ḥusayn, [peace be on him], with his hand. ” Dhahabī has narrated this from ibn Ḥibbān in Mīzān al-i`tidāl, no. 4160.

I say: People like al-Abbās b. Bakkār have committed no crime except narrating some traditions about the virtues of the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them. He has not concealed these traditions because of greed for this world or the rewards of the kings and politicians. He did not fear imprisonment, whips, and getting killed, whilst, the courtier scholars and narrators had the habit of concealing the merits and excellences of the Ahl al-Bait and not narrating them. As for ibn Ḥibbān, he is criticized by the Sunnis for denying prophethood because he believed that prophethood “is naught but knowledge and action. ” They deemed him to be an atheist and denounced him. They complained against him to the Caliph who ordered him to be killed. Such prophetic information about the unseen cannot be accepted from a person like him who holds such beliefs!

[1]: `Iqd al-durar, chap. 2, pp. 31–32; al-Bayān, chap. 13, p. 129, through his chain of narrators from Ḥudhayfa.

[2]: Al-Bayān fī akhbār Ṣāḥib al-Zamān, chap. 9: “The Prophet’s declaration that the Mahdī is from progeny of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him,” pp. 121–122; al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma, pp. 195–196; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 38, chap. 56, pp. 10–11, no. 17, and vol. 51, p. 91; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, pp. 481–482; Dalā’il al-imāma, p. 234.

[1]: Al-Fitan, “Nisbat al-Mahdī,” vol. 5, p. 199; al-Bayān, chap. 16, p. 93. He writes: “al-Ṭabarānī and Abū Nu`aim have narrated it from him”; al-Malāḥim wa -Fitan, pp. 85–86, chap. 195, citing al-Fitan, with the difference that he has narrated from `Abd-Allah b. `Umar and he has said “he will break them up. ” ; `Iqd al-durar, chap. 5, p. 127, citing al-Ṭabarānī in his Mu`jam and Abū Nu`aim and Nu`aim. He has also recorded it on chap. 9, sect. 3, p. 223, with the wording: “The Mahdī will. [He will be] from the descendants of al-Ḥusayn. ”

Section Ten

The traditions that mention he is from the nine Imams from the descendants of (Imam) al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them

Comprised of 165 traditions

532. Kifāyat al-athar [1]: Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. al-Muṭṭalib, from Ibrāhīm b. `Abd al-Ṣamad b. Mūsā b. Isḥāq al-Hāshimī, from his father, from `Abd-Allah b. Bukair [or Bakr] al-`Anawī [or al-Ghanawī], from Ḥakīm b. Jubair, from Abū l-Ṭufail `Āmir b. Wāthila, from Zaid b. Thābit, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said:

`Alī b. Abī Ṭālib is the leader of the righteous and the annihilator of the transgressors. Whoever helps him will be helped and whoever deserts him will be deserted. One who has doubts about `Alī, peace be on him, has doubts about Islam. He is the best [person] that can succeed me after me. The best of my companions is `Alī; his flesh is my flesh and his blood is my blood. He is the father of my two grandsons. From the loins of al- Ḥusayn, peace be on him, will emerge nine Imams and from them is the Mahdī

of this nation.

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 127, 129, 168, 170, 173, 181, 191, 193, 205–308, 533–541, 543, 545, 550, 551, 558, 560–571, 590, 786–807, 859, 902, and 973.

--------------------

[1]: Kifāyat al-athar, “What has been narrated from Zaid b. Thābit from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, concerning the reports about the twelve Imams, Allah’s blessings be on them”, chap. 12, pp. 96–97, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, p. 318, no. 168.

I say: `Abd-Allah b. Bukair is al-Ghanawī al-Kūfī; it has been mentioned in al-Lisān that ibn Ḥibbān has mentioned him amongst the reliable ones (al-thiqāt) narrators. He has narrated from Ḥakīm b. Jubair.

Section Eleven

The traditions that indicate he is the ninth descendant of (Imam) al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him

Comprised of 160 traditions

533. Kifāyat al-athar [1]: Abū Ṣāliḥ Muḥammad b. [Faiḍ b. ] Fayyāḍ al-`Ijlī al-Sāwī, from Muḥammad b. Aḥmad b. `Āmir, from `Abd-Allah, from Rukain, from al-Qāsim b. Ḥasan, from Zaid b. Thābit who recounts:

I heard the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, say, “The world will not come to an end until a person from the loin (ṣulb) of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, will rise with the affairs of my nation. He will fill it with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ” We asked, “Who is he, O Messenger of Allah? ’ He replied, ‘He is the ninth Imam from the loin of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. ”

534. Kifāyat al-athar [2]: Muḥammad b. Wahbān b. Muḥammad al-Nahbānī al-Baṣrī, from al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī al-Bazaufarī, from `Alī b. al- `Abbās, from `Abbād b. Ya`qūb, from Mismār b. Nuwayra, from Abū Bakr b. `Ayyāsh, from Abū Sulaimān al-Ḍabbī, from Abū Umāma who said:

The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, “The Hour will not be established until the Qā’im from us rises with the truth. This will occur only when Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, permits. Whoever follows him

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will be saved and whoever remains behind will be destroyed. O servants of Allah! Be aware O servants of Allah! Go to him even if [you have to trek over] ice, for he is Allah’s caliph. ” We asked, “O Messenger of Allah! When will the Qā’im from you rise? ” He replied, “When the world falls into chaos and confusion. He will be the ninth from the loin of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. ”

535. Kifāyat al-athar [1]: Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah al-Shaibānī, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn b. Ḥafṣ al-Khath`amī al-Kūfī, from `Abbād b. Ya`qūb, from `Alī b. Hāshim, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah, from Abū `Ubaidat b. Muḥammad b. `Ammār, from his father, from his grandfather `Ammār who recounts:

I was with the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, during one of the battles in which `Alī, peace be on him, had killed the standard-bearers and scattered them. He had killed `Amr b. `Abd-Allah al-Jumaḥī and Shaibat b. Nāfi`. I came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and said to him, “O Messenger of Allah! `Alī has fought for Allah a worthy fight. ”

He replied, “That is because he is from me and I am from him. He will inherit my knowledge, repay my debts, fulfill my promises, and will be my successor after me. If it was not for him, the pure believer would not be recognized after me. His war is my war and my war is Allah’s war. His peace

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is my peace and my peace is Allah’s peace. Know that he is the father of my two grandsons and the Imams after me. Allah, the Exalted, will bring out from his loin the rightly guided Imams. From them is the Mahdī of this nation. ”

I said, “May my father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O Messenger of Allah! Who is this Mahdī? ” He replied, “O `Ammār! Know that surely Allah, Blessed and High be He, has promised me that nine Imams will emerge from the loin of al-Ḥusayn. The ninth of his descendants will become concealed from the people. This is [the meaning of] the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, ‘Say: Have you considered if your water sinks in the ground, who is it then that will bring you flowing water? ’ [1]

He will have a lengthy occultation in which some people will stop believing in him while others will remain steadfast about him. Then, he will emerge in the end of times and will fill the world with fairness and justice. He will fight in accordance with the interpretation [of the Holy Quran] like I fought in accordance with its revelation. His name will be my name and he is the most similar of people to me... ”

536. Muqtaḍab al-athar [2]: Narrated to us Abū `Alī Aḥmad b. Ziyād al-Hamdānī, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from `Abd al-Salām b. Ṣāliḥ al-Harawī, from Wakī` b. al-Jarrāḥ and al-Rabī` b. Sa`d,

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from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. Salīṭ, from Ḥusayn b. `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

From us are twelve Mahdīs (guided ones). The first one is Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, and the last one is my ninth descendant. He is the one who will rise with the truth. Through him, Allah will give life to the earth after its death. Through him, Allah will dominate religion [i. e. Islam] over all religions even if the polytheists detest it. He will have an occultation in which some people will apostate and others will remain steadfast in religion. They [i. e. the steadfast] will be harassed and will be asked [tauntingly], “If you are truthful, [then tell us] when will this promise happen? ” [1] He who is patient during his occultation—with all the tortures and denials—is like those who fight with their swords before [i. e. alongside] the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. ”

537. Kashf al-astār [2]: Abū Muḥammad al-Faḍl b. Shādhān al-Nīsābūrī—who passed away during the lifetime of (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-`Askarī, peace be on him—has recorded in his book al-Ghayba: Narrated to us al-Ḥasan b. Maḥbūb, from `Alī b. Ri’āb, from Abū `Abd- Allah, peace be on him, a lengthy tradition from Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī, at the end of which he said:

Then, there will be enmity between the Arab and non-Arab rulers because of their differences. It will be like this until the affair reaches a person from the descendants of Abū Sufyān...

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thereafter the king of the kings, the slayer of the unbelievers, the desired ruler, and the one during whose occultation intellects (uqūl) will be baffled, will appear. He is the ninth from your descendants, O Ḥusayn. He will emerge from between the two rukns [of Ka`ba] and he will be victorious over the humans and the Jinn... Salvation is for the believers who realize his time, reach his era, witness his days, and meet his followers.

538. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from `Alī b. Ma`bad, from al-Ḥusayn b. Khālid, from Imam `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, from (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far, from his father (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī, from his father (Imam) `Alī b. Ḥusayn, from his father (Imam) al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī, who said:

My father Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib said to me, “O Ḥusayn! The ninth from your descendants is the one who will rise with the truth, manifest religion, and spread justice. ” I asked him, “O Amīr al-Mu’minīn! Will this [really] happen? ” He replied, “Yes, I swear by the One Who sent Muḥammad with prophethood and selected him from all the creatures; but [this will happen] only after an occultation and bewilderment in which no one will remain steadfast in his religion except the sincere ones—those who are inseparable from the spirit of certainty. They are the ones from whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic

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be He, has taken the covenant of our mastership (wilāya) , has written faith in their hearts, and has assisted them with a Holy Spirit from Himself. ”

539. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us al-Muẓaffar b. Ja`far b. al-Muẓaffar al-`Alawī al-Samarqandī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mas`ūd, from his father, from Jabra’īl b. Aḥmad, from Mūsā b. Ja`far al-Baghdādī, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad al- Ṣairafī, from Ḥanān b. Sadīr, from his father Sadīr b. Ḥakīm, from his father, from Abū Sa`īd `Aqīṣā who said:

When (Imam) al-Ḥasan b. `Alī signed the peace treaty with Mu`āwiyat b. Abī Sufyān, people came to meet him and some of them criticized him [for signing] the treaty. He replied, “Woe to you! You do not know what I know [or what I have done]. By Allah, what I did was best for our followers—whether they be where the sun rises or it sets.

Don’t you know that I am your Imam whose obedience is obligatory upon you and that I am one of the [two] masters of the youths of Paradise—just as the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has said about me? ” They all replied in the affirmative. He then said, “Do you know that when [the Prophet] Khiḍr, peace be on him, drilled a hole in the boat, erected the wall, and killed a child, all these actions angered Moses because the wisdom behind these acts were hidden from him? These three acts were regarded by Allah,

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High be His Remembrance, as nothing but wise and right?

Do you not know that there is no one from us but that on his neck is the allegiance of the tyrants of his time, except the Qā’im behind whom Jesus, son of Mary, Allah’s Spirit, will pray? Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has concealed him and his birth so that he will not have an allegiance on his neck when he emerges. He is the ninth descendant of my brother al-Ḥusayn, the son of the Master of the Women of the Universe. Allah will prolong his age during his occultation, then, He will manifest him with His power in the form of a young man of less than forty years of age. And this is because it should be known that Allah is Powerful over all things. ”

540. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad b. `Abdūs al-`Aṭṭār, from Abū `Amr al-Kashshī (or al-Laithī) , from Muḥammad b. Mas`ūd, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Shujā`, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from Muḥammad b. Abī `Umair, from `Abd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥajjāj, from al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, from his father (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī, from his father (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, from (Imam) al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī—peace be upon them— who said: “My ninth descendant will have a similarity with Yūsuf and a similarity with Moses, son of `Imrān, peace be on them both. He is the one who will rise from us Ahl al-Bait. Allah, Blessed and High be He, will

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set right his affairs in one night. ”

541. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Isḥāq al-Mu`ādhī (or al-Mu`ārī) , may Allah be satisfied with him, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Hamdānī al-Kūfī, from Aḥmad b. Mūsā b. al-furāt, from `Abd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad, from Sufyān, from `Abd-Allah b. al-Zubayr, from `Abd-Allah b. Sharīk, from a person, from Ḥamdān, from al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī ibn Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said: “The Qā’im of this nation is the ninth from my descendants who will have an occultation. He is the one whose inheritance will be divided while he is [still] alive. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 205–308, 543, 550, 551, 558–571, 608, 612, 641, 786–807, 859, 918, 973, 1104, and 1230.

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[1]: Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 12, p. 97, no. 3; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, p. 318, no. 169; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 10, pp. 115–116, sect. 3. He writes: “Al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī al-Rāzī has narrated the same concept which ends like this: ‘From the Loin of al-Ḥusayn will emerge righteous infallible Imams. From them will be the Mahdī of this nation behind whom Jesus, son of Mary, will pray. He is the ninth from the loin of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him. ’”

[2]: Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 12, p. 106; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, p. 322, no. 172; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 10, p. 116, sect. 3, which is a short version.

I say: In Biḥār al-anwār, it is ‘Maimūn b. Abī Nuwayra’ and in some copies, it is ‘Mismarat b. Abī Nuwayra’. In the source, al-Hunā’ī has been mentioned but al-Nahbānī is correct.

[1]: Kifāyat al-athar, p. 120, no. 1; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, pp. 326–328, no. 183; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 10, p. 118, sect. 3, which is a short version.

[1]: Quran 67: 30.

[2]: Muqtaḍab al-athar, p. 23; Kifāyat al-athar, pp. 231–232, chap. 31, no. 2; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 30, p. 317, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, p. 385, chap. 43, no. 6 and vol. 51, chap. 3, p. 133, no. 4; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 2, chap. 9, p. 133, no. 134.

[1]: Quran 36: 48.

[2]: Kashf al-astār, p. 180 (1318 AH) and p. 221 (in the new edition) ; al-Arba`īn (Kifāyat al-Muhtadī) , p. 31, under no. 1.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1 chap. 26, , p. 304, no. 16; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 2, p. 110, no. 2; I`lām al-warā, pp. 400–401.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 29, p. 315–316, no. 2; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 30, pp. 224–226, no. 4. He has mentioned: “the ninth descendant of my brother—al-Ḥusayn—the son of the Master of the Maids”; I`lām al-warā, p. 401; al-Iḥtijāj, vol. 2, p. 288.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 30, pp. 316–317, no. 1; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 3, p. 132–133, no. 2; I`lām al-warā, p. 401.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 30, p. 317, no. 2; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 3, p. 133, no. 3; I`lām al-warā, p. 401.

Section Twelve

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants of (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn Zain al-`Ābidīn, peace be on him

Comprised of 197 traditions

542. Amālī al-Shaykh [2]: A group informed us from Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, from Abū `Abd-Allah Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-`Alawī al- Ḥusaynī, from Abū Naṣr Aḥmad b. `Abd al-Mun`im b. Naṣr al-Ṣaidāwī, from Ḥusayn b. Shaddād al-Ju`fī, from his father Shaddād b. Rushaid, from `Amr b. `Abd-Allah b. Hind al-Jamalī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

When Fāṭima—the daughter of `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him—observed her nephew, Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, constantly worshipping, she approached Jābir b. `Abd-Allah b. `Amr b. Ḥizām al-Anṣārī and said to him, “O companion

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of Allah’s Messenger! Surely, we have some rights which you are obliged to fulfill for us. One of our rights is that when you see one of [the Imams] from us straining himself while striving [in the way of Allah], then you should remind him of Allah and invite him to save his soul. Such is the present state of `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, the remnant of his father al-Ḥusayn. His nose has become wounded and the skin of his forehead, palms, and knees have become coarse and thick because of constant worship. ”

So, Jābir b. `Abd-Allah went to (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn’s house and [saw Imam] Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī standing there with some other boys from the Banī-Hāshim. Jābir stared at him and said, “The way you walk is like that of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, [and your features] resemble his features. Who are you, son? ” He replied, “I am Muḥammad b. `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn. ”

On hearing this, Jābir cried and said, “By Allah! You are truly the splitter (bāqir) of knowledge. Come near me, may my father be sacrificed for you! ” So, [Imam Abū Ja`far] went near him and Jābir opened the front of [Abū Ja`far’s] shirt, placed his hand on his chest and kissed it then put his own cheek and his face on [his chest] and said, “I bring you greetings (salām) from your great-grandfather, the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family,

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who ordered me to do what I just did.

He said to me, ‘You will live [a long life] and will continue to survive until you meet from my descendants the one whose name is [Abū Ja`far] Muḥammad. He will truly split knowledge. ’ He further informed me, ‘You will live until you become blind and he will be the one who will give you back your sight. ’”

Then, Jābir said to him, “‘Seek permission from your father for me. ” (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, went to his father and informed him about what had happened and said, “There is an old man at the door whom behaved with me in such and such manner. ” [Imam al-Sajjād], replied, “O son! He is Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī. Amongst all the children, did he only say these things to you and behave with you in this particular manner? ” [Imam Abū Ja`far, peace be on him], replied, “Yes. ” He said, “We are from Allah. Surely, he did not intend anything bad for you... ”

Then, he allowed Jābir to enter. [When Jābir entered], he found the Imam in his prayer-niche whilst excessive worship had worn him out. The Imam stood up and asked Jābir about his conditions then made him sit next to him. Jābir turned to him and said, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Do you not know that indeed Allah, the Exalted, has created Paradise for you and for those who love you and He has created Hell

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for those who have hatred towards you and enmity against you? Why have you obliged yourself to perform such [a straining worship]? (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, said, ‘O Companion of the Messenger of Allah! Don’t you know that Allah had forgiven the past and future faults of my grandfather—the Messenger of Allah—and yet he did not stop striving (for Allah)? And he, may my father and my mother be sacrificed for him, continued worshipping until his shinbone and feet became swollen? He was asked, ‘Why do you do this whilst Allah has forgiven your past and future sins? ’ He had replied, ‘Should I not be a thankful servant? ’”

Jābir looked at Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, and saw that he could not convince him to ease his efforts and fatigue, so he said, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Please save yourself. Surely, you belong to a family through whom calamities are warded off, hardships are removed, and the sky pours its rain. ” The (Imam) replied, “O Jābir! I will continue to be on the path of my parents—Allah’s blessings be on them—and mourn them until I meet them. ” Jābir turned to those who were present and said, “By Allah, none from the children of the Prophets can be found who are like `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn except Yūsuf b. Ya`qūb. By Allah, the seed (dhurriyya) of `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, are superior to the seed of Yūsuf b. Ya`qūb. From them

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is the one who will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 113, 125, 126, 127, 129, 134, 136, 167, 168, 170, 173, 175–178, 181, 183, 191, 193, 194, 196, 205–308, 465, 466, 533-541, 543–571, 590, 608, 612, 641, 770, 786–807, 973, 974, 1216, and 1230.

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[2]: Amālī al-Shaykh, vol. 2, session 13, pp. 249–251, no. 16; Bishārat al-Muṣṭafā, pp. 66–67, which is the same as the previous reference with slight differences in the wording and chain of narrators. It ends like this, “From him is the one who will fill the earth with justice just as it will be filled with injustice”; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 46, chap. 5, pp. 60–61, no. 18.

Section Thirteen

The traditions that indicate he is the seventh descendant of (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on him

Comprised of 121 traditions

543. Kifāyat al-athar [1]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, may God have mercy on him, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Shādhān b. Ḥabbāb al- Azdī al-Khallāl in Kūfa, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Wāḥid, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn al-`Arabī [or al-`Arafī or al-`Uranī] al- Ṣūfī, from Yaḥyā b. Ya`lā al-Aslamī, from `Amr b. Mūsā al-Wajīhī, from Zaid b. `Alī, peace be on him, who recounts:

I was with my father, (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, when Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī entered. While he was talking with him my brother Muḥammad came from one of the rooms. Jābir fixed his gaze at him, then stood up and went towards him and said, “O boy, come! ” He obliged. Jābir requested again, “Go back,” and he went back. Jābir remarked, “Characteristics like the characteristics of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family! What is your name, son? ” He replied, “Muḥammad. ” Jābir said, “Whose son are you? ” He replied, “I am the son of `Alī

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b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib. ”

Jābir said, “Then, you must be al-Bāqir! ” Then, Jābir bent over him and began kissing his forehead and hands. Then he said, “O Muḥammad! The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has conveyed salutations to you. ” He replied, “May the best of salutations be upon the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and also upon you, O Jābir, for conveying the salutations. ”

Jābir then returned to his prayer-mat and started talking to my father, saying, “One day, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said to me, ‘O Jābir! When you meet my son, al-Bāqir, convey my salutations to him because his name is like mine and he is the most similar of people to me. His knowledge is my knowledge and his judgment is my judgment. Seven of his descendants are infallible trustees and righteous Imams and the seventh is their Mahdī, who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ’ Then, the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, recited, ‘And We made them Imams who guide with Our Command and We revealed to them good deeds, establishment of prayers, and paying the poor-rate (zakāt) and they worshipped Us. ’”

544. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī: Informed me `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, from

Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-Rāzī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Kūfī, from Ibrāhīm b. Muḥammad b. Yūsuf,

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from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from `Abd al-Razzāq, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Fuḍail al-Rassān, from Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī who narrates:

One day, I was with (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir. When the people around him dispersed, he said to me, “O Abū Ḥamza! From the inevitable things that Allah will not change is the rising of our Qā’im. Whoever has doubts about what I am saying will meet Allah while he does not believe in Him and denies Him. ” He continued, “My father and my mother be sacrificed for him whose name will be my name and his epithet will be my epithet and he will be my seventh descendant. My father be sacrificed for the one who will fill the earth with justice and fairness just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice.

O Abā Ḥamza! Whoever reaches [his era] but does not submit to him, then, it is as if he has not submitted to Muḥammad and `Alī, Allah’s blessings be on them. Allah will prohibit him from entering Paradise and his dwelling place will be in fire and how bad is the abode of the oppressors! ”

A matter which is clearer, more illuminating, more lucid and brighter than this—for those who Allah has guided and is beneficent to—thank God, is His saying which is an unambiguous verse from His Book: “Verily, the number of months (al-shuhūr) with Allah are twelve months in the Book of Allah, the day He created the skies and the earth; from

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these, four are sacred. This is the established religion, so do not be unjust to yourselves during these [months]. ” Having knowledge about these months like Muḥarram, Ṣafar, Rabī` al-Awwal, etc. and the sacred ones from them like Rajab, Dhu l-Qa`da, Dhu l-Ḥijja, and Muḥarram, cannot be called “an established religion. ” Because the Jews, the Christians, the Zoroastrians, and all the other nations and people—whether those in favor and the opponents [of Islam]—were aware of these months and they counted them with their names.

[In this verse,] months (shuhūr) refers to the infallible Imams, peace be on them, who will establish the religion of Allah. The sacred ones from these are Amīr al-Mu’minīn, whose name Allah, the Exalted, has derived from His Name al-`Alī, just as He has derived for the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, a name from His Name, al-Maḥmūd. Three others from his descendants bear the name `Alī: `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, `Alī b. Mūsā, and `Alī b. Muḥammad. These names have become sacred because they have been derived from the Name of Allah, the Exalted. And Allah’s blessings be on Muḥammad and his noble family who are sacred because of him.

545. Ithbāt al-waṣiyya [1]: Al-Ḥimyarī, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā, from al-Naḍr b. Suwayd, from Yaḥyā al-Ḥalabī, from `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza who said:

I was with Abū Baṣīr and with us was a slave of (Imam) Abū Ja`far. He narrated to us that he heard, (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, say, “From

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us are twelve muḥaddaths [1] . The Qā’im is the seventh after me. ” Abū Baṣīr stood up and declared, “I testify that I have been hearing Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, saying this since forty years ago. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 235, 242–308, 550, 551, 554–571, 608, 612, 641, 786–807, 859, 973, 974, 1216, and 1230.

Section Fourteen

The traditions that mention he is from the descendants of (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him

Comprised of 120 traditions

546. Kashf al-Ghumma [2]: Ibn al-Khashshāb, may Allah have mercy on him, from Abū l-Qāsim Ṭāhir b. Hārūn b. Mūsā al-`Alawī, from his father Hārūn, from his father Mūsā, who said:

My master (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad said, “The righteous successor (al-khalaf al-ṣāliḥ) from my descendants is the Mahdī. His name is Muḥammad and his epithet is Abū l-Qāsim. He will emerge in the end of times and his mother will be called Ṣaqīl... He will have two names: Khalaf and Muḥammad. He will emerge in the end of times. There will be a cloud above his head which will shade him from the sun and will follow him wherever he goes. It will call out in a fluent voice, ‘This is the Mahdī. ’”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 235, 242–308, 550, 551, 554–571, 608, 612, 641, 770, 786–807, 859, 973, 974, 1216, and 1230

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[1]: Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 40, pp. 301–303, no. 3; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, p. 360, no. 230, with the following chain of narrators: “Abū l-Mufaḍḍal al-Shaibānī, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Shādhān, from al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad b. `Abd al-Wāḥid, from al-Ḥasan b. al-Ḥusayn al-`Uranī, from Yaḥyā b. Ya`lā, from `Umar b. Mūsā, from Zaid. ”

[1]: Ithbāt al-waṣiyya, p. 204; Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 4, pp. 96–97; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 45, p. 395, no. 11.

[1]: A muḥaddath is a person whom the angels speak with. This does not mean that the person whom the angels speak with is a prophet. This can be inferred from verses 19: 17–19 of the Holy Quran that mention the story of Mary, peace be on her, speaking with one of God’s angels—Ed.

[2]: Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 475, citing al-Tārīkh of ibn al-Khashshāb. Apparently, it is the book he (authored) about the births and biographies of the Imams. His saying, “He will have two names... ” is probably a complement to this tradition. It is also probable that they are ibn al-Khashshāb’s words which he has derived from hadith books; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 94, p. 491.

Section Fifteen

The traditions that indicate he is the sixth descendant of (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad

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al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him

Comprised of 112 traditions

547. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad al-`Aṭṭār al-Nīsābūrī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba al-Nīsābūrī, from Ḥamdān b. Sulaimān, from Muḥammad b. Ismā’īl b. Bazī`, from Ḥayyān al-Sarrāj who said:

I heard al-Sayyid ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥimyarī say, “I used to say things which were exaggerations (al-ghuluw) and I used to believe in the occultation of Muḥammad b. `Alī— ibn al-Ḥanafiyya—and I was deviated like this for a period of time. Then, Allah granted me a great favor through (Imam) al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, and saved me from the [hell]fire and guided me to the straight path.

After it was proved to me through the evidence that I saw from him that he is Allah’s proof upon me and upon all the people of his time and that he is the Imam whose obedience is obligatory and who must necessarily be used as a role-model, I asked him, ‘O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Things have been narrated to us from your forefathers, peace be on them, about the occultation and its correctness. Please inform me for whom will it occur? ’

He responded, ‘The occultation will occur for my sixth descendant. He is the twelfth of the guiding Imams after the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. The first of them is Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib and the last of them is the one who

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will rise with the truth. He is the remnant of Allah (baqiyyat Allah) on earth and the master of time (Ṣāḥib al-Zamān). By Allah! If he remains occult for the period that Noah remained amongst his people [or on earth], he will not pass away until he appears. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ’”

Al-Sayyid says, “When I heard this from my master, al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, I repented to Allah, High be His Remembrance, at his hands and wrote a poem which starts like this:

When I saw the people being deviated in religion

By Allah’s [mercy] I followed [Imam] Ja`far, amongst those who were his followers [1]

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 235, 242–308, 558–571, 608, 612, 641, 786–807, 859, 973, 1216, and 1230.

Section Sixteen

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants (ṣulb) of Imam Abū Ibrāhīm Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him

Comprised of 121 traditions

548. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [2]: Imam Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, said in a lengthy tradition:

Our master (ṣāḥib) who is from the descendants (ṣulb) of this boy—and he pointed towards Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on them both—will appear and will fill [the earth] with justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. He will take over the world.

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 113, 242–308, 550–571, 608, 612, 641, 770, 786–807, 859, 973,

1216, and 1230.

--------------------

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, pp. 33–34 (Author’s preface) ; Bishārat al-Muṣṭafā, p. 278, no. 10, and in it is an evident mistake; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 6, p. 145, no. 16.

[1]: Refer to Kamāl al-dīn, Bishārat al-Mustafa, or al-Ghadīr, vol. 2, p. 246, for the entire poem.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 42, no. 23; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 49, chap. 2, p. 26, no. 44; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 24, p. 241, no. 53.

Section Seventeen

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

Comprised of 115 traditions

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

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

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

550. Kamāl al-dīn [3]: Narrated to us al-Ḥusayn b. Aḥmad b. Idrīs, may Allah be satisfied with him, from his father, from Ayyūb b. Nūḥ, from Muḥammad b. Sinān, from Ṣafwān b. Mihrān, from (Imam) al-Ṣādiq Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, who said: “He who believes in all

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the Imams but denies the Mahdī is like he who believes in all the prophets but denies the prophethood of Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. ” He was asked, “O Son of the Messenger of Allah! Who is the Mahdī from your descendants? ” He replied, “The fifth from the descendants of the seventh. His body will be hidden from you and will not have permission to say his name. ”

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

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

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

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

I went to Imam Mūsā b.

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

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

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

Moses—in the night of Divine Conversation (laylat al-khiṭāb) —looked at all the trees at Ṭūr, while each and every stone and plant was speaking about the Prophet Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be upon

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him and his family, and the twelve heirs (waṣīs) after him. Moses said, “My Lord! I do not see any creature that you have created but that it is speaking about Prophet Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and his twelve heirs (waṣī). What is their position before You? ”

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

Al-Ḥusayn b. `Ulwān says, “I mentioned this (narration) to (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, who said, ‘It is the truth. They are twelve from the family of Muḥammad, Allah's blessings be on him and his family: `Alī, al-Ḥasan, al-Ḥusayn, `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, Muḥammad b. `Alī, and whoever Allah wills. ’ I said, ‘May I be sacrificed for you! I am asking you so that you may make the truth clear for me. ’ He replied, ‘[After them], myself, then followed by this son of mine—and he pointed

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towards his son Mūsā—the fifth from his descendants will be hidden and it will not be permitted to mention him by his name. ’”

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

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

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even if the polytheists detest it. ’”

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

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--------------------

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

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

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

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

[1]: Muqtaḍab al-athar, p. 41, no. 24; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 26, p. 149, no. 24; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, chap. 9, p. 712, sect. 18, no. 161.

I say: We have not mentioned this tradition because Wahb has narrated it, rather, we have relied on it because it has been confirmed by Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him.

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

Section Eighteen

The traditions that indicate he is the fourth descendant of Imam Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, peace be on him

Comprised of 111 traditions

554. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from `Alī b. Ma`bad, from al-Ḥusayn b. Khālid, that (Imam) `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, peace be on him, said: “He who does not restrain from sins (man lā wara`a lahū) , has no religion. He who does not practice dissimulation (al-taqiyya) does not have faith. Surely, the most honorable of you before Allah is the one who practices dissimulation (taqiyya) the most. ”

He was asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Until when [should one practice dissimulation]? ” He replied, “Until the appointed time and that is the day of the emergence of the Qā’im from us Ahl al-Bait. Whoever abandons dissimulation before the emergence of our Qā’im is not from us. ” He was asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Qā’im from you Ahl al-Bait? ” He answered: “The fourth from my descendants; the son of the Master of the Maids. Through him, Allah will purify the earth from every injustice and sanctify it from all unfairness. He is the one about whose birth people will have doubts. He will have an occultation before his appearance. When

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he reappears, the earth will radiate with his light [or with the light of its Lord] and the scales of justice will be set up amongst the people.

Then no one will oppress another. He is the one whom the earth will be in his possession (yuṭwī lahū al-arḍ). He will not have a shadow. He is the one for whom an announcer will call out from the skies—that will be heard by all the inhabitants of the earth—‘Know that Allah’s Proof (ḥujjat Allah) has reappeared at the House of Allah, so follow him because truth is with him and in him. ’ This is [the meaning of] the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, ‘If We want, We will send upon them a sign from the sky, then their necks will bend before it in humility. ’ [1] ”

555. Kamāl al-dīn [2]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm, from his father, from al-Rayyān b. al-Ṣalt who said:

I asked (Imam) al-Riḍā, peace be on him, “Are you the master (ṣāḥib) of this affair? ” He replied, “I am the master of this affair but I am certainly not the one who will fill it [i. e. the earth] with justice just as it will be filled with injustice. How can I be he while you are seeing the weakness of my body and the Qā’im is the one who reappears and he will be old in age but young in appearance. His body

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will be so strong that if he stretches his hand towards the greatest tree on earth, he will uproot it and if he shouts between the mountains, their boulders will fall down. He will have with him the staff of Moses and the ring of Solomon. He is the fourth from my descendants. Allah will hide him in His veils as long as He wishes. Then, He will make him appear and [through him] he will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ”

556. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm, from his father, from `Abd al-Salām b. Ṣāliḥ al-Harawī, from Di`bil b. `Alī al-Khuzā`ī who said:

I recited the poem I had composed for my master, (Imam) `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, peace be on him, which starts with the following line:

The schools for learning [Quranic] verses have become empty of recitations

The places of revelation have been abandoned

When I reached to the following section:

The reappearance of an Imam is inevitable

He will rise in the Name of Allah and with His blessings

He will separate for us the truth from the falsehood

And he will reward as well as punish

(Imam) al-Riḍā, peace be on him, started crying violently, then raised his head towards me and said, “O Khuzā`ī! The Holy Spirit (Rūḥ al- Qudus) spoke these two lines through your tongue. Do you know who this Imam is and when he will

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rise? ” I replied, “No, my master, but I have heard of the emergence of an Imam from amongst you who will purify the earth from corruption and fill it with justice [just as it will be filled with injustice]. ”

He answered, “O Di`bil! The Imam after me is my son Muḥammad, after Muḥammad, his son `Alī, after `Alī his son al-Ḥasan, and after al-Ḥasan, his son al-Ḥujjat al-Qā’im. He is the awaited one during his occultation and the obeyed one when he appears. If only one day remains from the [end of the] world, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will prolong that day until he emerges and fills it with justice, just as it will be filled with injustice. As for the [question of] when?

Then, [answering this question] is determining the time [of his question]. My father has narrated to me from his father, from his forefathers, peace be on them, that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, was asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! When will the Qā’im from your seed (al-dhurriya) emerge? ’ He replied, ‘His example is like that of the Hour [i. e. Judgment day] about which [the Holy Quran says], “No one can reveal its time except Him. It is heavy in the skies and the earth. It will not come to you but suddenly. ” [1] ’”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558–571, 608, 641, 786–807, 859, 973, and 1230

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--------------------

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 35, pp. 371–372, no. 5; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 36, pp. 274–275, no. 1; Farā’id al-simṭain, chap. 61, pp. 336–337, no. 590; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 78, p. 448, and chap. 94, p. 489; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, chap. 28, pp. 322–325, no. 29; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, pp. 477–478, sect. 5, no. 172; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2.

[1]: Quran 26: 4.

[2]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 35, p. 376, no. 7; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 542, with the difference that he has added this to its end: “As if I am seeing them while they are extremely hopeless. Then, a call will be heard which will be heard from far like it is heard from near. It will be a mercy for the worlds and a punishment for the unbelievers. ” Apparently, this is a part of another tradition altogether— that being the third tradition from the aforementioned chapter of Kamāl al-dīn; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 478, no. 173.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 35, pp. 372–373, no. 6; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 36, pp. 275–277, no. 2; Farā’id al-simṭain, vol. 2, pp. 337–338, no. 191; al-Itḥāf bi ḥubb al-ashrāf, chap. 5, p. 62; Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 80, p. 454; `Uyūn akhbār al-Riḍā, vol. 2, pp. 269–270, no. 35; I`lām al-warā, chap. 7, sect. 4; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 8, p. 154, no. 4.

[1]: Quran 7: 187.

Section Nineteen

The traditions that indicate

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he is from the descendants of Imam Muḥammad b. `Alī, al-Riḍā, peace be on him

Comprised of 109 traditions

557. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Mūsā al-Daqqāq, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Hārūn al-Ṣūfī, from Abū Turāb `Abd-Allah b. Mūsā al-Rūyānī, from `Abd al-`Aẓīm b. `Abd-Allah b. `Alī b. al-Ḥasan b. Zaid b. al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, who said:

I went to see my master (Imam) Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Mūsā b. Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be upon them, with the intention of asking him about the Qā’im [and to see] if he is the Mahdī or not? He initiated the conversation [before I asked the question] and said, “O Abū l-Qāsim! Surely the Qā’im from us is the Mahdī who must be awaited during his occultation and obeyed when he reappears.

He is my third descendant. I swear by the One Who sent Muḥammad with prophethood and distinguished us with leadership (imāma) , if nothing remains from this world except one day, Allah will certainly prolong that day until he emerges in it and fills the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. Surely Allah, Blessed and High be He, will set right his affairs in one night just as He set right the affairs of Moses—the one he spoke with (kalīmuhū) —when he went to bring fire for his family but returned while he

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was a Prophet. ” Then he said, “The best deed of our Shias is to wait for relief (intiẓār al-faraj). ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558–571, 608, 641, 786–807, 859, 973, and 1230.

Section Twenty

The traditions that indicate he is from the descendants of Imam Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, peace be on him

Comprised of 107 traditions

558. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Ziyād Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm, from `Abd- Allah b. Aḥmad al-Mauṣilī, from al-Ṣaqr b. Abī Dulaf, from (Imam) `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā, peace be on him, who said: “The Imam after me is al-Ḥasan, my son, and after al-Ḥasan will be his son, the Qā’im, who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ”

559. Kamāl al-dīn [2]: Narrated to us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. Muḥammad b. al-`Abdūs al-`Aṭṭār, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Qutayba al-Nīsābūrī, from Ḥamdān b. Sulaimān, from al-Ṣaqr b. Abū Dulaf, who said:

I heard (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā, peace be on him, say, “The Imam after me is my son `Alī. His affair is my affair (amruhū amrī) , his speech is my speech, and his obedience is my obedience. The Imam after him will be his son al-Ḥasan. His affair is the affair of his father, his speech is the speech of his father, and his obedience

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is the obedience of his father. ”

Then, he became silent. I asked him, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Imam after al-Ḥasan? ” [On hearing this], he started weeping violently and said, “Verily, after al-Ḥasan will be his son who will rise with the truth; the awaited one (al-muntaẓar). ” I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Why is he called the one who will rise (al-Qā’im)? ” He answered, “Because he will rise after he is no longer remembered and after most of those who had believed in his Imamate will no longer believe in him. ”

I enquired, “Why is he called the awaited one (al-muntaẓar)? ” He replied, “Because he will be in an occultation which will continue for many days and long periods. The purified ones (al-mukhliṣūn) will wait for his reappearance, the skeptics will renounce him, and the deniers will make fun when he is mentioned. Those who determine the time [of his reappearance] will be liars, those who hasten concerning his reappearance will perish, and only those who submit will be saved. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558–571, 608, 641, 786–807, 859, and 1230.

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[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, p. 377, no. 1; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 37, pp. 280–281, no. 1; I`lām al-warā, sect. 2, chap. 2; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 27, sect. 2, p. 386, no. 19; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 9, p. 156, no. 1.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 37, p. 383, no. 10; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 38, pp. 292, no. 4; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 30, sect. 1, p. 394, no. 17; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 50, sect. 2, p. 239, no. 4.

[2]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 36, p. 378, no. 3; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 37, pp. 283–284, no. 3; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2,; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 2, p. 30, no. 4.

Section Twenty-One

The traditions that indicate he is the Successor of the Successor of (Imam) Abū l-Ḥasan and the son of (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan, peace be on them

Comprised of 107 traditions

560. Al-Kāfī [1]: `Alī b. Muḥammad, from the one whom he mentioned, from Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-`Alawī, from Dāwūd b. al-Qāsim who said:

I heard Imam Abū l-Ḥasan, peace

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be on him, say, “My successor will be al-Ḥasan. What will be your condition regarding the successor of my successor? ” I enquired, “May I be sacrificed for you! Why? ” He replied, “Because you cannot see him and you are not allowed to mention his name. ” I asked again, “Then how will we mention him? ” He replied, “Say: The proof from the family of Muḥammad (al-ḥujja min āl Muḥammad) , peace be on them. ”

561. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-`Aṭṭār, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah, from Mūsā b. Ja`far b. Wahb al-Baghdadi, from (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. `Alī, peace be on him, who said:

[I am seeing the time] that you are disputing about my successor after me. Surely, the one who acknowledges the Imams after the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, but denies my son, is like he who acknowledges all the Prophets of Allah and His Messengers but denies the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family.

He who denies the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, is like he who denies all the Prophets of Allah; because the obedience of the last of us is like the obedience of the first of us and the denier of the last of us is like the denier of the first of us. My son will surely have an occultation in which the people

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will become doubtful except the ones whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has protected.

562. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Abū `Alī b. Hammām, from Muḥammad b. Uthmān al-`Amrī, may Allah sanctify his soul, from his father who said:

Imam Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. `Alī, peace be on him, was questioned—while I was there—about a tradition narrated from his forefathers, peace be on them, that: The earth cannot be empty of Allah’s Proof (ḥujja) upon His creatures until the Day of Judgment and that he who dies without knowing the Imam of his time, has died the death of ignorance (al-jāhiliyya). The (Imam) replied, “Surely, this tradition is true just as daylight which is true. ”

He was asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Proof and Imam after you? ” He replied, “My son Muḥammad. He is the Imam and the Proof after me. Whoever dies without knowing him, will die the death of ignorance. Know that he will have an occultation in which the ignorant will be baffled, the skeptics will perish, and those who determine the time of his appearance will be liars. Then, he will emerge; as if I am seeing white flags waving over his head in the city of Najaf, near Kūfa. ”

563. Yanābī` al-mawadda [2]: In al-Manāqib from Wāthila b. al-Asqa` b. Qarkhāb, from Jābir b. `Abd-Allah al-Anṣārī (in a tradition wherein he has mentioned the coming of Jandal b. Junādat b.

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Jubair—the Jew—to the Messenger of Allah, and him believing in Allah and His Messenger and the questions he asked the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and the answers he gave):

Jandal said, “Last night, I dreamt of Moses, son of `Imrān, peace be on him, who said, ‘O Jandal! Accept Islam at the hands of Muḥammad, the seal of the prophets and fasten to the heirs after him. ’ I said, ‘I accepted Islam, all praise is for Allah. I have accepted Islam and He has guided me through you. ’” Jandal continued, “O Messenger of Allah! Inform me of the heirs after you so that I can fasten to them. ” He replied, “My successors are twelve. ”

Jandal said, “This is exactly what we saw in the Torah. O Messenger of Allah! Name them for me. ” He said, “The first of them is `Alī who is the master of the heirs and the father of the Imams. Then, his two sons, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn. Fasten to them and do not allow the ignorance of the ignorant to deceive you. When `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn—the Ornament of Worshippers (Zain al-`Ābidīn) —is born, Allah will bring your life to an end. Your last provision from this world will be some milk that you will drink. ” Jandal replied, “We found in the Torah and in the books of the prophets, peace be upon them, (the names of) Īlīa, Shabbar, and Shabīr. These are the names of `Alī, al-Ḥasan, and al-Ḥusayn. Who are

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[the heirs] after al-Ḥusayn and what are their names? ”

He said, “When the time of al-Ḥusayn comes to an end, the Imam will be his son `Alī. He will have the title Zain al-`Ābidīn. After him will be his son, Muḥammad, who will bear the title of al-Bāqir (the Splitter) , followed by his son, al-Ja`far, who will be called al-Ṣādiq (the Truthful). He will be followed by his son Mūsā, who will be addressed as al-Kāẓim (the Restrainer of Anger). After him will be his son al-Riḍā (the Satisfied) followed by his son Muḥammad who will be called al-Taqī (the Pious) and al-Zakī (the Pure). After him will be his son `Alī who will bear the titles of al-Naqī and al-Hādī (the guide) followed by his son al-Ḥasan who will be called al-`Askarī.

Then, his son Muḥammad, who will be called al-Mahdī, al-Qā’im, and al-Ḥujja. He will go in occultation then he will emerge. When he emerges, he will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. Salvation is for those who have patience during his occultation. Salvation is for those who are steadfast on their love. They are those whom Allah has described in His Book and said, ‘A guide for the pious; those who believe in the unseen. ’ [1]

He has also said, ‘They are the party of Allah; surely the party of Allah are the victorious. ’ [2] Jandal said, “All praise is for Allah Who has made me successful in

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knowing them. ” [Jandal] lived on until Imam `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn was born. He went to Ṭā’if where he fell ill. He drank some milk and said, “The Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, informed me that my last provision in this world would be a drink of milk. ” He then passed away and was buried at Ṭā’if in a place known as al-Kūzāra.

564. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us `Alī b. `Abd-Allah al-Warrāq, from Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah, from Aḥmad b. Isḥāq b. Sa`d al-Ash`arī who said:

I went to see (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. `Alī, peace be on him, with the intention of asking him about his successor. Before I could ask he said, “O Aḥmad b. Isḥāq! Surely Allah, Blessed and High be He, has not left the earth empty of His Proof upon His creatures ever since He created Adam, peace be on him, and [He will not leave it empty of a proof] until the Hour is established. Through him, He repels the calamities from the inhabitants of the earth, through him He causes the rains to fall, and through him He brings out the blessings of the earth. ”

I asked him, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Imam and the Caliph after you? ” [On hearing this], the Imam stood up quickly and went inside the house. He returned, while on his shoulder was a boy whose face was [shining] like the full moon, and whose age was about three years.

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He said, “O Aḥmad b. Isḥāq! Was it not for your reverence before Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, and his proofs, I would not have shown my son to you. His name and epithet are the same as that of the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. He is the one who will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. His example in this nation is like that of Khiḍr, peace be on him; and his example is like that of Dhū l-Qarnain.

By Allah! He will certainly go in an occultation in which no one will be saved from destruction except for those whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has made steadfast in the belief of his Imamate and made them successful in praying for the hastening of his relief (bi-ta`jīl farajih). ” I asked, “O Master! Is there a sign by which my heart will be assured? ” Suddenly the young boy spoke in fluent Arabic: “I am the remnant of Allah on His earth and the one who will take revenge on His enemies. Don’t seek further evidence after you have witnessed with your eyes, O Aḥmad b. Isḥāq. ”

I came out happily and gleefully. The next day I returned to him and said, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Indeed, I have become greatly joyful because of the great favor you bestowed upon me. What is the custom in him from Khiḍr and

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Dhū l-Qarnain? ” He replied, “Prolonged occultation, O Aḥmad. ” I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Will his occultation really be prolonged? ”

He replied, “Yes, by my Lord! His occultation will be prolonged to such an extent that most of those who believe in this affair will reject it. No one will remain [on this affair] except those from whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has taken the covenant of our Guardianship, written belief in their heart, and assisted them with a Spirit from Himself. O Aḥmad b. Isḥāq! This is an affair from the affairs of Allah, a secret from His secrets, and a concealed [news] from His concealed [news]. Take what I have given you and conceal it. Be grateful and tomorrow, you will be with us in the highest positions (`illīyīn). ”

565. Tārīkh mawālīd Ahl al-Bait (by ibn al-Khashshāb) [1]: Narrated to us Ṣadaqat b. Mūsā, from his father, from (Imam) al-Riḍā, peace be on him, that, “The Righteous Successor (al-khalaf al-ṣāliḥ) is the son of Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan b. `Alī. He is the Master of the Time and he is the Mahdī. ”

566. Al-Kāfī [2]: `Alī b. Muḥammad, from Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Bilāl: “A messenger from (Imam) Abū Muḥammad, peace be on him, came to me—two years before he passed away—to inform me about his successor after him; then, again, a messenger came to me three days before his death to inform me about his successor after him. ”

567. Al-Kharā’ij [3]: `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from `Īsā

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b. Masīḥ who said: “ (Imam) al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, came to see us while we were imprisoned—and I was aware of his position [of Imamate]. He said to me, ‘You are sixty-five years one month and two days old. ’ I had a prayer book with me in which my birth-date was recorded. I looked at it and it was exactly as he had said. He asked, ‘Do you have a son? ’ I replied in the negative. He invoked Allah, ‘O Allah! Grant him a son who will be a support for him. How good a support is a son! ’ Then, he recited:

Whoever has a support will achieve his rights

Humble is he who does not have any support

I asked, ‘Do you have a son? ’ He replied, ‘Yes, by Allah! Soon I will have a son who will fill the earth with fairness and justice, but as of now, no. ’

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558, 559, 568–571, 608, 641, 786–807, 859, and 1230.

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[1]: Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, chap. 133, p. 328, no. 13, and chap. 136, pp. 332–33, no. 1; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 37, p. 381, no. 5. He said: “Narrated to us Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah, from Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-`Alawī, from Abū Hāshim Dāwūd b. al-Qāsim al-Ja`farī, from Abū l-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, who said, ‘My successor after me will be my son al-Ḥasan... (to the end) ’” with a minor difference; `Ilal al-sharā’i`, chap. 179, p. 254, no. 5; Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 202, no. 169, the same as Kamāl al-dīn; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 38, pp. 288–289, no. 2; al-Irshād, p. 376; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 2; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 30, sect. 1, p. 393, no. 15; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 10, p. 170, and chap. 11, sect. 3, p. 231; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 50, chap. 2, p. 240, no. 5, and vol. 51, chap. 3, p. 31, no. 2, and chap. 9, pp. 158–159, no. 1; Ithbāt al-waṣiyya, p. 186; Taqrīb al-ma`ārif, pp. 184 & 192; Mir`āt al-`uqūl, vol. 3, p. 393; Rauḍat al-wā`iẓīn, p. 262; al-Wāfī, vol. 2, chap. 45, p. 403, no. 903-1; Mustadrak al-wasā’il, vol. 12, p. 281, no. 5; `Uyūn al-mu`jizāt, p. 141; Kashf al-ghumma, p. 406; al-Wasā’il, vol. 16, chap. 33, p. 239, no. 21458.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 38, p. 409, no. 8; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 39, pp. 295–296, no. 5; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 9, p. 160, no. 6; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 11, sect. 2, p. 232; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 482, no. 188.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 38, p. 409, no. 9; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 39, p. 296, no. 6; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 9, p. 160, no. 7; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, chap. 11, sect. 2, p. 232; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 482, no. 189.

[2]: Yanābī`’ al-mawadda, chap. 76, pp. 442–443. Ibn Qarkhāb which has been mentioned in it is probably incorrect and was originally Abū Qarṣāfa which is the epithet of Wāthila; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 41, pp. 304–306, no. 144; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 7, pp. 56–61, no. 2.

I say: In the copy of Kifāyat al-athar that is available to us, there are some parts missing in the tradition although they don’t affect the overall concept. Al-Majlisī has explained it as a mistake made by the scribe. This justification does not seem appropriate because the version in Yanābī` does not have this problem.

Tabyīn al-maḥajja ilā ta`yīn al-Ḥujja, pp. 261–264;

In al-Maḥajja, he has recorded a part under the tradition on p. 17, but he has narrated it from ibn Bābawayh. I could not find it in any of ibn Bābawayh’s books that are available to us. Maybe, he had thought that Kifāyat al-athar was authored by al-Ṣadūq.

There is an error in Yanābī` regarding the verse, “They are the party of Allah, know that surely the party of Allah are the successful ones. ” It has been recorded correctly in Kifāyat al-athar—which is one of the primary references of this tradition that is available to us—and also in Biḥār al-anwār and other sources. Thus, the tradition should be corrected in accordance with these sources. In Kifāyat al-athar, Biḥār al-anwār, and all other books that we referred to except Yanābī`, it has been recorded as Jundab (not Jandal) b. Junāda who was a Jew from Khaibar. Also in al-Kifāya and the other books— except al-Yanābī`—it has been explicitly mentioned that it is prohibited to say his name: “Then, their Imam will become concealed from them. He asked, ‘O Messenger of Allah! Is he al-Ḥasan? ’ He replied, ‘No, it is his son, al-Ḥujja. ’ He questioned, ‘O Messenger of Allah! What is his name? ’ He answered, ‘His name should not be mentioned until Allah makes him appear... ” It also has other additions.

[1]: Quran 2: 4-5.

[2]: Quran 5: 56.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 38, pp. 384–385, no. 1; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, chap. 2, sect. 3, p. 526, no. 1; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 81, p. 458; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 52, chap. 18, pp. 23–24, no. 16; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 3; al-Ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm, vol. 2, sect. 3, chap. 11, pp. 231–232; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, pp. 479–480, no. 180.

[1]: Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 475; Yanābī` al-mawadda, p. 491, chap. 94.

[2]: Al-Kāfī, vol. 1, chap. 134, p. 328, no. 1; al-Wāfī, vol. 2, chap. 42, pp. 391–392, no. 880–1; Mir`āt al-`uqūl, vol. 4, chap. 134, p. 1, no. 1; al-Irshād, p. 375; I`lām al-warā, chap. 2, sect. 3.

[3]: Al-Kharā’ij, chap. 13, p. 72, no. 17; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 503; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 50, chap. 37, pp. 275–276, no. 48, and vol. 51, chap. 10, p. 162, no. 15; Wasā’il al-Shī`a, vol. 21, chap. 3, pp. 360–361, no. 27302; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 2, chap. 31, p. 422, no. 78. In all references except Kashf al-ghumma, ‘`Īsā b. Ṣabīḥ’ has been recorded instead of ‘`Īsā b. Masīḥ’. In Kashf al-ghumma, ‘`Īsā b. Shaj’ has been used.

Section Twenty-Two

The traditions that indicate his father’s name is al-Ḥasan, peace be on him

Comprised of 108 traditions

568. Muqtaḍab al-athar [1]: Narrated to me the reliable Shaykh Abū l-Ḥusayn `Abd al-Ṣamad b. `Alī—and he showed it to me from his own book and his history in 285 AH—what he had heard from `Ubaid b. Kathīr Abū l-Sa`d al-`Āmirī, from Nūḥ b. Darrāj, from Yaḥyā, from al- A`mash, from Zaid b. Wahb, from b. Abū Juḥaifa al-Siwā’ī, from Sawā’at b. `Āmir and al-Ḥarth b.

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`Abd-Allah al-Hārithī al-Hamdānī and al-Ḥarth b. Sharib, whom all informed us that “they were with Imam `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, and whenever his son, al-Ḥasan, peace be on him, entered, he would say, ‘Welcome, O Son of Allah’s Messenger! ’ And whenever Imam al- Ḥusayn, peace be on him, entered, he would say, ‘May my father and my mother be sacrificed for you, O father of the son of the best of the maids! ’

He was asked, ‘O Amīr al-Mu’minīn! Why do you address al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn in this manner? And who is the son of the best of the maids? ’ He replied, ‘He is the one who will be absent, driven away, and the wanderer. He is Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Mūsā b. Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. `Alī, the son of this Ḥusayn. ’ He then placed his hand on (Imam) al-Ḥusayn’s head. ’”

569. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us `Alī b. Aḥmad b. Muḥammad al-Daqqāq, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. Abū `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Mūsā b. `Imrān al-Nakha`ī, from his (paternal) uncle al-Ḥusayn b. Yazīd al-Naufalī, from al-Mufaḍḍal b. `Umar who said:

I went to see my master (Imam) Ja`far b. Muḥammad, peace be on him, and asked, “Master! I wish you would inform us about your successor! ” He replied, “O Mufaḍḍal! The Imam after me is my son Mūsā and the successor (al-khalaf) —who is wished for and awaited—is M-U-Ḥ-A- M-M-A-D the son of al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad

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b. `Alī b. Mūsā, peace be on them. ”

570. Al-Manāqib [1]: (Imam) Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, wrote to Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. Bābawayh al-Qummī:

I have fastened to the rope of Allah. In the Name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful and all Praise is for Allah the Lord of the worlds. The end belongs to the pious, the Paradise is for the monotheists, and the fire is for the atheists. There is no enmity except against the oppressors. There is no god except Allah, the Best of Creators. Blessings be on the best of His creatures, Muḥammad, and his pure progeny. (He said in another part,) Have patience and await the relief (al-faraj).

Our Shias will always be in a state of grief until my son reappears about whom the Holy Prophet has given glad-tidings about. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. Be patient, O my Shaykh, O Abū l-Ḥasan `Alī, and order all my followers to have patience. Surely the earth is for Allah and He will make whomsoever He wishes from amongst His servants to inherit it and the end belongs to the pious. Peace be on you and on all our Shias, and the Mercy of Allah and His blessings and may Allah’s blessings be on Muḥammad and his family.

571. Ithbāt al-waṣiyya [2]: Abū l-Ḥasan Muḥammad b. Ja`far al-Asadī from Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm who said:

I went to see Khadīja, the

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daughter of Imam Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā, peace be on him, and the sister of Imam `Alī b. Muḥammad al-`Askarī, peace be on him, in the year 265 AH at Medina. I spoke to her from behind a curtain and asked her about her religion. She named her Imams then said, “The pure (al-zakī) successor the son of al-Ḥasan b. `Alī, my brother. ”

I said, “May I be sacrificed for you! Have you actually seen him or is your belief based merely on narration? ” She replied, “A narration from my nephew [the son of my brother, Abū Muḥammad] who wrote to his mother about him. ” I asked again, “Where is the son? ” She replied, “He is concealed. ” I said, “In whom should the Shias seek refuge? ” She answered, “In his grandmother, the mother of Abū Muḥammad. ” I asked, “Whose example has he followed that he has made a woman the executor of his will!? ”

She responded, “He has followed (Imam) al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī, peace be on him, who had apparently willed to his sister Zainab bint `Alī. Thus, in those times, whatever knowledge (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn spoke of was attributed to his aunt, Zainab bint `Alī, peace be on her, in order to conceal (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn and as a protection to ensure his survival. ” She then said, “Surely you are a group who are companions of traditions, narrators, and reliable persons. Has it not been narrated to you that the inheritance of the ninth descendant of (Imam)

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al-Ḥusayn will be divided while he will still be alive and surviving... ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the aforementioned concept: 242–308, 558–567, 608, 641, 786–807, 859, 1166, and 123

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[1]: Muqtaḍab al-athar, p. 31; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, p. 110, no. 4

It will become apparent in this chapter and others from this book that one should not pay attention to what has been narrated by Abū Dāwūd from Zā’ida, from `Aṣim, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “If there remains only one day to the end of the world, Allah will prolong that day until Allah sends a person from me, or from my Ahl al-Bait; his name will be my name and his father’s name will be my father’s name. He will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. ” Because abundant and mutawātir traditions prove that his father’s name is al-Ḥasan. Al-Kanji has stated in al-Bayān that al-Tirmidhī has recorded the tradition without the sentence, “his father’s name is my father’s name” and that Imam Aḥmad, with all his mastery and skill, has recorded this tradition in al-Musnad and numerous places with only the phrase, “his name is my name. ” He continues, “Al-Ḥāfiẓ Abū Nu`aim has collected the various chains of this tradition from a large number of people in Manāqib al-Mahdī, all of them reporting from `Aṣim b. Abī l-Najūd, from Zirr, from `Abd-Allah, from the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. Amongst these are: Sufyān b. `Uyayna through different chains of narrators; Fiṭr b. Khalīfa through different chains of narrators; al-A`mash through different chains of narrators; Abū Isḥāq Sulaimān b. Fīrūz al-Shaibānī through different chains of narrators; Ḥafṣ b. `Umar; Sufyān al-Thaurī through different chains of narrators; Shu`ba through different chains of narrators; Wāsiṭ b. al-Ḥārith; Yazīd b. Mu`āwiya Abū Shaiba from two different chains; Sulaimān b. Qarm through different chains of narrators; Ja`far al-Aḥmar, Qays b. Rabī`, Sulaimān b. Qarm, and Asbāṭ whom he has put in a single chain; Salām b. Abū l-Mundhir; Abū Shihāb Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-Kinānī through different chains of narrators; `Amr b. `Ubaid al-Tanāfusī through different chains of narrators; Abū Bakr b. `Ayyāsh through different chains of narrators; Abū l-Ḥajjāf Dāwūd b. Abī al-`Auf through different chains of narrators; Uthmān b. Shubruma through different chains of narrators; `Abd al-Malik b. Abī l-Uyayna; Muḥammad b. `Ayyāsh from `Amr al-`Āmirī through different chains of narrators; He has mentioned a chain: “Narrated to us Abū Ghassān from Qays”; `Amr b. Qays al-Mulā’ī; `Ammār b. Zuraiq; `Abd-Allah b. Ḥakīm b. Jubair al-Asadī; `Amr b. `Abd-Allah b. Bashīr; Abū l-Aḥwaṣ; Sa`d b. Ḥasan, the son of Tha`laba’ s sister; Ma`ādh b. Hishām, who says: “Narrated to me my father from `Aṣim”; Yūsuf b. Yūnus; Ghālib b. Uthmān; Ḥamzat al-Zayyāt; Shaibān; al-Ḥakam b. Hishām; It has been narrated from others than `Aṣim from Zirr like from `Amr b. Murra, from Zirr. All of the above have narrated ‘his name is my name’ except `Ubaid-Allah b. Mūsā, from Zā’ida, from `Aṣim who said: ‘his father’s name is my father’s name. ’ No intelligent and wise person will have doubts that the addition: ‘his father’s name is my father’s name’ has no basis because of the consensus of the aforementioned leaders (of traditions) on its contrary.

The author of Kashf al-ghumma writes: “Our Shia companions deem this tradition to be incorrect because of what has been proved to them about his name and his father’s name. The majority [i. e. the Sunnis] have recorded that Zā’ida [the narrator of this tradition] used to add parts to narrations, thus, we have to conclude that this part was one of his additions. This [point] reconciles all the opinions and traditions. ”

This was a brief discussion about the chain of narrators. With this said, there remains no reason for relying on Zā’ida’s narrations for he is unquestionably unreliable. In fact, one can become sure that Zā’ida or other narrators of this tradition have deliberately added this sentence to it. It is very likely that this addition was the work of politicians and rulers, because narrations played an extremely important role in political success and the formation of governments in the early (Islamic) era. Hence, they ordered [scholars] to fabricate traditions and used these as a medium to attract the hearts of the people for strengthening their government. Proof of this lies in the actions of Mu`āwiya and his punishments on those who narrated the excellences and merits of (Amīr al-Mu’minīn) `Alī, peace be on him, and his rewards for those who fabricated traditions meant to defame `Alī and the Ahl al-Bait, peace be on them, or [his rewards] for those [fabricated traditions which] praised Uthmān and others from the Umayyads. Therefore, Abū Huraira and his kind—from the people of this world and the worshippers of money—were hired to forge traditions. The same pattern was followed in the initial stages of the rule of the Abbasids, during the formation of their government, and their uprising against the Umayyads. Fabricators forged traditions by their order or to gain stature before them, in order to reinforce their corrupt beliefs, views, and political theories, and to mend their evil deeds and strengthen their position amongst the public. Amongst the religious beliefs used by the Abbasids to form their government, were such traditions that gave glad-tidings about the Mahdī, peace be on him.

Thus, it is not unlikely that the motive for adding this statement was to strengthen the government of Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah al-Manṣūr al-Abbāsī—who had the title of al-Mahdī—or to support the claim of Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. al-Ḥasan, who was known as al-Nafs al-Zakiyya. I believe that this probability is quite strong. Some historians (like the author of al-Fakhrī fī l-ādāb al-sultāniyya wa l-duwal al-Islāmiyya) have recorded that `Abd-Allah al-Maḥḍ proved to some groups of people that his son Muḥammad is the Mahdī that glad tidings have been given about. He used to narrate the addition “his father’s name is my father’s name” and Imam al-Ṣādiq, peace be on him, told his father, `Abd-Allah al-Maḥḍ, that his son would not reach that position. Anyway, this addition has no validity especially when it is compared with mutawātir and definite traditions which have been recorded in the books of the companions [i. e. scholars]. Moreover, they have even mentioned reasons to reconcile between this addition and the recorded traditions, which are as follows:

(1) What is found in al-Kanjī al-Shāfi`ī’s al-Bayān is probably a copyist’s error. He, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, had actually stated: “The name of his father is the name of my son” and had referred to al-Ḥasan, peace be on him. Because it is well known that he used to refer to al-Ḥasan as ‘my son’ and to him and al-Ḥusayn, peace be on them, as ‘my two sons. ’ Thus, the copyist probably made a mistake while writing and wrote ‘my son (ibnī) ’ instead of ‘my father (abī). ’ This probability is further reinforced by the tradition recorded in Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, p. 67.

(2) What has been stated by Kamāl al-dīn Muḥammad b. Ṭalḥa al-Shāfi`ī in Maṭālib al-Su’ūl fī manāqib Āl al-Rasūl: “Before mentioning the detailed reply we must explain two points on which our purposed will be based on:

(a) It is common in the Arabic language to use the word ‘father’ to refer to an earlier ancestor. The Holy Quran has also talked in this manner. He, the Exalted, says, ‘The religion of your father Ibrāhīm’ (Quran 22: 78). He, the Exalted, also quotes Yūsuf as saying: ‘and I followed the religion of my fathers Ibrāhīm and Ismā`īl and Isḥāq’ (Quran 12: 38). The Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has also used similar language in the tradition of ascension (mi`rāj) when he recounted: ‘I said, “Who is he? ” He replied, “Your father, Ibrāhīm. ”’ So, it is well known that the word ‘father’ is used to refer to ancestors even if they are from many generations ago.

(b) The word ‘name’ can be used to refer to either an epithet or an attribute. Masters of literature (al-fuṣaḥā) have used it extensively and their tongues have moved [to speak like this]. Even the two Imams—al-Bukhārī and Muslim—have recorded this [concept] in their books where they narrated from Sahl b. Sa`d al-Sā`idī that ‘`Alī used to say that the messenger of Allah gave him the name Abū Turāb and there was no name dearer to him than that. ’ Thus, the word ‘name’ is used to refer to an epithet. This is a common and famous practice amongst the Arabs.

Now that the two points we wanted to mention have been clarified, then know—may Allah assist you with His support—that the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, had two grandsons: Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan and Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ḥusayn. Since the last Ḥujja, the righteous successor, Muḥammad, is from the descendants of Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ḥusayn and not Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan, and since the epithet of al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, was Abū `Abd-Allah, therefore the Prophet used the word ‘name’ to refer to ‘epithet. ’ Also, the word ‘father’ is used to refer to ‘ancestor’ so it is as if he said: ‘His name is my name. He is Muḥammad and I am Muḥammad. And the epithet of his ancestor is the name of my father because he is Abū `Abd-Allah and my father is `Abd-Allah. ’ These brief words, comprehensively describe his attributes and announce that he is from the descendants of Abū `Abd-Allah al-Ḥusayn in the most comprehensive and concise manner. Thereafter, the attributes are described and all of them are found in the last Ḥujja, the Righteous Successor, Muḥammad, peace be upon him. This explanation is sufficient and enough for eliminating any doubt in this regard, so understand it. ”

(3) What has been recorded in Biḥār al-anwār from his contemporaries that the epithet of (Imam) Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, was Abū Muḥammad; on the other hand, `Abd-Allah, the father of the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family, was also Abū Muḥammad. Thus, both the epithets were identical and epithets (as mentioned earlier) also come under the title of names.

(4) Some scholars have justified the tradition like this: “The best justification for this tradition is that its wording were as follows: ‘His name is my name and my father’s name. ’ It has been recorded in numerous traditions in the book al-Ghayba that (Imam) al-Mahdī has three names. One of these being `Abd-Allah, which is the name of the Holy Prophet’ father, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. In some traditions, it has been mentioned, ‘his name is my father’s name,’ using this phrase. Based on this tradition, the following words have also been narrated, ‘his name is my name and my father’s name. ’ The narrator has added the phrase, ‘his father’s name’ since he did not understand the meaning of the tradition and could not comprehend the fact that the Mahdī— may Allah hasten his relief—could have two names. So, he intended to correct the tradition himself and added this sentence. Of course, you already know that the tradition has no ambiguity because he has three names and hence it has been clarified that there is no contradiction between the (aforementioned) tradition and our traditions. This is the best of answers and I haven’t seen anyone objecting to it due to its clarity. ”

(5) The scholar (mentioned in reason no. four) has also said that “it is probable that the tradition was as follows: ‘his name is my name and the name of his son is the name of my father. ’ This can be inferred from some traditions that mention one of his children is called `Abd-Allah. We will mention in the thirteenth chapter of this book that one of his epithets is Abū `Abd-Allah. So, (it is probable) that ‘the name of his son’ has been changed to ‘the name of his father’. ” We have recorded the tradition that he pointed to in chap. 3, no. 397.

(6) The great learned scholar, al-Maulā Muḥammad Riḍā al-Imāmī, has mentioned in Jannāt al-khulūd that Imam Abū Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, peace be on him, had two names: al-Ḥasan and `Abd-Allah. Amongst our scholars, the author of Kifāyat al-muwaḥḥidīn has also mentioned this and from the Sunni scholars, the king of the learned (malik al-`ulamā) , al-Qāḍī Shihāb al-Dīn al-Daulatābādī—the author of the Quranic exegesis, al-Baḥr al-mawwāj and also Manāqib al-sādāt and Hidāyat al-su`adā as has been cited in al-Najm al-thāqib—and also Maulā Mu`īn al-Harawī, the author of the Quranic exegesis Asrār al-fātiḥa, as has been cited in al-Abqarī al-ḥisān. Thus, the problem is solved.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 33, p. 334, no. 4; I`lām al-warā, p. 404, which says: “and the successor, who is awaited, is M-U-Ḥ-A-M-M-A-D the son of al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. `Alī b. Mūsā, peace be on them. ”

I say: It seems that it indicates that ‘the successor’ (al-khalaf) is one of the titles of the Mahdī. Ibn al-Athīr writes: “The word can be pronounced as khalaf as well as Khalf and (both) mean ‘anyone that comes (or replaces) after someone goes (or dies). ’ The only difference is that when you say khalaf, it means (a successor of) goodness and khalf indicates (a successor of) badness. It is used like this: a khalaf of goodness and a khalf of badness. ” Maybe, this title is used to refer exclusively to him because he is the successor of all the prophets and imams and will come after all of them.

[1]: Al-Manāqib, vol. 4, pp. 425–426; Mustadrak al-wasā’il (first edition) , vol. 3, p. 527; Riyāḍ al-`ulamā, vol. 4, p. 7; Rauḍāt al-jannāt (first edition) , vol. 3, p. 377; Majālis al-mu’minīn, 5th session, p. 195; al-Kunā wa l-alqāb, p. 217.

[2]: Ithbāt al-waṣiyya, p. 206 (From the old edition) ; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 45, p. 501, no. 27. In some copies ‘Khadīja’ has been recorded while in others it is ‘Ḥalīma’ or ‘Ḥakīma. ’ Khadīja is more correct; al-Ghayba, p. 230, no. 196, through two chains (of narrators). Although ‘Khadīja’ has been recorded but the researcher of the latest edition has corrected it in accordance with Biḥār al-anwār and other books and has changed it to ‘Ḥakīma. ’ This is merely his assumption and we have to rely on the original manuscripts of the book; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 16, pp. 363–364, no. 11; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 32, p. 506, no. 313, citing al-Ghayba which has also recorded ‘Khadīja. ’

Section Twenty-Three

The traditions that indicate he is the son of the ‘Master of the Maids’ and the Best of them

Comprised of eleven traditions

572. Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha (by ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd) [1]: And from it [i. e. from his sermons some of which have been mentioned by al-Raḍī]:

Then pay attention to the Ahl al-Bait of your Prophet. If they stay put, then you should also stay put and if they seek your help, then you should help them. Indeed, Allah will remove the fitna through a person from us Ahl al-Bait. May my father be sacrificed for the son of the best of the maids! He will not bestow upon them but swords—with much bloodshed—and he will carry [a sword] on his shoulder for eight months.

The Quraish will say, “Had he been from the descendants of Fāṭima, he would have had mercy on us. ” Allah will dispatch him against the Umayyads until he crushes them and breaks them apart: “[They are] cursed (mal`ūnīn) ; wherever they are found, they will be seized and killed a [horrible] killing. [Such has been] the tradition of Allah amongst those who have passed before and you will not find any change in the traditions of Allah. ” [2]

573. Yanābī` al-mawadda [3]: Al-Madā’inī has narrated in al-Ṣiffīn that after the battle of Nahrawān was over, Amīr

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al-Mu’minīn `Alī, peace be on him, delivered a sermon and mentioned some of the fierce battles [that will occur]. Then, he said:

This is the affair of Allah and it will occur in a joyful time. O Son of the Best of the Maids! Until when will you wait? I give you glad tidings about a help that is near from a Merciful Lord. May my father and mother be sacrificed because [of those] who are few in number! Their names are unknown on earth. Indeed, their appearance is drawing near. There will be a great marvel between [the months of] Jamādī and Rajab because of the gathering of the scattered ones, the harvesting of the crops, and the voices followed by voices. (Then, he said: ) Indeed, the decision has already been made (sabaqa al-qaḍā’u sabaqa).

[On hearing the above] a person from Baṣra said to a person from Kūfa beside him, “I testify that he is a liar. ” The one from Kūfa says, “By Allah, `Alī, peace be on him, had barely descended from the pulpit when the person from Basra became paralyzed and he died the same night. ”

The author of Yanābī` al-mawadda says: “If we wanted to record his predictions about the hidden things whose truth the [people] have clearly witnessed, many volumes would be needed. ”

574. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Aḥmad b. Ziyād b. Ja`far al-Hamdānī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim, from his father, from Abū Aḥmad Muḥammad b. Ziyād al-Azdī who said:

I asked my

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master (Imam) Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him, about the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, “and bestowed upon you His favors both apparent and hidden? ” [1] He replied, “The apparent favor is the apparent Imam and the hidden favor means the hidden Imam. ” I asked, “Amongst the Imams, will there be a hidden one? ”

He replied, “Yes. His figure will be concealed from the eyes of the people but his memory will not be concealed from the hearts of the believers. He is the twelfth from us. For him, Allah will ease all strains, degrade all difficulties, reveal the treasures of earth, and bring close all the distant things. Through him, He will destroy all oppressive tyrants and annihilate every rebellious devil. He is the son of the Master of the Maids and his birth will be hidden from the people. It will not be permissible for them to say his name until Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, makes him appear. Then, he will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ”

575. Kamāl al-dīn [2]: Narrated to Aḥmad b. `Imrān, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah al-Kūfī, from Mūsā b. `Imrān al-Nakha`ī, from his (paternal) uncle al-Ḥusayn b. Yazīd al-Naufalī, from al-Ḥasan b. `Alī b. Abī Ḥamza, from his father, from Abū Baṣīr, who said:

(Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah (al-Ṣādiq) , peace be on him, said, “Whatever occurred for the prophets, peace be on them, concerning their occultation’s,

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will also occur for the Qā’im from us, in the exact same manner. [1] ” I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Who is the Qā’im from you Ahl al- Bait? ” He answered, “O Abū Baṣīr! He is the fifth descendant of my son Mūsā; the son of the Master of the maids. He will have an occultation in which the people of falsehood will become skeptical.

Then, Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will make him appear and Allah will make him conquer the Easts of the earth and its Wests. The Spirit of Allah, Jesus, son of Mary, peace be on him, will descend and pray behind him. The earth will shine with the light of its Lord. There will not remain a part of the earth in which anyone other than Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, is worshipped except that Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, will be worshipped in it. Religion—in its entirety—will be only for Allah even if the polytheists detest it. ”

576. Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī [2]: Informed us `Abd al-Wāḥid b. `Abd-Allah b. Yūnus, from Aḥmad b. Muḥammad b. Rabāḥ al-Zuhrī, from Aḥmad b. `Alī al-Ḥimyarī, from al-Ḥakam—the brother of Mushma`il al-Asadī—from `Abd al-Raḥīm al-Qaṣīr who said:

I asked (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, “Does the saying of Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, ‘May my father be sacrificed for the son of the Master of the Maids,’ refer to Fāṭima? He responded, “ (No,) indeed, Fāṭima, peace be on her, was the best of

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the free women. Rather, it refers to the one whose stomach is wide and whose complexion is reddish. May Allah have mercy on so and so. ”

577. Ghaybat al-Shaykh [1]: Sa`d b. `Abd-Allah, from Muḥammad b. `Īsā b. `Ubaid, from Ismā’īl b. Abān, from `Amr b. Shimr, from Jābir al- Ju`fī, from (Imam) Abū Ja`far, peace be on him, who said:

`Umar b. al-Khaṭṭāb asked Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī, peace be on him, “Inform me about the Mahdī, what is his name? ” He replied, “As for his name, then certainly my beloved [i. e. the Messenger of Allah] took a covenant from me that I should not say his name until Allah sends him. ” He asked again, “Inform me about his attributes. ” He answered, “He is a medium-sized youth and handsome with beautiful hair. His hair flows over his shoulders and the light of his face covers the blackness of his hair and beard; may my father be sacrificed for the son of the Master of the Maids. ”

The traditions with the following numbers also show the above concept: 539, 553, 554, 568, and 651.

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[1]: Sharḥ nahj al-balāgha, vol. 2, p. 179; Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 96, p. 498. Ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd writes: “If it is asked, ‘Who from the Umayyads will be present in that time that [`Alī, peace be on him,] mentions regarding them that so and so and has spoken about this man [i. e. the Mahdī] taking revenge on them to such an extent that they would wish `Alī had ruled over them instead of him? ’ The answer is: The Imāmiyya (Shias) believe in the raj`a and think that when their awaited Imam returns, a group from the highest ranking Umayyads will be resurrected from their graves. From them, he will cut the hands and feet of a group, take out the eyes of others, and crucify some of them and thus take revenge from the enemies of the family of Muḥammad—both the early ones and the latter ones. ”

Then, ibn Abī l-Ḥadīd answers what has been questioned about the beliefs of his companions—after explaining that the Mahdī, peace be on him, is from the descendants of Fāṭima and will fill the earth with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with unfairness and injustice. That he will take revenge on the oppressors and will punish them using the severest of punishments and that he is the sole child of his mother, as has been mentioned in this and other traditions, and that his name is Muḥammad, etc. — by stating that he will appear after most of Islam will be dominated by a person from the Umayyads and he is none other than the Sufyānī who has been spoken about in a reliable tradition and who is a descendant of Abū Sufyān b. Ḥarb b. Umayya. The Faṭimī Imam will kill him and his followers who are from the Ummayads and other (groups) , after which Jesus will descend from the sky, the conditions of the Hour will become apparent, and the Creature of the Earth (dābbat al-arḍ) will emerge, etc... ”; Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, chap. 13, p. 229, no. 11, and similar to it in Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, p. 121, under no. 23.

[2]: Quran 33: 61–62.

[3]: Yanābī` al-mawadda, chap. 99, p. 512.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 34, pp. 368–369, no. 6; Kifāyat al-athar, chap. “What has been narrated from Mūsā b. Ja`far, peace be on him,” p. 266, no. 3, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah b. Ḥamza, from his (paternal) uncle al-Ḥasan b. Ḥamza, from `Alī b. Ibrāhīm b. Hāshim; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 7, pp. 150–151, no. 2.

[1]: Quran 31: 20.

[2]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, pp. 345–346, no. 31.

[1]: Al-Ḥākim has recorded in al-Mustadrak, “Kitāb al-īmān,” vol. 1, p. 37, through his chain of narrators from Abū Huraira that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said: “You will certainly follow the customs (sunan) of those before you identically and similar in every manner, to an extent that even if they have entered the hole of a lizard you will certainly enter it with them. ” He was asked, “O Messenger of Allah! (Do you mean) the Jews and the Christians? ” He replied, “Who else (do I mean). ”

Al-Ḥākim says: “This tradition is correct (ṣaḥīḥ) according to the criteria set by Muslim but neither of them [i. e. al-Bukhārī and Muslim] have recorded it with this wording. ”

I say: This tradition has been narrated in the books of both sects with different wordings.

[2]: Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī , chap. 13, pp. 228–229, no. 9.

[1]: Ghaybat al-Shaykh, p. 281, no. 5; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 4, p. 36, no. 6, citing al-Nu`mānī and al-Shaykh; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 56, p. 468, no. 3. He has recorded the beginning of the tradition with some variations in the wording; I`lām al-warā, p. 434; al-Kharā’ij, vol. 3, p. 1152 (short version) ; al-Irshād by al-Mufīd, p. 363; Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 2, p. 464; Rauḍat al-wā`iẓīn, vol. 2, p. 266; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 34, sect. 6, p. 730, no. 71. Know that there is no contradiction between this tradition and numerous other traditions that mention his longevity. We can reconcile between these by saying that such a tradition points to the brightness of his color and his handsome looks and that he will appear young and energetic and his face will not age with the passing of days.

Section Twenty-Four

The traditions that mention when the three names, Muḥammad, `Alī, and al-Ḥasan, come after one other, then the fourth of them will be the Qā’im

Comprised of 2 traditions

578. Dalā’il al-imāma [2]: Narrated to us Abū l-Mufaḍḍal, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Kūfī, from Muḥammad b. `Abd-Allah al-Farsī, from Yaḥyā b. Maimūn al-Khurāsānī, from `Abd-Allah b. Sinān, from his brother Muḥammad b. Sinān al-Zuhrī, from our master, (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah Ja`far b. Muḥammad, from

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his father, from his grandfather, from his father al-Ḥusayn, from al-Ḥasan, from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said to `Alī, peace be on him: “O `Alī! When the eleven Imams from your descendants are completed, the eleventh will be the Mahdī from my Ahl al-Bait. ”

And through the same chain of narrators from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said: “When the four names, Muḥammad, `Alī, and al-Ḥasan come consecutively, then the fourth of them will be the Qā’im, the wished, the awaited. ”

579. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Narrated to us Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm b. Isḥāq, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Abū `Alī Muḥammad b. Hammām, from Aḥmad b. Mābundād, from Aḥmad b. Hilāl, from Umayyat b. `Alī al-Qaysī, from Abū l-Haytham al-Tamīmī, from (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, who said: “When three names Muḥammad, `Alī, and al-Ḥasan come consecutively, the fourth of them will be their Qā’im. ” [2]

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[2]: Dalā’il al-imāma, chap. “Ma`rifat wujūb al-Qā’im,” p. 236, no. 9; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 3, chap. 9, sect. 69, p. 103, no. 832, citing the book Manāqib Fāṭima wa wuldihā through his chain of narrators from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 2, chap. 32, p. 334, no. 3 and similar to it, pp. 333–334, no. 2. He has recorded it in the preface of Kamāl al-dīn from ibn Qubba in his answers to the objections of ibn Bashshār: “When the three names Muḥammad, `Alī, and al-Ḥasan come consecutively, the fourth will be the Qā’im” (vol. 1, p. 55) ; Kifāyat al-athar, p. 280, under the fourth tradition from the chapter on what has come from Imam Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Riḍā, peace be on him: “Through his chain of narrators from Abū al-Haytham al-Tamīmī who said that (Imam) Abū `Abd-Allah, peace be on him, said, ‘When the three names come consecutively, the fourth of them will be their Qā’im: Muḥammad, `Alī, and al-Ḥasan. ’”; Ghaybat al-Nu`mānī, p. 179, no. 26; I`lām al-warā, p. 403. He has recorded ‘come together’ instead of ‘come consecutively’.

[2]: It is clear who these names refer to: Muḥammad refers to Imam Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, `Alī refers to his son Imam `Alī b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. Mūsā al-Riḍā, and al-Ḥasan refers to his son Imam al-Ḥasan al-`Askarī, Allah’s blessings be on them all.

Section Twenty-Five

The traditions that indicate he is the twelfth and last Imam, peace be on them

Comprised of 151 traditions

580. Al-Ghayba by Faḍl b. Shādhān [3]: Narrated to us Ṣafwān b. Yaḥyā, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ibrāhīm b. Abī Ziyād, from Abū Ḥamza al-Thumālī, from Abū Khalid al-Kabulī who said:

I went to see my master (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, peace be on him, and asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Inform me about those—whose obedience and love Allah

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has made compulsory and has made following them obligatory for His servants—after the Messenger of Allah, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. ” He replied, “O Kabulī! Surely, those who possess authority (aulī l-amr) whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, has appointed as leaders for the people and made their obedience obligatory are: Amīr al-Mu’minīn `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib, then my uncle al-Ḥasan, my father al- Ḥusayn, and then the affair reached us. ”

Saying this, he became silent. I said, “O my master! It has been narrated to us from Amīr al-Mu’minīn, peace be on him, that the earth will not become empty of a proof from Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, upon His servants. So, who is the proof and Imam after you? ” He said, “My son Muḥammad and his name in the earlier [Holy] Books is Bāqir. He will split knowledge, a thorough splitting. He is the Proof and the Imam after me. After Muḥammad, it will be his son Ja`far and he is known to the inhabitants of the sky as al-Ṣādiq. ”

I asked, “O my master! Why is he only called as al-Ṣādiq (the Truthful) whilst all of you are truthful? ” He answered, “Narrated to me my father, from his father, peace be on them, from the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, who said, ‘When my son, Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī b. Abī Ṭālib is born, name him al-Ṣādiq because his fifth descendant—who

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will also have the name Ja`far—will falsely claim to be an Imam and will dare [to disobey] Allah and lie against Him. To Allah, he will be known as Ja`far the liar (al-Kadhdhāb) , the one who forges lies against Allah and claims the position for which he was not eligible. He will oppose his father and will be jealous of his brother. He is the one who will desire to disclose Allah’s secret, Majestic be His Majesty, during the occultation of the Guardian [appointed] by Allah. ’”

Saying this, (Imam) `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn, peace be on him, cried intensely and continued, “As if I am with Ja`far al-Kadhdhāb who will be assisting the tyrants of his time to find out about the Guardian [appointed] by Allah; the one who will be concealed in the protection of Allah and be in charge of his father’s dependents while [Ja`far] will be ignorant about his birth and seeks to kill him if he can get his hands on him, and will have greed for the inheritance of his brother which he will wish to seize unjustly. ”

I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Will these really happen? ” He answered, “Yes, by my Lord! All this is written in the manuscript we possess which mentions the afflictions that will be inflicted on us after the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family. ” I said, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Then what will happen? ” He replied, “Then, the occultation of the twelfth

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Guardian [appointed] by Allah will be prolonged. He will be from the heirs of the Messenger of Allah after him. O Abū Khālid! The people who believe in his Imamate and await his reappearance during his occultation, are the best people of all times.

Because Allah, Blessed and High be He, has granted them such intellect (`aql) , understanding (fahm) , and recognition (ma`rifa) that occultation for them is the same as observation. He (Allah) has made them in that time like the holy warriors who fought with their swords before the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be upon him and his family. They are truly the sincere ones, our real Shias, and the callers towards the religion of Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He, secretly and openly. ” He then said, “Awaiting the Relief is one of the best reliefs (intiẓār al-faraj min afḍal al-faraj). ”

581. Kifāyat al-athar [1]: Narrated to us `Alī b. al-Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad, from Hārūn b. Mūsā at Baghdad in the month of Safar, 381 AH, from Aḥmad [Muḥammad] [b. Makhzūm] b. Muḥammad al-Muqrī—the slave of Banī-Hāshim—in 324 AH, from Abū Muḥammad from both: (a) Abū Ḥafṣ `Umar [`Amr] b. al-Faḍl al-Ṭabarī, from Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Farghānī, from `Abd-Allah b. Muḥammad b. `Amr al- Balwī, and (b) `Abd-Allah [`Ubaid Allah] b. al-Faḍl b. Hilāl al-Ṭā’ī in Egypt, from `Abd-Allah b. Muḥammad b. `Umar [`Amr] b. Maḥfūẓ al- Balwī; from Ibrāhīm b. `Abd-Allah b. al-`Alā, from Muḥammad b. Bukair who recounts:

I went to see Zaid b. `Alī, peace be on him, while

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Ṣāliḥ b. Bishr was with him. I said hello to him and he intended to go Iraq. I said, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Narrate to me something which you have heard from your father. ” He said, “Yes. My father narrated to me from his grandfather [or my father from his father from his grandfather] that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, ‘On whoever Allah has bestowed a favor, he should praise Allah, Mighty and Majestic be He. One whose sustenance is delayed should seek forgiveness [from Allah. One who is grieved by an affair] should say, “There is no power and strength except by Allah. ”’”

I said, “Please tell me more, O Son of Allah’s Messenger! ” He said, “Yes. My father narrated to me from his grandfather [or my father from his father from his grandfather] that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, ‘I will intercede for four people on the Day of Judgment: He who respects my seed (dhurriyyatī) , fulfills their needs, strives for them in their affairs when they need it, and loves them with his heart and his tongue. ’” I said, “Please tell me more from the merits that Allah has bestowed upon you O Son of Allah’s Messenger. ”

He said, “My father has narrated from his [father, from his] grandfather that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, said, ‘Whoever loves us Ahl al-Bait for

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the sake of Allah will be gathered with us (ḥushira ma`anā) and we will take him to Paradise with us. O son of Bukair! He who fastens on to us will be with us in the highest of ranks. ’ O son of Bukair! Verily, Allah, Blessed and Exalted be He, chose Muḥammad, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, and selected us as his seed (dhurriyya). If it was not for us, Allah, the Exalted, would not have created the world and the hereafter. O son of Bukair! Through us Allah is recognized and through us Allah is worshipped. We are the path to Allah; from us is al-Muṣṭafā, [from us] is al-Murtaḍā, from us will be the Mahdī, the Qā’im of this nation. ”

I enquired, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Did the Messenger of Allah inform you when your Qā’im will rise? ” He answered, “O son of Bukair! You will not meet him and surely this affair will continue on for another six heirs (waṣīs). Then, [Allah] will make our Qā’im appear and he will fill [the earth] with fairness and justice just as it will be filled with injustice and unfairness. ” I asked, “O Son of Allah’s Messenger! Aren’t you the master of this affair? ” He replied, “I am from the progeny. I asked again and he answered the same. I asked, “Were the things that you said from yourself or from the Messenger of Allah? ” He answered, “Had I known the unknown, I would

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have massed much good. These are a covenant that the Messenger of Allah, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, has taken from us. ” Then, he recited the following poem

We are the chiefs of the Quraish

The foundation of truth is within us

We are the lights that

Existed before the existence of all creatures

From us is the chosen Muṣṭafā

And the Mahdī too is from us

Indeed, through us Allah is recognized

And we have stood with the Truth

Soon he will be thrown in the fire

He who turns away from us today

`Alī b. al-Ḥusayn says: “Muḥammad b. al-Ḥusayn al-Bazaufarī narrated this tradition to us in the shrine of our master, (Imam) al-Ḥusayn b. `Alī, peace be on him, from Muḥammad b. Ya`qūb al-Kulainī, from Muḥammad b. Yaḥyā al-`Aṭṭār, from Salmat b. al-Khaṭṭāb, from Muḥammad b. Khālid al-Ṭayālisī, from Saif b. `Umaira and Ṣāliḥ b. Uqba, all of them from `Alqamat b. Muḥammad al-Ḥaḍramī, from Ṣāliḥ [Ṣulḥ] who recounts: “I was with Zaid b. `Alī, peace be on him, when Muḥammad b. Bukair came to see him... (he then mentioned the previous narration). ”

582. Kamāl al-dīn [1]: Al-Muẓaffar b. Ja`far b. al-Muẓaffar al-`Alawī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ja`far b. Muḥammad b. Mas`ūd, from his father, from Abū l-Qāsim—who recorded it from the book of Aḥmad al-Dahhān—from al-Qāsim b. Ḥamza, from ibn Abī `Umair, from Abū Ismā’īl al-Sarrāj, from Khaithamat al-Ju`fī, from Abū Ayyūb al-Makhzūmī [Abū Labīd al-Makhzūmī] who said: “ (Imam) Abū Ja`far Muḥammad b. `Alī al-Bāqir, peace be on him, mentioned

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the biography of the twelve rightly guided successors, Allah’s blessings be on them. When he reached the last one he said, ‘The twelfth is the one behind whom Jesus, son of Mary, peace be on him, will pray. [Follow] his customs and the Noble Quran. ’” The traditions with the following numbers also show the above concept: 81, 113, 118, 153–165, 181, 196, 205–309, 553–541, 543–545, 547, 549–556, 574, 668, 1168, and 1230.

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[3]: Kifāyat al-muhtadī (al-Arba`īn) , pp. 92–93, no. 20, which has some apparent mistakes. We have corrected it in accordance with the other references; Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 21, pp. 319–320, no. 2, through two chains from al-Sayyid `Abd al-`Aẓīm al-Ḥasanī, may Allah be satisfied with him, from Ṣafwān b. Yaḥyā; al-Iḥtijāj, vol. 2, pp. 317–318, both of them have recorded “and from the greatest of reliefs (min a`ẓam al-faraj) ”; Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā, sect. 15, pp. 365–366, up to his saying, “secretly and openly”; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 36, chap. 44, pp. 386–387, no. 1, which says: “and from the greatest of reliefs (wa min a`ẓam al-faraj) ” and vol. 50, chap. 6, pp. 227–228, no. 2; I`lām al-warā, sect. 2, p. 224, up to his saying: “secretly and openly”; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, chap. 9, pp. 514–515, no. 247, from al-Faḍl b. Shādhān in Ithbāt al-ghayba, al-Ṣadūq in Kamāl al-dīn, al-Ṭabarsī in al-Iḥtijāj, and al-Rāwandī in Qiṣaṣ al-anbiyā, which say, “from the greatest (min a`ẓam) ” ; al-Inṣāf, pp. 55–57, no. 47, which says, “from the greatest of deeds. ”

[1]: Kifāyat al-athar, chap. 40, pp. 298–30, no. 1; Irshād al-qulūb, p. 414 (short version) ; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 46, chap. 11, pp. 201–203, no. 77.

[1]: Kamāl al-dīn, vol. 1, chap. 32, pp. 331–332, no. 17; Ithbāt al-hudāt, vol. 1, chap. 9, p. 516, no. 251, which says: “follow his customs and the Wise Quran”; Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 51, chap. 5, p. 137, no. 5. In the edition published by al-Maktabat al-Islāmiyya, vol. 1, p. 448, Abū Lubaid has been recorded instead of Abū Ayyūb. Also, “the one who will pray behind him will be Jesus, son of Mary, peace be on him, in the year of ‘Yāsīn, and by the Wise Quran’ (Quran 36: 1–2). ” This wording is in harmony with what is found in al-Inṣāf (chap. ‘al-Hamza,’ p. 9, no. 12). Apparently, this is due to the copyist’s error or his misjudgment, because the wording of the tradition—according to the copy that we have copied from which is the version corrected using the hand-written manuscript—are like this: “follow his customs and the Wise Quran. ” Its editor has mentioned that its wording in the precious copy does not have the words “follow his,” thus, it will mean: Jesus, peace be on him, will act according to the Islamic sharia and pray behind him in accordance with his customs and the Noble Quran. What we mean by ‘his customs,’ are the customs of the Holy Prophet, Allah’s blessings be on him and his family, or the customs of the Imam, peace be on him, which are none but the traditions of the Prophet, Allah's blessings be on him and his family. The versions in which the words “follow his” have been recorded are in accordance with Biḥār al-anwār and Ithbāt al-hudāt except that in its end ‘Wise’ is used instead of ‘Noble’.