Chapter 17
Seventeenth Assembly
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Met on Saturday, the 17th of Shaban in the year 407 Hijra, reporting from what Abul Fawaris heard alone, and from what I heard together with Abu Muhammad Abdul Rahman, my brother and al-Husain b. Ali al-Nishaburi, by recitation at our master, the grand Sheikh al-Mufid - may Allah continue to bless him. The grand Sheikh al-Mufid, Abu Abdillah Muhammad b. Muhammad b. al-No'man - may Allah bless his honour narrated to us:
1. Fear of Allah . . . a great security
He said: Abu Abdillah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzabani, reported from Abu Abdillah Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Hakimi, who reported from Muhammad b. Ishaq al-Saghani, who reported from Sulaiman b. Ayyub, who reported from Ja'far b. Sulaiman, from Thabit, from Anas, who said:
Once, a man from Ansar fell ill, and the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, visited him when he was about to die. He (the Prophet) said: "How do you find yourself?" He said: "I see myself hopeful of my Master's mercy, fearfully concerned about my sins." So the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "On occasion like this, these two do not combine in a believer's heart, except that Allah grants him his hope and secures him from what he fears."
2. What Salman said about Ali (AS)
He said: Abul Hasan Ali b. Muhammad b. Hubaish al-Katib reported to me from al-Hasan b. Ali al-Zafarani, who reported from Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Thaqafi, who reported from al-Masoodi, who reported from Yahya b. Salim al-Abdi, who reported from Maysarah, from al-Minhal b. Amru, from Zarr b. Hubaish who said:
Once, Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him, passed by riding the Prophet's mule and Salman was present among the people. So Salman - may Allah bless him with mercy, said: "(O people)! do you not rise to detain him and ask him questions? By Allah, Who split the grain and created the breathing creatures, no one but he (i.e. Ali) will inform you about the secrets of your Prophet. Indeed, he is the most learned about this earth and its chief element on which it rests. If you miss him, you will miss the knowledge and deny the people (its benefit)."
3. People who performed four things and missed the fifth
He said: Abul Hasan Ali b. Bilal al-Mahalabi reported to me from Abdullah b. Rashid al-Isfehani, who reported from Ibrahim b. Muhammad al-Thaqafi, who reported from Ismail b. Subayh, who reported from Salim b. Abu Salim al-Misri, from Abu Haroon al-Abdi who said:
I held the opinion of the al-Khawarij, accepting nothing else. Then one day, I sat at Abu Saeed al-Khudari - may Allah bless him with mercy, and heard him say: "People were ordered to do five things and they performed four out of them, leaving the fifth." A man asked: "O Abu Saeed, which are the four things they performed?" He said: "The daily prayers, the zakat (alms giving), the Hajj and fasting during the month of Ramadhan." He asked: "And which one did they leave out?" He said: "The wilayah of Ali b. Abi Talib, peace be upon him." The man asked: "Was it made obligatory with the first four?" Abu Saeed said: "Yes, by the Lord of Ka'bah!" The man said: "In that case, the people have indeed transgressed!" Abu Saeed said: "What is my fault?"
4. Acts and deeds shall not benefit except when coupled with wilayah
He said: Abu Nasr Muhammad b. al-Husain al-Muqri reported from Abu Abdillah al-Husain b. Muhammad al-Bazzaz, who reported from Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Abdillah al-Alawi al-Muhammadi, who reported from Yahya b. Hashim al-Ghassani, from Muammar b. Sulaiman, from Laith b. Abi Sulaim, from Ata b. Abi Rabah, from Ibn Abbas who said:
The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny said: "Cling steadfastly to the affection for us Ahlul Bait. For whoever, meets Allah with our love in his heart shall enter Paradise by our intercession. By He Who controls Muhammad's breath, the acts and deeds of a servant shall not benefit him, except when coupled with our recognition and our love."
5. Imam Ja'far al-Sadiq (AS) at the Prophet's grave
He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad b. Muhammad b. al-Waleed - may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from his father, from Sa'd b. Abdillah, from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa, from Muhammad b. Sinan, from Ishaq b. Ammar, who said:
I heard Abu Abdillah saying near the grave of the Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny: "I beseech (Allah) Who selected and chose you, purified and guided you and through you guided the people: to bless you; Surely, Allah and His angels send blessings on the Prophet, O you who believe, you should invoke blessings on him and peace on him."
6. Isa b. Abdillah is from us - Ahlul Bait
He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad - may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from his father, from Sa'd b. Abdillah from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa, from Musa b. Talha, from Abu Muhammad brother of Yunus b. Ya'qoob, from his brother Yunus, who said:
I was at Medinah, when Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, met me in one of its lanes. He said: "O Yunus, go to the door for a person from us Ahlul Bait is at the door." He said: "I went towards the door and found Isa b. Abdillah sitting there. So, I said: "Who are you." He replied: "I am from Qum." He said: "No sooner he said that, then Abu Abdillah appeared on a donkey and he entered the house riding the donkey. Then attending to us, he said: "Come through." Then he said: "O Yunus, I believe you were not prepared to grant when I said that Isa. b. Abdillah is from us, Ahlul Bait?" I said: "It is so, may I be your ransom. For Isa b. Abdillah is from people of Qum, how can he be one of you Ahlul Bait?" He said: "O Yunus, Isa b. Abdillah is from us as long as he lives, and he shall be from us after he has died."
7. The poor shall enter the Paradise first
He said: Abul Hasan Ahmad b. Muhammad reported to me from his father, from Sa'd b. Abdillah, from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa from al-Hasan b. Mahboob, from al-Ula b. Razeen b. al-Qalla, from Abdullah b. Abi Ya'foor, who reported that:
Abu Ja'far, peace be upon him, said: "The poor faithfuls shall be moving about in the gardens of Paradise for forty years before the rich faithfuls reach there." Then he said: "I will give you an example. It is just like two ships passing by a tax collector. He sees one and finds nothing in it, so he allows it to pass by swiftly. Then he looks into the other, and finds it loaded fully. So he stops it."
8. Do not pry on the faults of the believers and do not revile the Muslims
He said: Abul Qasim Ja'far b. Muhammad - may Allah bless him with mercy, reported to me from his father, from Sa'd b. Abdillah, from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Isa, from Muhammad b. Sinan, from Ishaq b. Ammar, from Abu Abdillah, peace be upon him, that:
The Prophet, peace be upon him and his progeny, said: "O those who have submitted with their tongues, but their faith has not reached their hearts, do not pry on the faults of the believers and do not revile the Muslims. Surely, he who goes in search for the faults of the believers, Allah will pry on his faults; and when Allah does that, He exposes him in the inner most part of his house."
9. Acceptance of wilayah given by the people of Kufa
He said: Abu Bakr Muhammad b. Umar al-Je'abi reported from Abul Abbas Ahmad b. Muhammad b. Saeed al-Hamdani, who reported from al-Hasan b. Ali b. al-Hasan, who reported from Muhammad b. al-Husain, from Muhammad b. Sinan, from Ubaidullah al-Qasbani, from Abu Basir who said:
I heard Abu Abdillah Ja'far b. Muhammad, peace be upon him, say: "Our authority is derived form the divine authority, with which every Prophet was sent. Allah, His Name be glorified, presented our authority to the heavens, the earth, the mountains and the cities and none gave it the type of acceptance given by the people of Kufa. Surely, on its one side there is a grave (i.e. Najaf), whenever an afflicted person visits it, Allah relieves him of the affliction, answers his prayers and returns him to his family with happiness and delight."
10. And when death arrives, it does not leave for the Adam's son, any extras or surplus
He said: Abu Ubaidullah Muhammad b. Imran al-Marzbani reported to me from Hanzalah Abu Ghassan, who reported from Abu al-Mundhar Hisham b. Muhammad b. al-Saeb, from Muhraz, from Ja'far, the client of Abu Huraira, who said:
Once, Artat b. Suhaiyya, who was then one hundred thirty years old, called upon Abdul Malik b. Marwan. Abdul Malik said: "O Artat! What is now left of your poetry?" He said: "By Allah, O, Commander of the faithfuls, I do not rejoice, nor do I get angry, nor do I drink. And if I feel like expressing these sentiments in a poem, then nothing comes to my mind but the following:
"I have seen man devoured by the nights,
the way iron junk is eaten up by the earth;
And when death arrives, it does not leave
for the Adam's son, any extras or surplus.
And I know that it will continue to come,
Till it fulfills its pledge with Abul Al-Walid."
Abdul Malik's kunya was Abul Al-Walid, so when he heard the couplet, he was terribly shaken. So, Artat said: "I meant myself, O, Commander of the faithfuls." Because Artat also had the kunya Abu Al-Walid.
Abdul Malik said: "By Allah, whatever happens to you shall happen to me also."
And may Allah bless our master Muhammad the Prophet, the unlearned, and his progeny.