The Seventy-First Assembly, the Assembly of Friday, the Last of Jumada al-Ula, 368 AH.

I was holding the hand of the Messenger of Allah (s) and we were walking together. We did not stop looking to the Sun until it set. So, I said: O Messenger of Allah! Where does it go? He said: In the sky. Then, it rises from heaven to heaven until it reaches the highest, seventh heaven; till it is beneath the Throne. It then falls in prostration, and the angels of the kingdom of heaven prostrate with it. Then, it says: “O Lord! Where do You order me to rise from: from my setting place, or from my rising place?” That is His saying, “The Sun travels for a fixed term. That is the design of the Almighty, the Knowing” (36:38) – meaning, that is the contrivance of the Mighty Lord in His kingdom with His creation. He said: So, Gabriel (as) comes to it with a garment which glows with the light of the Throne, which is in accordance with the hours of the day – it lengthens in the summer, it shortens in the winter, and it is in between that in the fall and the spring. He said: Then, it wears that garment just as one of you wears his clothes. Then, it goes with it in the sky until it rises from its rising point. The Prophet (s) said: It is as though I am with it as it is confined for three nights, and it is not cloaked in [its] glow, and it is ordered to rise from its setting place. That is His saying, “When the Sun is turned, and when the stars darken” (81:1-2). The Moon is like that from its rise, to its journey to the horizon of the sky, to its setting, to its ascension to the seventh heaven. It prostrates beneath the Throne, and Gabriel (as) comes to it with a garment of the light of the Seat. That is His saying, “He is the one that made the Sun a shining glow and the Moon a light.” (10:5) Abu Dharr (rh) said: Then, I withdrew with the Messenger of Allah (s) and we prayed Maghrib.

When Dhul Qarnayn completed the wall, he passed it and entered the shade. Then, he found himself ruling over a mountain that was five hundred cubits in height. So, an angel said to him: “O Dhul Qarnayn! Was there not a path behind you?” So, Dhul Qarnayn said to him: “Who are you?” He said: “I am an angel from the angels of the Merciful. I was assigned to this mountain. There is not a mountain in the creation of Allah that does not have a vein that connects to this mountain. Whenever Allah decides to send an earthquake to a city, He reveals [the command] to me, and I send an earthquake to it.

Al-Sadiq Ja`far b. Muhammad (as) said: Lightning does not strike one who is remembering Allah.

Surely, earthquakes, eclipses, and tremendous winds are among the signs of the Hour. When you see something of that, then remember the Day of Resurrection and hurry to your mosques.

When this verse was revealed, “When those who commit an indecency or wrong themselves remember Allah, He forgives them for their sins” (3:135), Iblis climbed a mountain in Mecca called Thawr. Then, he screamed at the top of his voice to his demons, so, they gathered to him. They said: “O our master! Why have you called for us?” He said: “This verse was revealed. Who will address it?” So, a demon from the devils stood and said: “I will address it through such-and-such.” He said: “It is not for you.” So, another stood and said the same, so he said: “It is not for you.” So, the slinking whisperer (al-waswas al-khannas) said: “I will address it.” He said: “Why?” He said: “I make promises and assurances to them until they fall into sin. When they fall into sin, I make them forget to repent.” So, he said: “It is for you.” So, he assigned him with [this task] until the Day of Resurrection.

A Jew had lent the Messenger of Allah (s) gold coins, and he came to collect the debt. So, he said to him: O Jew! I do not have anything to give you. He said: I will not leave you, Muhammad, until I collect the debt from you. So, he (s) said: Allow me to sit with you. So, he (s) sat with him until he prayed Thuhr, `Asr, Maghrib, the final `Isha’, and the morning prayer in that spot. The companions of the Messenger of Allah were threatening him and making promises to him. So, the Messenger of Allah (s) looked at them and said: What are you doing with him? So, they said: O Messenger of Allah! A Jew has confined you! So, he (s) said: My Lord did not send me to persecute a person of a treaty or others. So, when daytime came, the Jew said: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and His Messenger. I give half my wealth in the way of Allah. Surely, by Allah, I did not do what I did to you except so that I may see your description in the Torah, for surely, I read in your description in the Torah: “Muhammad, the son of `Abdullah. He is born in Mecca, and he will flee to Tayba. He is neither rude, nor difficult, nor boisterous. He does not adorn himself with revilement nor with profane speech.” I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. Here is my wealth, so do with it as Allah reveals regarding it – and he was a Jew with great wealth.

Also, `Ali (as) said: The bed of the Messenger of Allah (s) was a cloak. His furnishing was mud. His padding was fibre. I folded [his bed] for him one night [to double its thickness], and when he awoke in the morning, he said: “The bed had prevented me from the night prayer.” So, he (s) ordered that he [only] be given a single layer.

`Ali (as) said: The Messenger of Allah (s) visited his daughter Fatima (sa), and on her neck was a necklace. So, he turned away from her. So, she cut it and threw it aside. Then, the Messenger of Allah (s) said to her: You are from me, Fatima. Then, a beggar came, so she gave him the necklace. Then, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: Allah’s anger and my anger is intensified against he who sheds my blood and harms me in my progeny.

Amir al-Mu’minin (as) said: The Messenger of Allah (s) sent people on an expedition. When they returned, he said: Greetings to a people who completed the minor struggle (jihad); the major struggle remains for them. It was said: O Messenger of Allah! What is the major struggle? He said: The struggle against the self. Then, he (s) said: The best struggle is the struggle against the self that is between his two sides.

The Messenger of Allah (s) visited Salman al-Farisi (rh) in his illness, so he said: O Salman! Surely, in your illness, you have three characteristics: (1) You are in a state of remembering Allah, (2) your supplications in it are accepted, (3) the illness will not leave you until it causes your sins to fall. May Allah gratify you with wellness until your time expires.

Amir al-Mu’minin (as) entered Mecca in one of his Hajj pilgrimages, and he saw a Bedouin holding onto the cloak of the Ka`ba, saying: O Owner of the House! The House is Your House, the guests are Your guests, and for every guest of Yours is a gift, so make my gift from You a night of forgiveness. So, Amir al-Mu’minin (as) said to his companions: Do you not hear the words of this Bedouin? They said: Yes. So, he said: Allah is too generous to turn away His guest. He said: When it was the second night, he saw him holding onto that corner, saying: O Glorious in Your glory! There is none glorious than You in Your glory. Give me glory by Your glory – a glory that none can comprehend. I turn to You and I invoke You by the right of Muhammad and the Family of Muhammad over you, give me that which none can give but You, and relieve me of that which none can relieve but You. He said: Amir al-Mu’minin (as) said to his companions: This, by Allah, is the Greatest Name in Syriac. I was informed of it by my beloved, the Messenger of Allah (s). He asked Him for Paradise, so He gave it to him, and He asked him to relieve him from the Fire, so He relieved him. He said: When it was the third night, they saw him holding onto that corner, saying: O Him who cannot be encompassed by a place and cannot be absent from a place! He was without a how. Sustain this Bedouin with four thousand silver coins. He said: So, Amir al-Mu’minin (as) proceeded to him and said: O Bedouin! You asked your Lord for a gift, so He gifted you, and you asked Him for Paradise, so He gave it to you, and you asked Him to relieve you of the Fire, so He relieved you; but on this night, you asked Him for four thousand silver coins! The Bedouin said: Who are you? He said: I am `Ali b. Abi Talib. The Bedouin said: You, by Allah, have surprised me. You have been sent for my need. He said: Ask, Bedouin. He said: I want one thousand silver coins for a dowry, one thousand silver coins to pay off my debt, one thousand silver coins with which I can buy a house, and one thousand silver coins to live off. He said: I will help you, Bedouin. When you leave Mecca, ask about my house in the Medina of the Messenger of Allah (s). So, the Bedouin remained in Mecca for two weeks, and he left to seek Amir al-Mu’minin (as) in the Medina of the Messenger of Allah (s). He called out: Who will lead me to the house of Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali (as)? So, al-Husayn b. `Ali (as) said from amongst the young boys: I will take you to the house of Amir al-Mu’minin. I am his son, al-Husayn b. `Ali. So, the Bedouin said: Who is your father? He said: Amir al-Mu’minin `Ali b. Abi talib (as). He said: Who is your mother? He said: Fatima al-Zahra, the Mistress of the Women of the Worlds. He said: Who is your grandfather? He said: The Messenger of Allah Muhammad b. `Abdullah b. `Abd al-Muttalib. He said: Who is your grandmother? He said: Khadija bt. Khuwaylid. He said: Who is your brother? He said: Abu Muhammad al-Hasan b `Ali. He said: You have taken the world by both its ends. Walk to Amir al-Mu’minin and tell him that the Bedouin, the owner of the trust in Mecca, is at the door. He said: So, al-Husayn b. `Ali (as) entered and said: O father! A Bedouin is at the door He says that he is the owner of the trust in Mecca. He said: So, he said: O Fatima! Do you have anything to feed the Bedouin? She said: By Allah, no. He said: So, Amir al-Mu’minin (as) got dressed and left, saying: Call Aba `Abdillah Salman al-Farisi for me. He said: So, Salman al-Farisi (rh) visited him. So, he said: O Aba `Abdillah! Sell the garden that the Messenger of Allah (s) planted for me in the market. He said: So, Salman went to the market and sold the garden for twelve thousand silver coins. He went to the Bedouin and gave him four thousand silver coins, and an additional forty silver coins. The news reached the beggars of Medina, so they gathered. A man from the Ansar went to Fatima (sa) and informed her of that, so she said: May Allah reward you for walking [and letting us know]. So, `Ali (as) sat, and the silver coins were spread out before him. His companions gathered to him, and he gave and gave to man after man, until there was not a single silver coin that remained for him. When he came home, Fatima (sa) said to him: O cousin! You sold the walled [garden] that my father planted for you? He said: Yes, for immediate and long-term good. She said: Where is its revenue? He said: I gave it to eyes before they asked, because I would be too embarrassed to humiliate them with beggary. Fatima said: I am hungry, and my two sons are hungry. I have no doubt that you are hungry like us. Why did you not leave a silver coin for us?! She held onto the robe of `Ali (as). So, `Ali (as) said: O Fatima! Let go of me. So, she said: No, by Allah. My father will judge between you and me. So, Gabriel (as) came down to the Messenger of Allah (s) and said: O Muhammad! Peace (Allah) recites the salaam to you and says: “Recite my salaam to `Ali and say to Fatima: ‘It is not for you to strike his hands or hold onto his robe’” When the Messenger of Allah (s) reached the house of `Ali (as), she saw Fatima grasping onto `Ali (as) So, he said to her: O my daughter! Why are you grasping onto `Ali? She said: O father! He sold the walled [garden] that you planted for him for twelve thousand silver coins, and he did not keep a single silver coin with which he could buy us food. So, he said: O my daughter! Surely, Gabriel recited the salaam of my Lord to me, and he said: “Recite the salaam of his Lord to `Ali.” He ordered me to say to you: “It is not for you to strike his hands.” So, Fatima (sa) said: Then surely, I repent to Allah, and I will never repeat that. Fatima (sa) said: My father (as) went out in one direction and my husband `Ali went in a direction. I met my father (s), and with him were seven blackened silver coins. So, he said: O Fatima! Where is my cousin? So, she said to him: He went out. So, the Messenger of Allah (s) said: Take these silver coins. When my cousin comes, tell him to purchase food for you with it. He only remained for a short while longer when `Ali (as) had come. So, he said: My cousin has returned. I smell a sweet fragrance. She said: Yes. I have something to give you with which you can buy us food. `Ali (as) said: Hand it to me. So, she gave him the seven blackened silver coins. So, he said: In the name of Allah. Much sweet praise is due to Allah. This is from what Allah has given us sustenance with. Then, he said: O Hasan! Come with me. So, they both went to the market, and they found a man standing, saying: Who will lend me money? He said: O my son! Shall I give it to him? He said: Yes, by Allah, father. So, `Ali (as) gave him the silver coins. So, al-Hasan said: O father! Did you give him all the silver coins? He said: Yes, son. The One who gave little is capable of giving much. He said: So, `Ali (as) passed by the door of a man to borrow something from him. Then, a Bedouin with a she-camel met him and said: O `Ali! Buy this she-camel from me. He said: I do not have its price. He said: Then I will give it to you, and you can pay me later. He said: How much is it, Bedouin? He said: One hundred silver coins. `Ali (as) said: Take it, Hasan. So, he took it. So, `Ali (as) continued walking when another Bedouin came who was in the same form but with different clothing. He said: O `Ali! Will you sell this she-camel? `Ali (as) said: What will you do with it? He said: I will take it to the first (next) battle that your cousin goes to. He said: It is yours then, without a price. He said: I have its price, and I will buy it with its price. So, how much does it cost? He said: One hundred silver coins. The Bedouin said: Then I will give you one hundred and seventy silver coins. `Ali (as) said: Take one hundred silver coins and give it to the Bedouin that sold the she-camel to us. We will take the seventy silver coins and buy something with it. So, al-Hasan (as) took the silver coins and gave away the she-camel. `Ali (as) said: So, I went looking for the Bedouin that lent me the she-camel so that I may pay for its price. Then, I saw the Messenger of Allah (s) sitting in a place that I had not seen him in before nor after, in the middle of the road. When the Prophet (s) looked at me, he smiled and laughed until I could see his molar teeth. `Ali (as) said: May Allah make you laugh and gladden you on your day [when you intercede for your Nation]. Then, he said: O Aba’l Hasan! Are you looking for the Bedouin that sold you the she-camel to give him its price? So, I said: Yes, by Allah, may my mother and my father be your sacrifice. So, he said: O Aba’l Hasan! The one that sold you the she-camel was Gabriel, and the one that bought it from you was Michael. The she-camel was from the she-camels of Paradise. The silver coins were from the Lord of the Worlds. Spend them well, and do not be afraid.